All, I have read a few threads and am a carpet extractor fan, and am looking for advice. I am a home owner, that wants to do carpet cleaning in the home as preventative maintenance. Ie. upholstery, car interior, and interior carpets (every 6 mo), maybe some work for friends and family. I am looking for an entry level portable device, and that will handle these tasks. My budget would be anywhere from $1500 to $2300 all included. I am willing to consider a used or refurbished machine. Any makes, models, or where to buy would really help me out. Please help a newbie out. I am in Fort Worth Texas. Thank you.
Hello there, rather than having a strict budget, you should be giving more thoughts as to what you really want to do. You started leisurely about maintenance cleaning of your home, carpet, upholstery, than you thinking to get on board some friends and family. You also mentioned possible tile jobs.
So let me summarize. To start carpet& upholstery you'll need portable unit with solutio n and vacuum hoses. Don't forget minor but important detail, furnish your solution hose with a shut off valve, so you don't have to run back and forth everytime you need to switch the accessories, e.g. carpet wand or upholstery tool. To make name for yourself you should show professionalism and dedication to the industry you about to enter from very beginning. In order to do so, you'll need some basics: floor blankets, corner guards, stair hooks, plastic pads, styro blocks, rakes and brushes. Don't forget some facial coverings for " uncertain " times. You'll need carpet wand
( 1 jet, 2 jets) and upholstery tool. To apply cleaning solution for carpet or upholstery , inline sprayer( injection sprayer) or hand sprayer( 1 or 2 gallon) will be also needed. Don't forget some miscellaneous spray bottles ( 1 quart) for different types of chemistry. Speaking of which, you better start researching what products to use as carpet & upholstery presprays ( powder, or liquid). Your potential customers might have pet issues, so think of that too. You might get some different products for urine removal and other organic matters. Coffee, wine , rust , slime and all kind dyes on carpet or upholstery will give you an opportunity to get stain removal kit( $150-$200).
What are you going to use to work cleaning solution in the carpet and help to break down soil in fibers? $30 carpet rake will do for now, later you can upgrade to Oreck Orbiter and diferent models and sizes of Crb's( counter rotating brushes) to make your job easier and more efficient. We're getting to a tile&grout part. Even though that ideal pressure for cleaning is high pressure (800-1200 psi), with minimal heat, great chemistry and some form of agitation you might get by with 500 psi producing portable( preferably dual, 3 stage motors, unless you get motors on steroids( LX) Stages may go down as diameter of the motors get bigger ( 7.2", 8.4").
Consider yourself very lucky fella, if you'd be able to fit all this in your budget.
Did I mentioned surface tool for tile&grout cleaning ? ( sx12, sx15, etc.)
My point is that you have to be very mechanically inclined, because all needed equipment and tools will require lotbof TLC.
Good luck and welcome to paradise.