Posted by josephus (josephus), 18 November 2003
Hiim just getting into carpet cleaning, after 10 years as a window cleaner. i have one big customer and for the moment they are happy to let me do all the cleaning the want.
in july i took a risk and bought a spraymaster 25 from exspress cleaning, and fingers crossed have had no problems. ive made its worth allready plus the chemicals, so i think of it as being more or less free.
so far its not bad as im still window cleaning full time.
my next decision is to go into it a little deeper with family, and pick up a better machine for home work.
ive been looking at the steameasy 400 or the little cheeroke.
so far i cant really find any alternatives to prochem. should i bother ? or are the the best ?
how would you proceed from here ? should a buy a fibredry instead ?
and thoughts/opions would be welcome.
cheers
josephus
ps exspress cleaning is very good id like to recommend them.
Posted by Ivar_Haglund (Ivar_Haglund), 18 November 2003
Get a truck mount as soon as possible
with all those window clients of yours
this should be quick and easy
IVAR
Posted by Mike_Boxall (Mike_Boxall), 18 November 2003
Hi JosephusThanks for your comments and I'm pleased the Spraymaster has paid for itself.
A truck mount is going from one extreme to the other and would be great if you could justify the cost or had the budget to do it.
However, I suspect you are like most others where you want to do it progressively and the 2 machines you've mentioned would certainly give better performance and results than you have now.
There are other machines about that are well built and provide good value for money but the Prochem range is certainly the market leader.
Can I suggest you contact us again and arrange to do a Prochem course (which wouldn't cost anything if you subsequently bought a Prochem machine). It does include demonstrations of 'dry' cleaning systems and the differences between them.
Speak to different carpets cleaners and they'll give you different opinions. Your best bet is to do the course so you can make an informed choice and then take on board comments from others and decide which machine to go for.
I know customers who have been on the course and, because they've learnt how important pre-vacuuming with a twin motored upright is, for example, have decided that a new vacuum cleaner would make more of a difference than a new carpet cleaner!
Please contact us if you'd like more information
Regards
Mike Boxall
Posted by Ken_Wainwright (Ken Wainwright), 18 November 2003
I'd go along with what Mike has posted Josephus, but I'd like to add a footnote of my own. Look very carefully at who you are going to market your services to. Your proposed equipment for the residential market would not be up to that required for the licensed/restaurant trade. And if you were concentrating on larger offices with low profile carpet or tiles then different equipment again would serve you best. I presume that the Fibredri you talk of is a dry powder system? My own opinion is that this could be too limiting for you, and at this stage in your business development may not be the most cost effective move. Over the years I've used many Prochem products and have nothing but praise for them or their back up service. They didn't become market leaders through good luck, but through good products, good support and competitive prices and a lot of hard work. If you wanted to look at alternatives then names to look at are Ashbys, Alltec, Extracta, CFR, Cleancare International, Hydramaster and Karcher to name but a few. As well as the products, you need to consider location too. If you have a dealer in your area, it can make a world of difference should you have problems /breakdowns.The Prochem, and the NCCA training is excellent and should give you a good working knowledge of the theory, technicalities and procedures of our industry. A must have. If the Prochem course is carpet only, I would suggest staying over and taking their upholstery course too.
Safe and happy cleaning
Ken
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