[Adam Eastman]

I am a newbie to the world of cc and have booked myself on the Alltec 1 day hands on carpet course next month and hoping to get to the NCCA 2 day course in March. However I have just found that the Prochem training courses are held relatively close to me and just wondering if anyone has any reviews/experience on the Prochem training courses and also their machines? Trying to decide if it would be beneficial to attend a couple of their courses or not.

Ant feedback/advice would be gratefully received 
 

[Jennifer w]

Hi Adam,

Before you get blinded with science etc, what are you looking to do?

Full time/part time, what's your background/ what's your budget etc etc?

It's no trickier business to conquer than any other, although the gaining of customers with regular work early on would help.

Regards

Jen

[Carpet2Clean]

Hi Adam

Did the Prochem course many years ago and found it very helpful and lots to do, plus the dinner was nice to curry..

Had ago on a truckmount aswell.

I have a Prochem powermax with heat n run, wand & hoses for sale if you are interested ?

Richard

[Adam Eastman]

Hi Adam,

Before you get blinded with science etc, what are you looking to do?

Full time/part time, what's your background/ what's your budget etc etc?

It's no trickier business to conquer than any other, although the gaining of customers with regular work early on would help.

Regards

Jen

Hi Jen

Looking to work  part time to start with, evenings and weekends around my current job. But if I get to the point where the cleaning is earning enough money to live comfortably with out working 12 hours a day, that would be grate

My background is in the flooring trade, worked six years as a fitter and the last seven years in flooring retail.  Our target market where I'm working now is middle to top end clients and this is the market I'm hoping to target with my the cleaning. We also do work for hotels, care homes, estate agents ect and again would like to get involved in the commercial  side of cleaning, both carpets and upholstery.

Budget wise, and I don't know if this is realistic yet as I'm not sure on all the required equipment, but hoping to spend around 5k on equipment, web site and getting my current van sign written to get me started.

[Adam Eastman]

Hi Adam

Did the Prochem course many years ago and found it very helpful and lots to do, plus the dinner was nice to curry..

Had ago on a truckmount aswell.

I have a Prochem powermax with heat n run, wand & hoses for sale if you are interested ?

Richard

Thanks for the feedback Richard

Not really at the point of buying equipment as of yet. Really want to get involved in a few courses first and see from  there what equipment to buy that's going to be up to the jobs I want to get evolved with.

[Adam Eastman]

Anyone else have any feedback on the courses and machines?

[tim handley]

not done alltec or prochem courses, ive done three at cleansmart, im also going to get on the alltec course and any other i can get onto.....  i feel you cannot do too many courses.......... some are very product based, ie selling their own gear, i guess most are, but its not just what you learn from great experienced operators/ ex operators,  i also find that you can learn a hell of a lot talking to other guys on the course as well..........    one or two courses a year for me.....   which reminds me i need to book a free course at prochem with my pro 35    purchase...............  wouldnt want to go on a course and  end up just using that supplier products to the exclusion of all others..........

[Adam Eastman]

Hi Tim

Can I ask what you thought of the clean smart courses? As these are the courses I would ideally like to go on but are the furthest away from my location. From the research I have done so far, the airflex pro looks like the machine of choice for me, although I haven't ruled out the Alltec machines yet as have seen a lot of good reviews on these too. 

[Neil Worsnop]

I have the 150psi twin van Prochem Steempro.  It is OK and I've never had a job too big for it (£900 in one day on a few occasions though I had a helper and it nearly broke me).
Equally it is just about portable enough to get up a wide set of stairs if you're early into your carpet cleaning career and need to make every phone enquiry turn into a paying job.  Mostly though it will happily run 50ft of hose from just outside a front door and be able to do a full house.  Pair it up with an inline heater and it will tackle most jobs.  They are cheaper than the more expensive, though better specced, machines from elsewhere.

I got a lemon - it was sent back after a cloud  of smoke came out of it during first use.  Returned, it worked perfectly well until a decent sized job on a very hot day.  The vac motors had fans that tried to extract air rather than draw cold, cooling air in.  The plastic base had melted.  I never got a satisfactory answer from Prochem or their tech guys.  They just went blank on me.

Repaired it & replaced vacs myself and vowed never to buy from them again.

I believe that other manufacturers have better spec portable machines - probably those that don't have truckmounts to promote.

I never did their training course.

