Newbie here with several questions........

[dustin54]

I'm looking to get started in carpet cleaning as a side job. What type of equipment would I need? I'm looking at a used rotovac and mytee extractor. Is this the right equipment to consider? And what chemicals work the best with this stuff. I have a 6x12 enlosed trailer I will be running out of (like I said- it's a weekend job). Also, WHAT AND HOW DO I CHARGE PEOPLE? Thanks

 

[joey895]

If you are going to go the portable and rotovac route make sure you get auto-fill/auto-dump or you WILL regret it later. Also I would get glides for the rotovac and you'll need a regular wand also. Go to vacaway.com for your spotters. As far as chemicals go, you can't go wrong with Prochem, chemeistors, judson, etc

What to charge will depend on your market. Some on here will say to charge what you need to profit but it's hard to do that in the beginning because you simply don't have anyway of knowing what your production times or costs are going to be so I suggest finding the price range in your area and then price your services somewhere in the higher end of the middle of the pack and adjust as necessary later.

 

[Dolly Llama]

skip the carpet soaking rotovac and buy a 175rpm rotary scrubber instead.
much more versatile.
Use it to pre-scrub rat holes when needed, then extract rinse with the porty.
(that combo will do a MUCH better job than the rotosoaker)
It will also allow you to bonnet clean and encRap sCampoo.
you can strip and wax VCT with it too if the opportunity presents it's self

as far as chems, most major manufacture's chems are good.
You need a "nuclear" pre-spray for rat holes and a quality all-purpose pre-spray that can be used for stain resist carpets
If i had to choose only "one" line of chems, it would be Prochem.
IMO, they have the most consistently good chems through out their whole product line

do you have a local supplier near you?
If so, what brand chems do they stock?
(I'm a firm believer in supporting your local economy and local supplier "if" reputable and honest)

..L.T.A.