Expanding services

[infamous dave]

I have been carpet cleaning part-time for close to 2 years and things are starting to get really busy for me this year. I use only an old blue CCS machine for carpet cleaning but I need to start investing in more equipment to expand my services.

I cleaned the carpet in a salon a few days ago and the owner asked me if I would also clean her tile and grout floors (about 3 rooms) and a large area of laminate flooring. I also know that I have been turning down a lot of upholstery cleaning that I would love to be able to do.

I was thinking of getting a small spotting machine like they sell at Excellent supply for the upholstery cleaning but if I want to start doing tile and grout, is there a different portable machine I should look at?

I'm just not sure what kind of a job my little CCS machine will do on the T&G so I think my options would be to get a 175 floor machine or a more powerful portable that could handle not only upholstery but T&G.

If you were me, what would you be looking for?

[encapman]

A 175 rotary would be useful for scrubbing T&G. However a small portable won't do much for rinsing the floor. To be effective with T&G you'd want to use a machine like the Turboforce Hybrid http://www.excellent-supply.com/Turbofor...p_244.html coupled with a high pressure extractor or a truckmount. You'd need to have a machine that can run at 1000 psi. We sell extractors that have that kind of pressure. Kleenrite is the one I'd recommend, but they're expensive (and they're worth it too). Mytee is cheaper, or a Sandia extractor could be purchased for a few hundred less.

But let's step back and try to get you up and running with a simpler approach. It's always best to keep it simple, at least until you have the jobs flowing in to justify moving on. Here's a basic way to get some decent results...

You could apply a strong T&G detergent. Give it 15-20 minutes of dwell time. Scrub it with a rotary machine with firm brushes. Add a weight to the rotary machine and you can do some decent scrubbing http://www.excellent-supply.com/Koblenz-...p_175.html And then wet vacuum the floor, and damp mop it with a clean mop. If there's any residue left on the floor you could quickly run over the floor with a dry bonnet as a final step.

Hope that gives you some food for thought.