Heat aids! Above 118 degrees fahrenheit, each 18 degrees greater changes chemical reactivity by 100%. Hot h2o extraction washing is done between 150 and 200 degrees. Is the fact that too technical? The point is not only that hot h2o extraction, or “steam cleaning” is far outstanding to “dry cleanup,” but that should you do it yourself, use heat!

Really, you will find 3 inter-related aspects at operate whenever you thoroughly clean carpet. Heat, Dwell Time, and Agitation. To some extent, if you can not maximise 1 of them, you can make up for it with all the other people. In other words, in case you cannot obtain the cleaning solution warm sufficient, let it “dwell” a little longer inside the carpet, and scrub tougher.

Detergent attracts dirt. That is why it’s crucial to rinse out any cleanup remedy carefully. That is an additional cause why warm drinking water extraction gets carpet cleaner than the “dry” techniques. The bottom line is the fact that you need to rinse properly when you thoroughly clean carpet. With the new introduction of steam cleaners which cater for carpet steam cleaner in various sorts such as the hand held steam cleaner, upright, canister and and so on are well-known among leading carpet washing tools or cleaner.

A single method to cleanse stains is using the utilization of a shop-vac. No, you cannot just suck out the stain, but it is possible to repeatedly wash and rinse the region, and suck out the remedy each time. That is a much more effective approach than blotting up the water with cloth, mainly mainly because you will not possess the patience to wash, rinse and extract adequate times making use of paper towels or cloth.

An additional tiny secret with the carpet cleaners is placing rugs outside and inside the front door. They can catch much from the dirt that individuals provide in on their feet. This isn’t just about much less vacuuming, although. Dirt is like a large number of little blades that cut carpet fibers. The damaged carpet stains much more simply then, and it’s tougher to remove the stains. An even far better practice is to take off your shoes in the house.

Prepared to thoroughly clean? Vaccuum very first. Then, if you use a single of individuals portable machines, a minimum of obtain the drinking water as hot as you are able to. Dry the carpet rapidly, making use of fans to move the air all-around. You can at least lengthen the time in between costly professional cleanings, by utilizing these carpet cleanup tips.

So here’s a rundown. If you use nylon, you will most likely never see any worn path in the carpet. But polyester can be deceiving too since it is color resistant. However, polypropylene far out shadows both of them when it comes to being color resistant. To prove how amazing that is, you can even apply bleach on polypropylene carpet without changing its color!

Now, here’s where caution comes in. If you think that nylon is the strongest, yes you’re right. But think twice though. Because even if nylon is the strongest, it will quickly look old if inferior padding is installed. Either that or the members of the household are simply too insensitive to take care of their carpeted floor.

Then take note of the label of the product. The label of a nylon carpet of relatively low quality simply states “100% nylon” while that of higher quality states “100% nylon Monsanto.” Not that I’m endorsing Monsanto here, it simply means that the carpet manufacturer is embedding Monsanto stain-resistant in their product. Those carpets of inferior quality stain easily – even if they are nylon. Having the best rug cleaning solution in handy may not hurt too since the best rug cleaning solutions can effectively contain the stains in case of accident spillovers and the like.

Speaking of stain resistance, polyester carpet has the edge here as compared to nylon. Aside from being color resistant which has been said earlier, it is also more stain resistant. Not only that, it is dubbed as more environment friendly since polyester is actually made from recycle plastic bottles. Another word of caution though – you may find it awkward walking on polyester carpet since its texture is a little bit kind of, well, plastic.

Next, check how tight the fibers are attached to the carpet backing. The rule is the closer the fibers are attached, the longer it will last.

Another important factor is the durability of the carpet. For durability, check out the label. Durability is measured from one to five with five being the most durable. The recommended durability of a typical home carpet is 2.5. But if you plan on buying one for your office or rooms that are purely for conventions and other functions, you need a durability level of 3.5.

Then of course, one other factor that some of you may tend to overlook is the backing of the carpet. The rule of the thumb is better quality carpets have small, tighter squares as backing.

Then there are the obvious visual characteristics of a carpet which only you can better choose – the color of the carpet. Carpets – whatever fibers they are made of – are usually available in the market at 24 colors.

Lastly, make sure that the warranty of the carpet is not less than ten years. Consumer reports on carpet cleaning which are available in the market will also guide you in lasting your carpets. These consumer reports on carpet cleaning can be goggled anytime.

The end result - you will have the best floor protection carpet in your home.

All to often individuals believe that by mixing common products together it will make the cleaning easier or faster. When they turn to products such as bleach and acid or strong alkali type products the results can be disastrous.

What happens in this situation is a poisonous gas is produced when the users decided to use a mixture of two or more common household cleaning agents. When the widely isded household chlorine bleach (a sodium hypochlorite solution) is combined with a acid or acid-producing substance, such as a toilet bowl cleaner or vinegar, there is a sudden release of a quantity of chlorine gas. Likewise, when a chlorine bleach is mixed with ammonia, lye, or other alkaline substance, the action will liberate a highly irritating gas.

If the gas is inhaled. in either case, it can cause serious injury and possible death. Accidents of this type have occurred not only the kitchen and bathroom, but also in the cleaning and treating of the water in swimming pools.

Dont make the mistake of thinking that because a certain household products are good and useful, the combination of two or more of them will do a better job than one alone. Very often mixing them is useless and unneccessary since combined they will not make the job of cleaning easier nor give better results; and sometimes combining them may be disastrous. Follow the safe rule - use chemical cleaners as the manufacturer directs on the labels, and keep in mind some scouring(abrasive) powders not contain chlorine bleach.

