I,m thinking of getting into the business and was wondering if someone could give me a little direction on what equipment I should buy. I was originally going to get a truck mount HWE until I started researching the low moisture process. So far I have looked at the Cimex, Challenger, and the Rotovac. Which of these or which combination of these should I buy. Or can anyone recommend any other machines. Right now I am leaning towards the Cimex but it seems like it is mostly used for commerical jobs. Can it be used for residential as well?

only 1 or 2 ppl i have spoken to use the Cimex for resi. i use it on berbers sometimes, but not all homes have berber.

for CGD (comm. glue down) carpet, to me, the Cimex is king for VLM.

for resi, OP is the way to go if you are wanting to be VLM...either the Challenger or the Orbot i can speak for.

i have had my Orbot for 4-5 months but have only used it 3 times. gave great results, but the Challenger is just lighter to use (it is also smaller than the Orbot, so it takes a little longer to clean a 15' x 15' room that the larger orbot, but i dont mind as i do very little residential).


hope this helps a little --- Derek.

For commercial Cimex is king!
Residential-----truckmounted hot water extraction is the way to go!! Some will argue that OP is the way to go for residential, but the bulk of residential is done with HWE, and it is the only method recommended by the MILLS.

The D's have it... Derek and Don answered your question perfectly. I couldn't add anything to what they said. Derek summed up the differences between the Cimex, Challenger and Orbot. And Don correctly stated that truckmounts have an advantage for the serious residential carpet cleaner. Well done guys, I think I may have to retire.






Rick Gelinas

Lots of square footage commercial carpet, buy a Cimex.
For small commercial jobs & residential get yourself a good 175 rpm buffer, portable extractor & add an external heater

Rick can get you one. I bought a Rotovac 360 last summer and it works good but not for commercial carpet.

This is what Rick's encap products can do for you. Did this job Friday 3189 sq ft.

So definately go with the Cimex. But for residential, should I go stright to a truck mount or will a portable HWE do just as good of a job, also does the Rotovac really do a much better job then a wand?

You can whatever you desire, it is your since i assume this is your business after all.

Cimex for commercial.
OP, 175 or HWE for residential.

If you're starting out think ROI, than see which ones of the residential equipment will best suit your business. TM is not necessary no matter what you may have heard.

Bill

I use only a cimex and op. I dont have a hwe or truck mount and business is great. In my opinion there are too many guys with truck mounts and thats tough to market against. In my city Im known as the "green cleaner" because I only do low moisture and it works great for me. I use the cimex on a lot of resi, mostly berber, but on other stuff too. I then follow it up with the op and it works great. My business is booming. but the cimex is king of commercial. I dont disagree with anyone else, they obviously know what they are doing for me my niche is low moisture so I have to make it work. lucky for me I found rick and his products do all the work for me.

Mr. Amazing
www.amazingcc.com

I really appreciate all your help guys. One more question though. If I go the Cimex OP route, what will I need to get for upholstery cleaning?

Check out Ricks website. There are several different drill drivers. One that can use tuway bonnets or beige pads and one that uses soft bristles. We have both and they both work well for the upholstery that they can be used on. We have even used them on stairs.

Gary,
you did one of the best things one can do for their upstart business,by finding your way to this website/forum.There is a wealth of knowledge to be mined from here;from the products to the "online support" Rick has put together a first class business,storefront,bulletin board as well as a cleaning company....he can walk the talk.

But I will say that if you have the money to invest in a HWE system,do so by all means.It can only help...another tool in the toolbox.By offering more than one method,let alone the knowledge of being able to utilize the appropriate tool,can definitely set you apart from the mass of "one size fits all" companies.

Don't get me wrong,I would love to be able to not have to pick up another wand,but there will always be a situation that arises that will need HWE,no matter if its a portable or TM.19 years ago when I was introduced to this industry a portable was how I cut my teeth,even though the technology was light years behind what it is now.I combined HWE with rotary and did some pretty amazing things.A truck-mount will simply a means to an end.

No matter what tools you decide to go with,learn to use them in side and out.Like the cimex as well as op multi use items are a blessing...just like this BB as a matter of fact.

Gary,

When I bought the business I have now three years ago I had NO clue what I was doing, until I found this site. Use the search feature and learn all you can about the encap detergents. They are amazing. (especially Rick's)

You need a variety of tools to tackle all the problems you will see. I started off with just a cimex & 175. To many resi jobs were NOT comming out the way i liked them too. I then bought a steamin demon, which can also have attachments for upholstery. Things got alot better. Then I got an OP.

I then bought a nice porty. See where I am going here? VLM is the mainstay of my business, but with out having all the available options, I was turning away business, or even worse loosing it because of poor quality work.

If budget is an issue, OP and Mex will get the majority done. With OP learn about your pads, they all will give different results based on the carpet you are cleaning. With the mex, you have everything you need on this site to take on commercial in ways many folks havent been exposed to yet, and you will have amazing results.

Mex - the scrubber, OP - the extractor. And then, you NEED to flush some resi's, but research what extractor would work best for you. Then ask even more questions, on all the boards. Use the search. Your on your way!

I do not currently own one, but the Orbot looks like the ultimate tool if I was just starting out and could only purchase 1 item. Seems like you would find more uses for it than just a cimex starting off.

I agree with you Tracy. I don't own an Orbot either, but with what I know now, I would definitely go that route. You could do commercial and residential with the same machine. I have a Cimex and 2 OP machines which could be replaced by one machine.

One last thought on equipment, a lot depends on what part of the country you live in. Several posts on this topic are leaning towards VLM methods. Some parts of the country you could get away with VLM methods, other parts like where we operate [ the great white north] you definitely need a hot water system that can create lots of heat to service a good part of our business. So no right answer. One thing for sure one can be very successful no matter which way they go.

Alot of great advice here...


Gary, you have to look at your truck as a golf bag, and you need a differant club for every shot. I'm just about all bonnet/padder cleaning but we have truck mounts and portables. We do alot of highrise work and if hwe is needed we bring in the portables.

My opinion and just my opinion is if carpet cleaning is in your future you got to be all in. If money is a issue, get financing from the equipment distributors, borrow or what ever you have to do. If your not sure if carpet cleaning is for you, go work for a carpet cleaner to get the feel of it.

Now if your going to tell me that you have a full time job and your just looking to supplement your income. Then get the Orbot.

Good Luck,
Paul C

Paul,

Can you give me an example of when you would have to use the HWE instead of bonnet/padder.

Hey Charles I ment minature golf, where's the windmill. LOL,LOL


Gary I'm a commercial carpet cleaning contractor who's business consist mainly of high rise work. (four story and up, way up). When we first aquire an account sometimes the carpet is so dirty that it has to be cleaned with HWE. The bonnet/pad method alone just won't get it cleaned. Once we get the carpet in good clean shape then we start using the bonnet/pad method.

Now, here in the Northeast we have bad winters so the carpets are getting really soiled. (salt and mud). Its the first two floors that get it the worst. So we sometimes have to HWE to get them clean. Just a note, the carpets of the first two floors of any commercial building will always be the dirtiest. No matter what part of the nation or world you are in.


We use Extraction for water damage. Pipes break, etc. I can't let them call someone else in. So we go in their and handle the problem... That also goes foe spills like toner, ink and anything else that get spilled in an office. I'm mainly talking spills like I described above.

For us it's another club in our bag...

Another note is we maintain our customers carpets on a regular basics. We have them on a program. Anyone looking to get into commercial carpet cleaning, that should be your goal...

Paul C