[GarryN]

I run a small cleaning/property maintenance business which is well established we primarily deal with end of tenancy or pre tenancy residential jobs, I have looked at the figures and the time spent messing around with vaxes or Rug-doctors(at the clients request) which are in general useless, it would actually make more sense to get training and buy a portable .
From the forums on carpet cleaning Airflex and alltec appear to get good reports despite the various forum biases.
Our immediate requirements would not include hard floors, running from the van is not an option for most jobs, water and power is always available and the machine would not normally be racking up huge numbers of hours. A tank heater over an inline should be sufficient for heating as there is always other work to be done. Budget wise the top ends are within reach however being that it is not going to be in use full time may be unrequired.  Any advice or guidance( got the get training bit).

Also 2 further questions,

We currently use numatic henry style vacs, they have dropped motor size due to new legislation and the recent one we got is nowhere near the suction of previous ones, anyone recommend a replacement of around the same size and weight?

Also noticed a post on someone cleaning a memory foam mattress, what's your experience with dealing with mattresses of all types as that would be a nice addon for my line of work.

[macky]

Are you sure your budget is right ? because you will need the same again for all the sundries you are going to need And a henry  is not the vacuum you will need for carpet cleaning Carpet cleaning is a money pit

[Dave_Lee]

The fact that the carpet cleaning machine may not be in full time use, makes no difference, when you do need to use one, it's better to have a top machine available. Most carpet cleaners use an upright vac machine such as a Sebo.
Dave.

[GarryN]

Budgets about right from what I have seen on here(including chems and a few recommended extra tools) and other places, everything becomes a money pit once you go down the all the tools for the job scenario or if you suffer from "ooo shiny new thing syndrome" it was more of should I be considering JAG, Amtech, Prochem, Ninja, Enforcer as well all of which some people swear by.

Used Sebo uprights before great machines just sadly not suitable for multi-purpose cleaning.

[macky]

well your going to need all the tools for the job and they all add up a half decent sprayer is £50 Depends on where you want to sit I suppose

[Jennifer w]

Hi Garry,

If the bulk of your work is end of tenancy polypropylene rental style carpets then you could get a grands worth of second hand kit, one does it all pre spray, a couple of spotters, and some hot water from the tap....

Depends I guess on what the agencies require, as in how top end they are...but generally the above will suffice.

Regards
Jen

[sean oregan]

Alltec and airflex are mentioned on here a lot for very good reasons.

[Ian Harper]

GarryN

before spending out you can try some new methods,

for example do you prespray? this can have a massive advantage when using cheap end machines. I would test micro splitters, and some of the best detergent pre sprays with yes with your rug doctor.

you can combine different systems. for example  rotary machines can be used before and after with something like chary pads. if you scrub, rug doctor and pad after you might see different results.  rotary is THE most productive in terms of sq ft per hr

Just think of the extraction part as the rinse part of any method. only needed on really dirty carpets. get a great vac and your get on top on this as well. time spent on this part saves loads of time on the later parts.( before rinse) many here will tell you that some clients think you have wet cleaned a carpet when all you have done is given a proper vac. ( up to 15 mins a room average) do this add in a good pre spray and extraction can take a fraction of the vac time.  line up each part of a method and you become more effective. pre spray needs dwell time.

You can go the shampoo rotary road.

best book a prochem course as they teach preventive,  corrective, and  salvage methods. plus you will get a greater understanding for their product range. easiest to understand.  many would have you believe the machine is the most important part, its just that part of any method. it will not matter how expensive the extraction machine is because if the dirt is not emulsified it ant coming out how ever many passes you make.

I am sure that if you run a company you get others to do the work, well investing large sums of money into equipment that can be damaged if miss used is not something you want to do.  rotary, and cheap extraction is the way forwards. hundreds of thousand of yards of carpet is cleaned each year by contractors with rotary and basic equipment. and these are massive companies working for FTSE clients. winter can be an issue.

regards heat if you have good emulsification with heavy scrubbing you can reduce the amount of heat needed. you only need bucket heaters.

with the type of work you doing its the end result that counts and not impressing any clients with how great your machine looks.

you can find some really great pad methods. they dont get talked about that much but they work great.

also an ozone gen would work great for you at removing odours from houses.

hope this helps, respects