It is not recommended, to use a hypochlorite (chlorine) bleach in toilet bowls, sinks, or bathtubs, or on electrical appliances, as it can in time injure, dull or roughen a fine, smooth procelain surface.

DONT MIX: Abrasive powder containing chlorine bleach, or chlorine bleach with

• Toilet bowl cleaners
• Ammonia
• Lye
• Rust Remover
• Vinegar
• Oven Cleaner

Chemical Safety: Important things to know.

• Know what chemicals you are using
• Always read the labels
• Measure all chemicals as per instructions
• Do not substitute chemicals
• Never mix one type of chemical with another
• Do not rely on the smell of chemicals as a means of identification
• Always secure the bottle cap or lid before the container leaves your hand.
• Do not store strong chemicals on overhead shelves
• Review and understand MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) on all chemicals you use
• Store all flammable or combustible products in metal containers
• If the solution you are using is a strong acid or alkali, protech yourself with safety glasses, rubber gloves and adequate protective clothing

Note: If you splash any cleaning product in your eyes you should flush your eyes with cool water for 15 to 20 minutes.

The first rug cleaning solution product I’m going to introduce you is the carpet cleaning shampoo. Shampoo is efficient when it comes to penetrating heavy soil. Then there’s the detergent variant. Detergent is ideal to loosen the soil so that it would easily be picked up by the vacuum cleaner. Detergent manufacturers also claim that their products do not leave sticky residues. A word of caution though – before using either the shampoo or the detergent, test it in just a small area of the carpet to check on the stability of the carpet color as well as the durability of the fabric. And one funny almost overlooked note – do not over wet the carpet. Do not ask me why. It’s obvious.

Now here’s another variant – the carpet protector. The carpet protector acts like a shield. It prevents the carpet from becoming easily stained or soiled. Before applying any of these solutions, use a pre-cleaner. Coming in liquid form, pre-cleaners release the soil at the topmost portion of the carpet so the shampoo can effectively penetrate once it is applied.

This time, I’ll be introducing to you a series of stain removers and how these different variants are suited to particular needs. There are stain removers available in the market which contains hydrogen peroxide to handle heavily stained carpets. Apply it and voila! The stain will disappear in seconds.

If your carpet dirt is caused by the urine and feces kind, use the enzyme carpet spotter. Odor counteract is combined with the hydrogen peroxide for maximum use.

If your carpet dirt is caused by juice and other food colorings, there is a particular stain remover suited for that kind. The food coloring remover works by separating the food coloring from the stained fiber through chemical reaction or heat transfer.

Beverages can be a pain in the butt too when they stain your carpet. To counter this predicament, use citrus gel spotter. And I really recommend this one because it does not penetrate the carpet backing when used.

If you are the kind of person who wants to experiment things, use a carpet rinse. It is excellent for juice, coffee and other light stains. Or if you want to do it the old-fashioned way, use a carpet bonnet.

To compliment the use of your bonnet, try the carpet sanitizer. Its odor neutralizing features make it excellent to be used in hospitals, nursing homes and the like. Because of their quaternary ammonium chlorides, carpet sanitizers reduce the growth of odor-causing bacteria.

And to maximize the floor protection of your carpet, encapsulating carpet detergent is ideal. It encapsulates dirt in crystal form. The crystal then can be removed through vacuuming. Oh, one more thing – it has a unique orange fragrance.

And to cap your carpet vacuuming, use the defoamer, a milky solution. The defoamer prevents the buildup of foam associated with vacuuming. But please do not add defoamer when shampooing your carpet since foam is absolutely necessary when cleaning your carpets.

This concludes my consumer report on carpet cleaning, introducing to you the best rug cleaning solutions available in the market today for the floor protection of your carpet.

One issue raised was the allergic reaction it supposedly creates for the carpet-owner once installed. There were many questions about the air quality that the carpet provides once it enters your area of comfort. Volatile organic compounds were said to be inherent in these carpets and this could be detrimental to the health of the consumers. These VOCs were said to be byproducts of the chemical manufacturing of synthetic carpets. Other airborne components can also stick to the carpet and could provide a breeding ground for organisms. These could get inhaled into the human body as the carpet is an area most frequented. The Carpet and Rug Institute are answering all these issues. They have been working with the government and scientific researchers to study the effect of carpets on air quality. All the findings have showed VOC emitted from carpets does not cause adverse effects to an individual. These VOC only have very low levels of emission that cannot be harmful to a person. Within 24 hours of installation, new carpet’s emission level will drop significantly. During this time, windows must be open to provide good ventilation for the carpet. Within 2 to 3 days, VOC emission will drop further to undetectable levels.

The CRI has also provided consumers with indoor air quality testing and labeling programs for carpets, adhesives and cushion materials. This process involves the testing of the products for its emitting level and labels those that have very low emitters with a green label. This was started in 1992 and called the Green Label. The Green Label Plus has now been added. A logo will be placed on the products that have passed the test and will certify that they have met the criteria for low emissions. There have also been installation guidelines for the consumers to maintain a good air quality during installations.

Researches have also showed that removing the carpet will not reduce the number of allergens in your home. The carpet even provides as a safety net that holds all the allergens in place in between cleanings so as to not get into the individual. A routine cleaning is what’s necessary to get rid of these allergens and also to prevent other organisms such as carpet beetles and carpet bugs living in your carpet.

Another issue raised is about the effect carpet production causes on the environment. The industrial waste and post-consumer carpet products that are being generated by carpet production add to the wastes on existing landfills. Many carpet industries have tried to lessen the quantities of natural and energy resources they use in daily operations. Reducing waste, conservation of water, electricity and fuels and recycling have been practiced. The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) has also been created to increase recycling and reusing of post-consumer carpet to reduce the waste carpets going to landfills. This is a joint effort of the government and the industries to facilitate carpet recovery so they would be reused as raw materials.

Many developments may still be made for carpets. And as long as carpets provide the comfort and the luxury it does and as long as environmental issues continue being addressed, carpets will be in our home, offices and schools for a long time.

So, you are thinking of putting up your own business? That’s great. Most people dream of putting up their own business and be their own boss. Not a bad idea considering the rigors of being employed – 9 to 5 daily routine, a bad boss, low-paying desk job, no bonus, etc. etc. Perhaps, it’s just about time you venture out into something that challenges your expertise, stored knowledge and your guts.

You might have thought of starting out a carpet cleaning business, and why not?
Carpet cleaning is a billion-dollar business! Try to imagine how many offices and private homes have carpets – not just on their floors, but on their walls as well. You have an extensive market, and a rich clientele – mostly those who have carpets can afford to pay for your cleaning service and those who can’t afford to lose a costly investment like a wall-to-wall carpet will surely opt for your professional help, even at costs slightly higher than your regular asking price.

It’s a “repeat” business, too. Your client last month, could well be your same client, after three months, provided however, you didn’t mess up with your carpet cleaning job the last time. As you search for more clients, and deliver a good service to each one of them, you slowly build a niche that can sustain your business for years to come.

Must you buy a franchise?

As a newbie businessman, would you rather build from scratch or hitch your wagon to a star?
When you build your carpet cleaning business from scratch, you will get your hands “dirty” by setting up your business from the ground up: getting clients, start out with nothing but your guts and experience. If you buy a franchise, you instantly have, at your beck and call, instant name recall, and you can also expect support –from training to actual operation- from people who know it all.

Does purchasing a franchise for a carpet cleaning business, guarantee success? Or, does it merely serve the purpose of commercialism, to the detriment of creativity and resourcefulness in building up your business, your way?

When you buy a franchise, you are actually buying a right – a right to use the name of an established business, and to legally operate the same business within your proposed area. Typical among businesses, there are advantages as well as disadvantages.

Buying a carpet cleaning franchise is costly to the tune of thousand of dollars. Incidental costs of setting up a business such as finding a site, either to build or rent, recruitment of manpower, purchase of necessary carpet cleaning equipments and supplies, taking out of licenses and permits including insurances, are exclusive of the total franchise cost:

Franchise Fees. Non-refundable, in fact, when your franchise agreement is terminated for any cause, your investment may be totally lost:

Royalties. These refer to the amount you pay, as a franchisee, to use the name of the franchisor. Computation of royalties is based on a certain percentage of your gross income, whether weekly, monthly or periodically - unfortunately, even including those periods you may not be making money.

Incidental Costs. Advertisements may cause a dent on your finances, too, as you will be obliged to contribute to the franchisor’s advertising costs which may not be directly helpful to your carpet cleaning outlet.

Controls and Restrictions: Franchise control over territorial jurisdiction, site designs, site location, carpet cleaning procedures, as well as restrictive measures in the overall company operation may inhibit the full exercise of your freedom to manage your business.
Of course, there are advantages, in fact, the sales pitch of every franchise opportunity advertised focuses on these advantages (rather than the costs we just figured out):

Minimized Risk. Seeking franchise relations with a reputable company with a proven track record, reduces your risk of losing money to a business venture that is bound to fail.
Assistance. Manpower training on carpet cleaning is provided for, as well as marketing support and managerial advices. Some franchisors may conduct periodic check-ups, seminars and workshops.

Or, would you rather set up your business from scratch?

You can start your carpet cleaning business from home. A good, conceptualized flyer can help a lot. Selling both yourself and your service may present a challenge, but once trust of your client is gained, everything will fall into place.

Do not underestimate the power of the calling card. It is the cheapest, yet one of the most effective mediums of advertisement. Bank on it!

Your competency to deliver the task on time, at least cost and with quality results will determine the progress of your business. As word of mouth progresses into validated truths about your craftsmanship, you will have a solid business.

But then again, starting a carpet cleaning business from scratch is not for the weak of heart. Many have tried and failed – yet, there were those who persevered and won.
Purchasing a franchise or starting from scratch? Regardless of how you do it, just do it well. The humongous success pie of the carpet cleaning business awaits you to get a share of it.

If you’re looking at deciding among the different types of flooring and you’re wondering what benefits you can possibly gain from a house that’s draped in carpets, then read on! The advantages of carpets include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Carpets have certain characteristics that make them resist sound a lot. Because of their texture, carpets tend to absorb sound instead of bouncing them around or conducting them. Therefore, high noise areas (such as office cubicle areas) or areas that require crisp sounds (like home movie rooms) should be carpeted to make full use of this advantage. Also, carpets can reduce the annoying sound of footsteps.

(2) Carpets are very good insulators, and they will most certainly help your home by keeping the room cold during warm times and warm during cold times. Because of this, carpets can actually help you conserve energy as well as money.

(3) Carpets can provide comfort because they are soft to touch. Anyone will certainly enjoy walking around the house barefoot in the house as a carpet floor. Also, sitting on the floor is no longer a pain in the buttocks if your floor has carpet flooring

(4) Carpets help prevent the circulation of dust around the house by trapping them between its fibers. Whenever a person steps on hard flooring, the vibration will send the resting particles into the air and quite possibly into somebody’s lungs. When somebody steps on carpet flooring, the dust and small particles stay trapped within the carpet, and will only be taken out by vacuuming or cleaning.

(5) Carpets are very safe because they provide an anti-skid surface as well as a cushion. If your toddlers love to run around the house and play, carpets will not only prevent them from sliding, skidding and hurting themselves, carpets will also cushion their fall in the event that this happens.

(6) Carpets have a wide range of available colors and designs. Many carpet dealers have intricate designs and patterns that you may like, so it is always best to take your time until you find the perfect carpet for your floor. Also, intricate patterns can also be woven into carpets, giving them a design and color that wouldn’t even be possible with other types of flooring. There are some carpet manufacturers who will even allow you to customize the look of your carpet. If you have the money, you can ask the manufacturers to weave in your photo on the carpet!

(7) Carpets are very friendly to people who are somewhat physically challenged. Carpets provide a safer environment for people who use crutches and wheelchairs due to its non-skid surface. People who are optically challenged may also feel the floor, since different types of carpets and different types of patterns will also give distinct textures.

There are many more advantages of carpet flooring, but by now, we hope that you get the general idea. If what you’re looking for is right here, then go ahead and get your carpet floor!

Carpet cleaning has evolved from one of those homemakers’ tales of woes to a billion dollar enterprise. Competition is keen - some carpet cleaning companies will shoot up and fizzle just as fast. Others take forever to grow while a few seem undaunted by the challenge –they do not only succeed, they linger. to the top

A careful study revealed that marketing has defined the staying power or longivity of any business undertaking. As various resources form its foundation, marketing sets up “wings” that fly your business from obscurity to fame. As popular as it gets, money can’t stop from pouring in.

How will you start the ball rolling?

Through the potent force of marketing, which includes selling, your business will flourish.

No business has withstood time and competition without the tested principles of getting the message across, that a type of product or service is available, to address a want or a need. Failure to convey this message effectively will reduce the chance of any business to stay on the fickle line of survival.

But marketing can be costly. Indeed, it is. The medium through which your marketing efforts will flow, dictate the cost of marketing in direct proportion to the results that you demand.

The important part of this business - or any other business - is the owner-operator’s “sense of marketing” and salesmanship. Make no mistake about it, all businesses succeed through marketing strategies and salesmanship. You won’t be selling a product with this business; you’ll be selling a service. And the selling of services is often more difficult than product sales.

Your success in this business will be predicated upon the sales effort put forth. Getting if off the ground will require a great deal of selling expertise on your part. You’ll have to sell yourself AND your services.

Therefore, it will be to your benefit to learn all you can about selling. Then, you should continue to add to your knowledge through an ongoing program of learning. Keeping up to date and being aware of successful selling ideas and methods will add to the total success of any business person.

Even before the acquisition of equipment, you need customers. Your prospects are all the businesses and homes with carpets in your area. Your problem is going to be in reaching these prospects, impressing upon them the benefits of your service, and getting them set up with an appointment for you to do the work.

We have found that the least expensive and most productive method of reaching these people is by way of neighborhood “hand-out” flyers or announcements, delivered door-to-door by Brownies or Cub Scouts, or members of other youth organizations. These flyers are advertisements or announcements of a “Carpet Cleaning Special,” printed on 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 sheets of paper that invite the recipients to call you for an appointment.

Study the carpet cleaning service ads in your local newspapers, the yellow pages of your telephone directories, and any similar flyers you may have received or seen. Make a pencil sketch of your own flyer, emphasizing customer benefits and your capabilities of doing the job take your ideas to the advertising class at a local college. Explain your project and ask for volunteer help. In most cases, you’ll be favorably impressed with the work, and will only have to pay with a copy of the finished flyer for the student’s portfolio, and a recommendation or testimonial about his work for you. Even if there should be a charge for the work you have done at the college, it will be a reasonable one.

Contracting with an advertising agency will probably take longer and will cost a significant amount of money. However, you might be able to contact a staff member who does free-lance work on the side. But you should set a specific date for completion of the project, and agree to pay no more than half the total estimated cost until the job is finished, and meets with your approval.

The next step is to take this original of your flyer to a printer, and have printed whatever number of copies you want to start. Most quick print shops will be able to print up to 20,000 copies, and deliver in a reasonable time, with nominal costs. If you decide to start with more than 20,000 copies, you will do better by going to a regular commercial printer. Larger quantities that would take a quick print shop all day can be handled by a commercial print shop in a few hours.

While your flyers are being printed, you should be lining up your delivery people - local Brownie or Cub Scout Troops. No big problem here. Either look up their local headquarters office in your phone book or call a friend or two with children about the right age and ask for the name and phone number of troop leaders. Arrange to pay these scout troops $10 for each thousand circulars they hand out door-to-door.

One other thing before you start handing out your flyers - be sure that you have someone available to answer the phone and set up appointments for you. It’s usually best to have a woman do this; it makes the caller think of your service as an established business. You can pay an answering service to handle these calls for you, but if your wife or a friend is available, that would be even better. It is, however, imperative that a “live voice” answer your phone. People have some strange ideas about answering machines, and most businesses find they do much better not using them.

