Help me setup a Rug Shop

The Great Oz

Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Messages
5,265
Location
seattle
Name
bryan
Call me anytime to discuss short term and long-term plans. Let your volume of rugs determine what equipment you buy at various phases of development along the years.
Call Tom. One of the great things about him is that he will tell you to let your business growth push you into buying time saving equipment, rather than trying to sell you equipment you don't need yet and you'll struggle to pay for.
Is a wash pit still necessary with a tub?
A wash floor is necessary. Lots of rugs can't be tumbled, so don't limit your options.

If you're serious about getting more involved in rug cleaning, I'd then seriously recommend you attend the ARCS event coming up in a couple of weeks in Indy. You can see shops at various degrees of size and complexity, and talk with the best people in the biz. Might seem expensive on the surface, but it will be the best investment you can make right now.
 

Nomad74

Boy Sprout
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
23,468
Location
Redding
I’ll probaby have my new guy CX-15 it. :)

BD6A43EC-4F7D-4E5A-98C1-EFD8613A7264.jpeg
 

Desk Jockey

Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
64,833
Location
A planet far far away
Name
Rico Suave
FYI. I just got an unsolicited call to clean a 10x12ish Chinese Oriental Rug. I quoted $4. Man, this is my week for Chinese rugs. I scheduled it for pickup.
How many more to cover building rent? Insurance? Utilities? Equipment payment? Labor? How far in the red are you? 😉
 

Trip Moses

IMOL
Joined
Sep 19, 2018
Messages
3,594
Location
Savannah GA
Name
Trip Moses
I like the idea of that cleaning platform that rug sucker sells. The rest is gimmicky but the platform is a decent idea for wanding rugs.
 

Cleanworks

Moderator
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
26,930
Location
New Westminster,BC
Name
Ron Marriott
$4 to wand it at your shop?


you're going to hell.
All depends on what he does to it. I wand all my rugs, no wash pit yet but after thorough vacuuming, I saturate the rugs with an appropriate solution, scrub with a 175, do front and back and rinse and extract with a Zipper. Hand clean fringes then hang to dry. It's as thorough as it's going to get without a wash pit or tub. I also treat for urine, de-mothing and moth repellent, etc. Repairs I send out. I only do about 10 rugs a week but it pays the rent on the shop.
 

Desk Jockey

Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
64,833
Location
A planet far far away
Name
Rico Suave
We do that and rug dust. Dried in a dry room and cleaned a second time.

Some clients we've cleaned their rugs for decades. Some will travel as far as 3 hours one way to drop them off.

It's not immersion cleaning but the finished product looks really good. If we had the market modernization might make me more interested in rugs. As it is now, it's much too physical work.
 

Cleanworks

Moderator
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
26,930
Location
New Westminster,BC
Name
Ron Marriott
We do that and rug dust. Dried in a dry room and cleaned a second time.

Some clients we've cleaned their rugs for decades. Some will travel as far as 3 hours one way to drop them off.

It's not immersion cleaning but the finished product looks really good. If we had the market modernization might make me more interested in rugs. As it is now, it's much too physical work.
What I would like for myself is a sloped wash pit with lint screen and drain at the end so I can soak a rug if need be, mostly for urine. Makes it easy to scrub, you only need an inch of water to cover the rug, easy to rinse with a hose. You can scrub and flip the rug over easily. Then a centrifuge for extracting the water. I wouldn't bother with a wash tub unless I had the volume to justify it.
 

Cleanworks

Moderator
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
26,930
Location
New Westminster,BC
Name
Ron Marriott
We have a sloped garage floor with a floor drain but it's on the opposite side of the building. Quite a way away. 😣
You can always use a adequate sized sump pump and run a hose to the drain or the nearest toilet. Rather than clean on the concrete, build a frame out of 2x8's and plywood. cover with plywood on the bottom and line it with pond liner. build in your screen and sump, then use wedges to elevate one end to slope it.
 
Joined
Jun 20, 2016
Messages
6,242
Location
Bc
Name
Jeff T
Who cares?
This ain’t about you!
It’s called encouraging those around you. Letting them grow and develop their business.
I don’t think Damon is happy with only sucking pee out of W/W.
It’s about moving forward, learning new things, and becoming better at what we do...
Is it about me?
NO.... it’s about the betterment of us as a group...
Only sharing my personal journey, bit by bit, as I TRY to grow aswell....
Jeff & SCC
 

Cleanworks

Moderator
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
26,930
Location
New Westminster,BC
Name
Ron Marriott
It’s called encouraging those around you. Letting them grow and develop their business.
I don’t think Damon is happy with only sucking pee out of W/W.
It’s about moving forward, learning new things, and becoming better at what we do...
Is it about me?
NO.... it’s about the betterment of us as a group...
Only sharing my personal journey, bit by bit, as I TRY to grow aswell....
Jeff & SCC
Didn't you hear? It's not about you. It's all about Chavez.
 

rhyde

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
4,253
Location
Portland, Oregon
Name
rhyde
I think a key to a busy rug plant is to offer a few options of "clean"

