You customer glances down and with a slight grin asks, “Performing surgery today?” With tongue in cheek she may initially make fun of your “surgical booties,” but she will quickly be impressed with the extra care you are taking as you perform your cleaning.

Running our cleaning company years ago, we decided to start a second value-oriented company that would charge by the room for carpet cleaning. Our idea was based on the proliferation of per-room-priced competition, and we hoped we could do it better and smarter so we could actually make a profit at it.

There it is: 40,000 square feet staring me in the face. With 7 hours to clean it and have it dry for traffic in the morning, how were we ever going to get this done?

I knew we couldn't get away with straight extraction cleaning. This commercial carpet had been heavily neglected and was fully impacted with soil in and past the backing. Experience had taught me that the more times I extracted it, the worse it would look.

Up until the introduction of extraction cleaning, the majority of carpet cleaning was done with a rotary machine and a sudsy shampoo solution. Synthetic detergents had replaced most heavy re-soiling coconut-oil-based shampoos but, as we would tell our customers, "Why would you want to stir the dirt up and then leave it in the carpet?"

There are probably at least a few of you reading this article who currently, or have in the past, run the bucket brigade for carpet cleaning. Portable extraction machines typically need to be filled with cleaning solution and then emptied of the dirty water. This is usually accomplished with 5-gallon buckets - hence, the bucket brigade.

Early on, one of my life long goals was to become rich. When I was starting my career in the cleaning and restoration industry 32 short years ago, I remember the day I had just cleaned five apartments and grossed a whopping $100.

Mrs. Jones was in the kitchen cooking dinner. I was busily engaged cleaning her imported deluxe sculpted velvet couch. Having just come back from the van with my heavy-duty 2,000 CFM centrifugal blower, I placed it blowing against one of the cushions for quick drying.

In order to earn the $400 or more per hour mentioned in the title, you not only have to utilize the equipment presented below, but you must step out of your comfort zone and offer an important service and product to your customer.

Back in late 1974 (yes, I am that old) I was getting ready for my day of cleaning appointments. My first appointment was a short drive to Mrs. Brown's home. She needed her living room carpet cleaned. No problem there; I had been doing this for four months already and was an "expert." She also asked if I could clean her two high-back cotton-velvet chairs. With a moment's hesitation - just enough time to take a deep breath - I told her, "No problem, I can do a great job on your chairs." After all, I had already cleaned two couches and a chair since getting started in the business, so I knew what I was doing.

Perhaps you've walked into a trinket-filled store and seen the sign, "You Break, You Pay" or some similar wording.