Your “secretary” should have a set pattern of answering your calls, and an appointment book. Usually, your flyer will advertise a special such as “Your living room carpet deep-cleaned for just $20. Get all the ground-in dirt and unpleasant odors out. A professional job by experienced master carpet cleaners, and we can do it all for you tomorrow. Give us a call; set up a carpet cleaning appointment with us now; and we’ll have your home sparkling clean, ready for company in no time at all!” This special offer should take you no more than an hour in the customer’s home, meaning that your secretary can book appointments for you at the rate of one every ninety minutes or less, depending on the travel distance between appointments.

By setting your first appointment for 8:30 in the morning, and working thorough the whole day, allowing 30 minutes between appointments, you’ll be able to handle seven appointments per day. At $20 per call, you will gross $140 per day. Your secretary should book you solid from 8:30 through 5:30 each day. Naturally, some people may want you to stop by at a certain time that’s already booked. In that case, you set them up for their requested time on an open day. You’ll also find that as you gain experience, you can cut down considerably the time it takes you to handle each job, as well as your travel time between jobs, enabling you to book more appointments.

Just as soon as you have job appointments lined up, hurry over to your local carpet cleaner distributor, your local rent-all store, or even some super markets and rent a steam-clean carpet cleaner. Most of the time, you won’t have to pay until you return it, but even if you do have to pay at the time you take it, the cost is usually $25 or less for twenty-four hours. Read the directions and make sure you know how to operate it. Then load it into your car, van or pickup, and set out for your first appointment.

You should bear in mind that carpet cleaning is a type of service business that takes you into the homes of your customers. Therefore, how you look, dress, and handle yourself - particularly in the presence of your customers - will have a direct bearing on the success of your business.

Be clean, and conduct yourself in a business like manner at all times. Dress neatly. In fact, one of the best ways to get off to a fast start is to purchase a working uniform from Sears, Ward’s or Penney’s. Drop by a “pennant shop” and have them make up a special oval name tag which can be sewn over the left breast pocket. At the same time, have them make up a large oval with the name of your business and your phone number to sew on the back of the uniform. When you hire people to help you with the work, outfit them similarly.

Go out of your way to be polite and friendly with your customers, but refrain from being fresh. Avoid getting involved in extended conversations - if you are to keep on schedule, you won’t have time for a lot of talk.

Keep your equipment clean, properly maintained, and operating smoothly. Have your supplies organized and within easy reach. Don’t allow yourself to be caught in a position where you have to make excuses because the equipment won’t function properly, you can’t find what you need, or you suddenly find yourself out of certain supplies.

When working these advertising specials, just concentrate on doing the job and moving on to your next customer. If the customer questions you about the cost to do the other rooms, give an estimate and set up a tentative appointment, which you should later confirm with a call-back after checking your schedule. Don’t try to sell your complete carpet cleaning services on this first call, but do be sure to leave a business card with the name of your company and your phone number.

Your service is the “deep-down shampoo cleaning” of carpeting in your customers’ homes or places of business. Always strive to use the best equipment that’s available. Later on - possibly in a month or six weeks - you’ll want to buy or lease your own equipment. Your business will grow and flourish as a result of your doing a good and complete job every time. It may take you a few minutes longer - especially when you are learning the equipment and establishing a procedure - but in the end this will pay off with satisfied customers; and a group of satisfied customers is the key to your becoming wealthy in this business.

You want your customers to call you again and again to clean their carpets. Being pleased with your work, they’ll spread the word about your service for you, free of charge! And this, of course, will generate an almost unlimited amount of ongoing work for your new business.

The average price to the customer to have a 12 by 18 foot wall-to-wall carpet “shampoo cleaned” is about $50. Your materials to do that size job will cost about $5.

The typical job involves more than just one room, and the average period of time spent on the typical job is about two hours, with an average billing to the customer of $75 - materials for each $75 job cost you about $10 all of which means that with just five appointments per day, five days per week, your gross income before expenses will be approaching $2,000 per week.

Most people who set up carpet cleaning businesses manage to gross $50,000 or more the first year. We’ve described to you how to get started with virtually no real investment. However, we do advise you to either purchase or lease your own carpet cleaning equipment just as soon as you can possibly afford it.

Several equipment manufacturers have financing plans available. It would be well to check out several of these plans before purchasing your equipment. Even better than the financing plans offered, some of the manufacturers have business start-up programs to help you along the way. They will provide you with a complete carpet cleaning business plan, numerous advertising materials, a regular newsletter featuring business ideas from all the buyers of their equipment, and low cost supplies.

Before actually starting work in your carpet cleaning business, you should register your business or company name with your county clerk. The cost for this is nominal, and you will receive a registration certificate or card, which you will need to open a bank account in your company name. You should also talk to a few business insurance agents to get complete business insurance against damage to any of your customers’ carpets or accidents in their homes. Being able to state “All work fully insured,” will greatly add to your business image.

Think seriously about buying or leasing a van for your service calls. A uniform with the name of your company emblazoned on the back, plus a late model van with your company name neatly painted on the side will do just about as much to build your image and your business as a full page advertisement in the Sunday paper.

On the subject of advertising, so long as you don’t erect a sign on your front lawn or your roof, proclaiming for all the world to see the fact that you’re operating a carpet cleaning business, you won’t have any problems operating your business from your home. Sooner or later though, you’ll have to buy a City or county business license. So, the sooner you do this and are approved by the licensing agency in your area, the better you’re going to feel and the more confidence you’ll exude in all your business dealings.