One designed for cleaning rugs that the owner spent under $200 on

One for nice synthetics and tufted

and the Uber RF Deluxe method


I tried that was never happy with it. 4.25 sq ft even for that 99.00 8x10 olefin you got at Costco
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mikey P

T Monahan

Supportive Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2012
Messages
1,673
Location
Ann Arbor, MI
Name
Tom Monahan
Look at this ROI Video:


Return On Investment Purchase
 

T Monahan

Supportive Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2012
Messages
1,673
Location
Ann Arbor, MI
Name
Tom Monahan
The greater Ann Arbor Michigan area is my service area. Ann Arbor has a population of around 122,000. (27.86 mi²) Households in Ann Arbor, MI have a median annual income of $57,697

The aforementioned stats can fool you. Consider the following:

Number of households with income $60k:

Ann Arbor:
6.5% (3,127)
State:
8.2% (317,209)
Number of households with income $75k:
Ann Arbor:
6.9% (3,349)
State:
10.3% (400,421)
Number of households with income $100k:
Ann Arbor:
12.6% (6,090)
State:
12.1% (469,989)
Number of households with income $125k:
Ann Arbor:
9.9% (4,782)
Michigan:
8.2% (317,278)
Number of households with income $150k:
Ann Arbor:
4.9% (2,388)
Michigan:
4.8% (186,785)
Number of households with income $200k:
Ann Arbor:
7.9% (3,834)
Michigan:
4.7% (180,780)
Number of households with income > $200k:
Ann Arbor:
8.4% (4,043)
Michigan:
4.4% (172,805)

The University of Michigan exists here. There are major medical heath facilities in the area too. Many tech firms, some industry and various other professional men and women live and work here.

Consider this: My guess is that Hagopian alone pulls in more than a few thousand rugs a year from Ann Arbor with their various advertising campaigns and also having a high profile satellite store as a drop-off location.* This despite Ann Arbor's 50 different carpet cleaning companies claiming to clean rugs too! Everyone makes a dent in the market place. Then there is little me. Yet, I am still able to do enough volume to justify my little in-plant operation even not doing TV, Radio, mailings or print ads.

You say there is only a few offering rug washing in the population that you described? Then perhaps you need to study the demographics even more closely.

I find across the country that schools of higher education, health care facilities, and other professional services like engineering, law, contactors of varying sorts help bring staff (your potential customers) into the area that will have rugs and can afford to have them washed.

Try this: Have your on-location carpet cleaning techs start counting the rugs they see in each home they service. They you will know better just from your customer base, how much money you are leaving on the floor.

Just some of my ideas to ponder.

*Please note: I have no real knowledge what Hagopian does in Ann Arbor. That is there business and we consider them a Centrum Force / MOR client. However, Ken Snow did tell me around 3500 rugs a year. That was a long time ago and no dollars were discussed.
 

Nomad74

Boy Sprout
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
23,468
Location
Redding
The greater Ann Arbor Michigan area is my service area. Ann Arbor has a population of around 122,000. (27.86 mi²) Households in Ann Arbor, MI have a median annual income of $57,697

The aforementioned stats can fool you. Consider the following:

Number of households with income $60k:

Ann Arbor:
6.5% (3,127)
State:
8.2% (317,209)
Number of households with income $75k:
Ann Arbor:
6.9% (3,349)
State:
10.3% (400,421)
Number of households with income $100k:
Ann Arbor:
12.6% (6,090)
State:
12.1% (469,989)
Number of households with income $125k:
Ann Arbor:
9.9% (4,782)
Michigan:
8.2% (317,278)
Number of households with income $150k:
Ann Arbor:
4.9% (2,388)
Michigan:
4.8% (186,785)
Number of households with income $200k:
Ann Arbor:
7.9% (3,834)
Michigan:
4.7% (180,780)
Number of households with income > $200k:
Ann Arbor:
8.4% (4,043)
Michigan:
4.4% (172,805)

The University of Michigan exists here. There are major medical heath facilities in the area too. Many tech firms, some industry and various other professional men and women live and work here.

Consider this: My guess is that Hagopian alone pulls in more than a few thousand rugs a year from Ann Arbor with their various advertising campaigns and also having a high profile satellite store as a drop-off location.* This despite Ann Arbor's 50 different carpet cleaning companies claiming to clean rugs too! Everyone makes a dent in the market place. Then there is little me. Yet, I am still able to do enough volume to justify my little in-plant operation even not doing TV, Radio, mailings or print ads.

You say there is only a few offering rug washing in the population that you described? Then perhaps you need to study the demographics even more closely.

I find across the country that schools of higher education, health care facilities, and other professional services like engineering, law, contactors of varying sorts help bring staff (your potential customers) into the area that will have rugs and can afford to have them washed.

Try this: Have your on-location carpet cleaning techs start counting the rugs they see in each home they service. They you will know better just from your customer base, how much money you are leaving on the floor.

Just some of my ideas to ponder.

*Please note: I have no real knowledge what Hagopian does in Ann Arbor. That is there business and we consider them a Centrum Force / MOR client. However, Ken Snow did tell me around 3500 rugs a year. That was a long time ago and no dollars were discussed.
Tom. Thank you for taking the time to post this. I’m disecting every word.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom