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I have some Q’s regarding the cleaning or subcontracting of cleaning area rugs.
1. All of the places I’ve checked except 1 listed in the yellowpages under rug cleaning are guys like us. I’m trying to locate a few plants that do in house professional rug cleaning so I can sub it out if needed. Should I be looking under a different category?
2. Doing rug cleaning myself by the process leanred in training does not produce the results I would like. I vacuum both sides, apply solution, agitate with brush and extract with upholstery mate. I’ve even buffed a few inexpensive ones for friends just to experiment but I can’t rely on this procedure for expensive rugs.
3. For you guys that do the work yourself is it at the residence or back at your shop and what do you charge?
If subcontracted to a plant, is there enough room for mark up to warrant the pick up & delivery?
Thanks for your helpI have never sub contracted rug cleaning out. I do know that IICRC does offer a class on it. The only person that I have talked to that has taken the class is Dave Devlin in Denver. The way that he has explained it is very time consuming and expensive. I assume sub contracting this out would be of very little money making and not worth the time and effort. This said I haven’t checked this out either.
Welcome aboard Kurt,
As far as area rugs go, you can make great money cleaning area rugs. The way I clean them is first vacuume, then spray our solution, make sure you get it just wet enough but not two wet. Keep checking your moisture as your cleaning it, some area rugs are more absorbent then others. I use the dirt knapper brush with the regular green pads followed by the turf pads & the customers are very satisfied with how they turn out. The only time I use the upholstery machine is for a pet odor or stain & of course any specialty stain (red,coffee etc.) or if it is a small area rug. When I use the upholstery machine I put a piece of plastic down on the flooring that the area rug is on, then some carpet runners with a rubber backing on top of the plastic (you can purchase the carpet runners at lowes or home depo, the cost is about $2.50 per sq. yd. they come on a roll so you can cut the exact length you want, they are 3′ wide & work great. As far as the fringe goes the best & fastest way to clean fringe is to spray portable extract on it & keep wiping it with a rag then flush the fringe out with the mini-mate. We charge 2.00 a sq. ft.not counting the disinfectent treatmet or the fabric protector. If the fringe is chewed up pretty good we don’t mess with it but if it is in good shape we get it lighter then what it was without spending to much time on it, then use the rake to comb it out. Hope this helps you.Kurt, sell the fact that you don’t have to remove them fom there house unless they want you to. You might want to contact some of the operators that have immersion tanks & get their take. Good luck!
This is almost scary…I just asked Lisa Wagner this exact same question, 1 on 1 this past Friday in Seattle…
I have no ambition to gear up to clean orientals and take on the added risk, space and effort….that being said, I do want to offer the service since the #1 local, company with 17 vans does.
With a little research, I discovered a company that specializes in orientals rug cleaning since 1922 or thereabouts.3rd generation working it now in the Philly Main Line, maybe an hour or so drive.
My next step is to contact the company and see what they can give on commercial pricing and then mark it up from there to cover my costs in making a monthly or so trip…
This is one of those areas that I crawl into very carefully. I have cleaned several $5-$10K rugs and feel a little uncomfortable…and I know i have lost business since not taking on and cleaning $30K orientals….
I would feel a lot better to let the experts clean them than me….
Just a few of my thoughts on the subject…
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