Definitely plan to run a quarter page ad in your local business and telephone directories. You’ll really be surprised at the number of calls you get from these ads. At least in the beginning, you should run a regular ad in your newspaper. This should be a display ad, at least 2 columns wide by 4 inches deep, and should appear in your Wednesday and Thursday papers. As you become established, it won’t be necessary to run more than an ad every other week in your Wednesday papers and before the holidays such as Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, when people always want to spruce up their residences.

Radio or television advertising really doesn’t pull that well for this kind of business when you compare the costs to the number of jobs you get from it. I would suggest, that you contact these media and try for a trade or barter agreement. You clean their carpets on a regular basis, and they allow you to store up advertising credit to use in the spring and fall when people are really serious about spring cleaning, and and Christmas preparations.

It’s also recommended that you register as a “probationary member” of your Chamber of Commerce. This will add prestige to your business, and enable you to associate on equal terms with the various other business leaders in your community. Joining and attending civic club meetings, participating in their causes and events, will also result in long-range business income for you.

Something else to keep in mind: Get the word about your being in business out to the people in your area. Get the Chamber of Commerce to mention you in their newsletter; send “blurbs” about your business and service to all your area newspapers, TV and radio stations; arrange to put on an all-day demonstration of your work on the carpeting in the covered mall areas in your city’s shopping centers, and hand out brochures to all the people watching; rent a booth and hand out brochures at all the home building, remodeling, and home improvement shows. Do the same thing at your county fair, and hold seminars on the care of fine carpets. The ideas for free publicity and promotion are limitless, so use your imagination and “push” to get your name in the paper and on radio and TV as often as possible.

There’s always going to be competition. Some of it will be good for you, and some of it will be bad for you. Accept it as a part of life. Just keep in mind that you’re in business because you feel you can do a better job; you can do it more efficiently; and you can do it with greater satisfaction to your customers than anyone else. Be aware of the competition, but don’t worry about it. Just stick to your own business plan, and you’ll be okay.

Depending on the population of your area, you should be planning for additional carpet cleaning machines and the hiring of people to do the work for you within three to six months - that is, unless your original motive for a business of your own was to see how fast you could work yourself to death. Assuming that all goes well with you, within a couple of years you should have “hired help” running the business while you enjoy the fruits of all the hard work you put in at the outset.

I personally don’t see the need for you to even consider buying a franchised operation. There’s just too much real help available for the “independent” to go to the considerable expense and obligation of a franchise. Starting from scratch, and as an independent, this is most assuredly a low-investment, low-overhead type business - the kind we recommend for anyone and everyone who’s determined to make it on his own.

A carpet cleaning business of your own is one of the easiest of all small businesses to start. You’ll find the initial start-up costs well within your reach, and the margin of profit most astounding! It’s an easy business to operate, and yet one that can be called necessary to today’s standard of living. It carries a very high rating on all business evaluation stability charts, and it’s a business that will grow rapidly to bring you the monetary rewards you desire.

First, almost all homes and office buildings built since 1960 have wall-to-wall carpeting. Secondly, the replacement costs and the cyclical faltering of the national economy have caused people to want to make what they already own last longer, especially in the case of carpeting, which is a sizable investment.

Most businesses employ janitors or janitorial services to vacuum their carpets after hours daily, and then “master” carpet cleaners to deep-clean them every three months or so. Homemakers also generally vacuum their carpets perhaps several times a week, and then hope to deep-clean every spring or fall, depending on the kind of household traffic, and on their budgets.

It’s true that people everywhere try to save money by handling these jobs themselves. However, empathy with the people, and an understanding of this trend, should be neither cause for alarm nor a deterrent to your success in this business.

Most people are just too busy to handle all their do-it-yourself projects. They continually put off until later any chore that requires special equipment. This is especially true with carpet cleaning, because deep down, they’re fearful of botching the job. Thus, they’re more than willing to pay an expert or a specialist to do this kind of work for them

It doesn’t take any special education, skill or experience to operate a professional-type, deep-cleaning carpet cleaner. Yet, from, your first job onward, you should project the image of a thoroughly experienced expert in your field. And, we’re going to show you how you can get started in this business, and make $300 or more per working day, with virtually no investment!

The important part of this business - or any other business - is the owner-operator’s “sense of marketing” and salesmanship. Make no mistake about it, all businesses succeed through marketing strategies and salesmanship. You won’t be selling a product with this business; you’ll be selling a service. And the selling of services is often more difficult than product sales.

Your success in this business will be predicated upon the sales effort put forth. Getting if off the ground will require a great deal of selling expertise on your part. You’ll have to sell yourself AND your services.

Therefore, it will be to your benefit to learn all you can about selling. Then, you should continue to add to your knowledge through an ongoing program of learning. Keeping up to date and being aware of successful selling ideas and methods will add to the total success of any business person.

Even before the acquisition of equipment, you need customers. Your prospects are all the businesses and homes with carpets in your area. Your problem is going to be in reaching these prospects, impressing upon them the benefits of your service, and getting them set up with an appointment for you to do the work.

We have found that the least expensive and most productive method of reaching these people is by way of neighborhood “hand-out” flyers or announcements, delivered door-to-door by Brownies or Cub Scouts, or members of other youth organizations. These flyers are advertisements or announcements of a “Carpet Cleaning Special,” printed on 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 sheets of paper that invite the recipients to call you for an appointment.