[derek west]

Prochem 2 day, Alltec's IICRC 2 day, Cleansmart carpet 1 day and upholstery 1 day and NCCA 2 day courses are all very similar and all really good. 

[tim handley]

ive done all three cleansmart, cannot fault them, very very experienced and easy going teacher.....
airflex machines??   i started with a basic  135 psimachine which i loved, never let me down, then upgraded to a storm
which took me to a different level and just keeps on running with no issues whatsoever, cant really ask any more of it....
i also hear good reports of the alltec machines though i have never owned one, yet................
a good training course is worth travelling for....... though i  wouldnt go as far as cornwall......

[Norbert]

Hi Adam,

I did a lot of  training with Ron Tiley, Prochem UK founder many years ago when they were based in Kingston upon Thames, when their was very little formal carpet and upholstery training available.

The training back them was excellent and I have no reason to believe it has deteriorated since Ron retired from training. If you are that close to Prochem's HQ I would recommend going on their training courses as you will gain a great deal of practical experience, and get a chance to try their portable machines.

I still have my original Prochem steam pro from the 1980s, with built in emersion water heater, still in working order. However, I've now got an Ashby's triple vac Enforcer, with again an in-tank emersion heater and a separate V2 water heater.

The new Ashby's Enforcer is in my opinion a far more advanced portable carpet cleaner than the Prochem models produced now.  I still use a lot of Prochem chemicals, as I find them still to be very good products.

Alltec's machines are also well worth considering and I am looking forward to attending their IICRC carpet cleaning training course this February and seeing their range of machines whilst there.
Regards Phil

[sean oregan]

I have done 3 courses with cleansmart with Derek Bolton they were very good.
I have done 3 courses at Alltec and doing another on 18th with Paul Pearce very good (for a newbie I recommend Paul made it a little easier to understand)
Also done 2 day ncca course with Paul also very good.
And going on hard floor course with prochem on 23rd.
What I am saying is all these courses are good in slightly different ways and you will learn something new from all of them.

[sean oregan]

Oh as for machines I started with air flex 130 psi then got storm simply because I knew what I would get from cleansmart (a good quality extractor and great after sales).
I got this before meeting Alltec I was put off them by another forum but after seeing their machines and meeting the guys and girls down there I can honestly say I would have more than likely got the advance 600psi.
Both uk built.
Go to these places and meet the people and there machines.
Beware of forums

[bennymon]

Paul Pearce at alltec and Ron at prochem are great teachers .

[scott johns]

as other posts most teachers are excellent in there field . as for machines I have 2 alltec 600psi and 1200
psi all triple vac which are awesome machines and so reliable I cant fault them at all . also there staff are
second to none and I have over the last 10 years been on all of there courses and have always been very
happy with them also there cleaning products are great too best of luck and happy cleaning

[Jennifer w]

Hi Adam,

Sorry for the delay in replying. Having read your background, surely you'd earn steadier ,better money as a fitter, even subbying.

Or is it a change from it all you are after?

[Adam Eastman]

Hi Adam,

Sorry for the delay in replying. Having read your background, surely you'd earn steadier ,better money as a fitter, even subbying.

Or is it a change from it all you are after?

Money is good as a fitter, but unfortunately it is not so good for the body. Carrying and lifting heavy carpet around most the day and the rest of the time spent on your hands and knees bent over soon takes it toll on your knees and back. If it wasn't for that I would move back to fitting in a heart beat.

[Jennifer w]

Hi Adam,

I had a feeling you were going to say that!!!, it's a different strain on the body cleaning carpets, but not as brutal as fitting. We've got fitters that are now down to 3 days a week, still in there late 30s because of the physical demands.

Choose equipment carefully then, as some is twice as heavy as others.

All the best

Jen

[Adam Eastman]

Thanks Jen

Any advice you might have on equipment would be gratefully received. I'm currently thinking that to go for a bigger/more powerful machine may actually work out better. Ie a machine that can be bought to the customers front door with long hose rather then a machine that's got to be dragged round the house.

Re carpet fitters, we have one who has acupuncture twice a week on his back, he's in his late 30, one in his 20's that is in hospital this week having op on his arm as it dislocated when lifting a carpet. We also have one who's in his 60's still going strong, power stretches most carpets, and uses trolleys and ties whenever possible. Just wished I had taken his approach all those years ago!