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Upholstry Cleaning ?

I am considering offering upholstry cleaning as an add on and my thought is to invest in a small HWE machine for this purpose.

Do any of you have suggestions for a good quality,reasonably priced unit or any other advice.

All replies are welcome and appreciated.

Bill

Re: Upholstry Cleaning ?

I have the Mitey One for upholstery,and whatever else needs extraction. I have to say it has really been an asset to me,just flat does whatever I need it to do.
I did buy a single jet 10" wand for it,and really made it alot more flexable.

Re: Upholstery Cleaning ?

while i have been happy with all of the Cross American products i have bought in the past (Recoil 3HP and a PowerBooster), i went with a different machine for my upholstery cleaning needs. the info on it and why i chose it can be read on my ICS post here (copy and paste it in your address window):

http://www.i-boards.com/ics/messages.asp?MsgID=731033&ThreadID=75008#731033

and here:

http://www.i-boards.com/ics/messages.asp?MsgID=741691&ThreadID=76037#741691

is heat needed to do a great job? no. but it does speed up the cleaning process as we've all learned in our IICRC classes and in the best class of all....the real world is why i chose the immersion heated unit.

email me with any questions : dbeyer01@bluefrog.com

thanx --- D.

Re: Upholstry Cleaning ?

In keeping with the Low Moisture concept of cleaning I opted to go with Von Schrader upholstery machine.(dry foam) With the counter rotating brushes it does an excellent job on even the most delicate fabrics. I find it a bit slower the hwe but I charge more so it equals out for the extra time.

I always had a problem with marketiing low moisture for the carpet & then using hwe on the furniture. This has solved that issue for me.

Re: Upholstry Cleaning ?

Care to share those rates with us, kbsrocks?

Re: Upholstry Cleaning ?

it varies according to the piece. But the following are the base rates. Depending on difficulty, number pillows and soiling the rates go up.

Sofa $100. and up

Love seat $ 75.

Recliner $ 45.

on the other hand the hwe rates in my area(central Fl) are all over the board. Sofas anywhere from
$ 20. to $ 45. and recliners from $ 15 to $ 25.

I find that if my customer prefers low moisture cleaning for the carpets they will also prefer low moisture for the upholstery and are willing to pay for it.

I do have some commercial accounts that I hwe carpet and upholstery. I am refering to the residential cleaning where I market low moisture cleaning.

Re: Upholstry Cleaning ?

hiyas Barry

if i didn't have tennis elbow i would've considered the VS upholstery machine Barry, but i heard it is a tad bit heavy and i need to give my arm as much rest as possible.

thanx --- D.

Re: Upholstry Cleaning ?

I bought the older VS 2 and the weight of the head did get to my arm. However, the newer esprit has a handle that screws into the side of the head so you can use both hands. It also fits most of the older
VS 2's. Solved the problem for me.

Re: Upholstry Cleaning ?

Hi Bill,
Just throwing in my 2 cents, though I'm no upholstery expert. I'm trying to keep my costs low as I don't have a huge amount of $$ rolling in yet. So I'm just using the stair tool Mark sent me with 6 and 8 inch pads for upholstery right now. I picked up the rotary brush they sell at excellent-supply.com and use that once in a while as a pre-scrub, followed by the buffer/stair-tool. This method seems to yield good, though not great results. I'm just trying to be up front with the customer about what to expect, and let them know not to expect the same miracle with their couch as with their carpet.

Re: Upholstry Cleaning ?

Grant, I'm sure your upholstery technique and results will improve over time. My method is very similar to one being promoted by Gary Heacock, c.c. legend (in his own time) www.heacocks.com.