Study the carpet cleaning service ads in your local newspapers, the yellow pages of your telephone directories, and any similar flyers you may have received or seen. Make a pencil sketch of your own flyer, emphasizing customer benefits and your capabilities of doing the job take your ideas to the advertising class at a local college. Explain your project and ask for volunteer help. In most cases, you’ll be favorably impressed with the work, and will only have to pay with a copy of the finished flyer for the student’s portfolio, and a recommendation or testimonial about his work for you. Even if there should be a charge for the work you have done at the college, it will be a reasonable one.

Contracting with an advertising agency will probably take longer and will cost a significant amount of money. However, you might be able to contact a staff member who does free-lance work on the side. But you should set a specific date for completion of the project, and agree to pay no more than half the total estimated cost until the job is finished, and meets with your approval.

The next step is to take this original of your flyer to a printer, and have printed whatever number of copies you want to start. Most quick print shops will be able to print up to 20,000 copies, and deliver in a reasonable time, with nominal costs. If you decide to start with more than 20,000 copies, you will do better by going to a regular commercial printer. Larger quantities that would take a quick print shop all day can be handled by a commercial print shop in a few hours.

While your flyers are being printed, you should be lining up your delivery people - local Brownie or Cub Scout Troops. No big problem here. Either look up their local headquarters office in your phone book or call a friend or two with children about the right age and ask for the name and phone number of troop leaders. Arrange to pay these scout troops $10 for each thousand circulars they hand out door-to-door.

One other thing before you start handing out your flyers - be sure that you have someone available to answer the phone and set up appointments for you. It’s usually best to have a woman do this; it makes the caller think of your service as an established business. You can pay an answering service to handle these calls for you, but if your wife or a friend is available, that would be even better. It is, however, imperative that a “live voice” answer your phone. People have some strange ideas about answering machines, and most businesses find they do much better not using them.

Your “secretary” should have a set pattern of answering your calls, and an appointment book. Usually, your flyer will advertise a special such as “Your living room carpet deep-cleaned for just $20. Get all the ground-in dirt and unpleasant odors out. A professional job by experienced master carpet cleaners, and we can do it all for you tomorrow. Give us a call; set up a carpet cleaning appointment with us now; and we’ll have your home sparkling clean, ready for company in no time at all!” This special offer should take you no more than an hour in the customer’s home, meaning that your secretary can book appointments for you at the rate of one every ninety minutes or less, depending on the travel distance between appointments.

By setting your first appointment for 8:30 in the morning, and working thorough the whole day, allowing 30 minutes between appointments, you’ll be able to handle seven appointments per day. At $20 per call, you will gross $140 per day. Your secretary should book you solid from 8:30 through 5:30 each day. Naturally, some people may want you to stop by at a certain time that’s already booked. In that case, you set them up for their requested time on an open day. You’ll also find that as you gain experience, you can cut down considerably the time it takes you to handle each job, as well as your travel time between jobs, enabling you to book more appointments.

Just as soon as you have job appointments lined up, hurry over to your local carpet cleaner distributor, your local rent-all store, or even some super markets and rent a steam-clean carpet cleaner. Most of the time, you won’t have to pay until you return it, but even if you do have to pay at the time you take it, the cost is usually $25 or less for twenty-four hours. Read the directions and make sure you know how to operate it. Then load it into your car, van or pickup, and set out for your first appointment.

You should bear in mind that carpet cleaning is a type of service business that takes you into the homes of your customers. Therefore, how you look, dress, and handle yourself - particularly in the presence of your customers - will have a direct bearing on the success of your business.

Be clean, and conduct yourself in a business like manner at all times. Dress neatly. In fact, one of the best ways to get off to a fast start is to purchase a working uniform from Sears, Ward’s or Penney’s. Drop by a “pennant shop” and have them make up a special oval name tag which can be sewn over the left breast pocket. At the same time, have them make up a large oval with the name of your business and your phone number to sew on the back of the uniform. When you hire people to help you with the work, outfit them similarly.

Go out of your way to be polite and friendly with your customers, but refrain from being fresh. Avoid getting involved in extended conversations - if you are to keep on schedule, you won’t have time for a lot of talk.

Keep your equipment clean, properly maintained, and operating smoothly. Have your supplies organized and within easy reach. Don’t allow yourself to be caught in a position where you have to make excuses because the equipment won’t function properly, you can’t find what you need, or you suddenly find yourself out of certain supplies.

When working these advertising specials, just concentrate on doing the job and moving on to your next customer. If the customer questions you about the cost to do the other rooms, give an estimate and set up a tentative appointment, which you should later confirm with a call-back after checking your schedule. Don’t try to sell your complete carpet cleaning services on this first call, but do be sure to leave a business card with the name of your company and your phone number.

Your service is the “deep-down shampoo cleaning” of carpeting in your customers’ homes or places of business. Always strive to use the best equipment that’s available. Later on - possibly in a month or six weeks - you’ll want to buy or lease your own equipment. Your business will grow and flourish as a result of your doing a good and complete job every time. It may take you a few minutes longer - especially when you are learning the equipment and establishing a procedure - but in the end this will pay off with satisfied customers; and a group of satisfied customers is the key to your becoming wealthy in this business.

You want your customers to call you again and again to clean their carpets. Being pleased with your work, they’ll spread the word about your service for you, free of charge! And this, of course, will generate an almost unlimited amount of ongoing work for your new business.

The average price to the customer to have a 12 by 18 foot wall-to-wall carpet “shampoo cleaned” is about $50. Your materials to do that size job will cost about $5.

The typical job involves more than just one room, and the average period of time spent on the typical job is about two hours, with an average billing to the customer of $75 - materials for each $75 job cost you about $10 all of which means that with just five appointments per day, five days per week, your gross income before expenses will be approaching $2,000 per week.

Most people who set up carpet cleaning businesses manage to gross $50,000 or more the first year. We’ve described to you how to get started with virtually no real investment. However, we do advise you to either purchase or lease your own carpet cleaning equipment just as soon as you can possibly afford it.

Several equipment manufacturers have financing plans available. It would be well to check out several of these plans before purchasing your equipment. Even better than the financing plans offered, some of the manufacturers have business start-up programs to help you along the way. They will provide you with a complete carpet cleaning business plan, numerous advertising materials, a regular newsletter featuring business ideas from all the buyers of their equipment, and low cost supplies.

Before actually starting work in your carpet cleaning business, you should register your business or company name with your county clerk. The cost for this is nominal, and you will receive a registration certificate or card, which you will need to open a bank account in your company name. You should also talk to a few business insurance agents to get complete business insurance against damage to any of your customers’ carpets or accidents in their homes. Being able to state “All work fully insured,” will greatly add to your business image.

Think seriously about buying or leasing a van for your service calls. A uniform with the name of your company emblazoned on the back, plus a late model van with your company name neatly painted on the side will do just about as much to build your image and your business as a full page advertisement in the Sunday paper.

On the subject of advertising, so long as you don’t erect a sign on your front lawn or your roof, proclaiming for all the world to see the fact that you’re operating a carpet cleaning business, you won’t have any problems operating your business from your home. Sooner or later though, you’ll have to buy a City or county business license. So, the sooner you do this and are approved by the licensing agency in your area, the better you’re going to feel and the more confidence you’ll exude in all your business dealings.

Definitely plan to run a quarter page ad in your local business and telephone directories. You’ll really be surprised at the number of calls you get from these ads. At least in the beginning, you should run a regular ad in your newspaper. This should be a display ad, at least 2 columns wide by 4 inches deep, and should appear in your Wednesday and Thursday papers. As you become established, it won’t be necessary to run more than an ad every other week in your Wednesday papers and before the holidays such as Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, when people always want to spruce up their residences.

Radio or television advertising really doesn’t pull that well for this kind of business when you compare the costs to the number of jobs you get from it. I would suggest, that you contact these media and try for a trade or barter agreement. You clean their carpets on a regular basis, and they allow you to store up advertising credit to use in the spring and fall when people are really serious about spring cleaning, and and Christmas preparations.

It’s also recommended that you register as a “probationary member” of your Chamber of Commerce. This will add prestige to your business, and enable you to associate on equal terms with the various other business leaders in your community. Joining and attending civic club meetings, participating in their causes and events, will also result in long-range business income for you.

Something else to keep in mind: Get the word about your being in business out to the people in your area. Get the Chamber of Commerce to mention you in their newsletter; send “blurbs” about your business and service to all your area newspapers, TV and radio stations; arrange to put on an all-day demonstration of your work on the carpeting in the covered mall areas in your city’s shopping centers, and hand out brochures to all the people watching; rent a booth and hand out brochures at all the home building, remodeling, and home improvement shows. Do the same thing at your county fair, and hold seminars on the care of fine carpets. The ideas for free publicity and promotion are limitless, so use your imagination and “push” to get your name in the paper and on radio and TV as often as possible.

There’s always going to be competition. Some of it will be good for you, and some of it will be bad for you. Accept it as a part of life. Just keep in mind that you’re in business because you feel you can do a better job; you can do it more efficiently; and you can do it with greater satisfaction to your customers than anyone else. Be aware of the competition, but don’t worry about it. Just stick to your own business plan, and you’ll be okay.

Depending on the population of your area, you should be planning for additional carpet cleaning machines and the hiring of people to do the work for you within three to six months - that is, unless your original motive for a business of your own was to see how fast you could work yourself to death. Assuming that all goes well with you, within a couple of years you should have “hired help” running the business while you enjoy the fruits of all the hard work you put in at the outset.

I personally don’t see the need for you to even consider buying a franchised operation. There’s just too much real help available for the “independent” to go to the considerable expense and obligation of a franchise. Starting from scratch, and as an independent, this is most assuredly a low-investment, low-overhead type business - the kind we recommend for anyone and everyone who’s determined to make it on his own.

A carpet cleaning business of your own is one of the easiest of all small businesses to start. You’ll find the initial start-up costs well within your reach, and the margin of profit most astounding! It’s an easy business to operate, and yet one that can be called necessary to today’s standard of living. It carries a very high rating on all business evaluation stability charts, and it’s a business that will grow rapidly to bring you the monetary rewards you desire.

Other Readings:
Initial Steps To Undertake In Setting Up Your Personal Carpet Cleaning Business With Minimum Budget

Other Resources:
How to make an extra $54,000 part time with Office Cleaning Business (NO INVESTMENT - NO EXPERIENCE)

Start a cleaning business with Suze & Ev. - Earn an excellent living your first year in business.

Please watch this video. Its so cool…

Me, I use white vinegar. I believe it is stronger and it works..!!