Rug Beater by Dralco

[Rainway]

I'm thinking of getting a Rug Beater by Dralco. It's dry clean -- so no plumbing that Rhino-Mat requires.

Has anyone hooked up a CyrptoPay to one of these? Dralco had no information on customers doing that.

Anyone have a Rug Beater have any other feedback?

Thank you

Rug Beater : Rug Beater

 

[MEP001]

A Cryptopay reader will connect to any system that runs on low voltage coin pulses. It has a pair of wires that you can connect inline with a coin acceptor, then you would set up the reader to send enough pulses to start the unit.

 

[mac]

I had a rug beater once and hardly anyone used it, much less paid for it. Could just have been my location. Good news it worked great.

 

[Eric H]

I had a rug beater once and hardly anyone used it, much less paid for it. Could just have been my location. Good news it worked great.

I sold mine when I remodeled. If I got $25/month out of it it was a record month. It wasn’t worth the cost of pouring a new pad and running electricity to it for the remodel.
The guy that bought it has a detail shop that utilizes it.
IMO, spend your money on something that will make more money or have a reasonable ROI. Have you considered an Tire Air Machine?

 

[MC3033]

Very solid machine. Few issues and all issues are easy to resolve.

There is a bit of an education piece to the rug beater with customers. Not many people realize what it is/does. Many choose to just vacuum mats

If you have a lot of traffic it may be worth it, otherwise I would recommend against a mat station

 

[mac]

Once again the readers here are spot on.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

First off, the name! What would a "Rug" beater be used for at a car wash? Cars don't have rugs. Who brings rugs from their house? Cleaning toupees, maybe? That screwed up name is about like advertising "Ground dead cow sandwiches" and wondering why your burgers aren't selling.

 

[Waxman]

I bought a used rug beater and I like it very much. It doesn't get tons of use, but I like it because it does a great job and I use it at my detail shop. I find that if I take some general purpose cleaner and spray it on the brush mechanism after it's turned on, I can do quite a bit of cleaning and prepping of carpeted floor mats.

I feel like it's one of those pieces of equipment that makes my wash unique and a little bit different from the competitors. I can't see buying a new one, unless you were going to use it at a car dealership etc. The return on this investment would not be reasonable. But used, they could be a great addition to your wash. I I just put new decals on mine and cleaned it up and it looks great. Mine is out front and can be seen from the road.

If you made a 15 second video and put it on your Facebook page or Google business page you may find a lot more people using it once they know what it is and how it works.

 

[Greg Pack]

I have a JKO big brusher BBX at one wash that's free for customers to use. Its very popular, but its a free service.

 

[MudMoney]

I ve had rugbeater since 2004,recommend it if you have an attended wash. Customers need a demonstration of operation. We do the demo on our "dime" and they are impressed. IT took awhile to build a customer base and its used many times during day. More use than air shammie that is a waste of space.

 

[Rainway]

A Cryptopay reader will connect to any system that runs on low voltage coin pulses. It has a pair of wires that you can connect inline with a coin acceptor, then you would set up the reader to send enough pulses to start the unit.

I assume it is, but reached out to inquire. Was a little put off by their response. Like the sales guy didn’t want to bother a tech guy to confirm..

 

[Rainway]

I sold mine when I remodeled. If I got $25/month out of it it was a record month. It wasn’t worth the cost of pouring a new pad and running electricity to it for the remodel.
The guy that bought it has a detail shop that utilizes it.
IMO, spend your money on something that will make more money or have a reasonable ROI. Have you considered an Tire Air Machine?

This is helpful, thank you. I’ve thought about a tire/air machine but thought this might do better. What do you charge for air / how much time? JE Adams has some nice digital ones. Maybe the payback wouldn’t be as long as I assumed.

 

[MEP001]

I assume it is, but reached out to inquire. Was a little put off by their response. Like the sales guy didn’t want to bother a tech guy to confirm..

Sounds like Dralco, car wash stuff has turned into a side project for them.

FWIW, between the much lower cost of an air machine over the rug beater and the lack of maintenance, and if you're looking for a profit center, I'd definitely go with an air machine. If you treat it right, the rug beater can and will draw in customers, but if you aren't there to educate them it won't get used.

 

[mjwalsh]

Sounds like Dralco, car wash stuff has turned into a side project for them.

FWIW, between the much lower cost of an air machine over the rug beater and the lack of maintenance, and if you're looking for a profit center, I'd definitely go with an air machine. If you treat it right, the rug beater can and will draw in customers, but if you aren't there to educate them it won't get used.

If there are a large number of tire machines for free very close by such as in our area ... that will be a factor in getting your usage numbers up.

 

[Waxman]

I bought my air machine for 40 bucks used. I put a new coin acceptor in it I think it was about $13 for the part. I charge a dollar for air. I've never timed how long it runs but I never get complaints about not enough time. I've got a really long hose on mine so customers can park anywhere near it and do all four tires easily.

 

[Randy]

I bought my air machine for 40 bucks used. I put a new coin acceptor in it I think it was about $13 for the part. I charge a dollar for air. I've never timed how long it runs but I never get complaints about not enough time. I've got a really long hose on mine so customers can park anywhere near it and do all four tires easily.

How many air hoses and chucks haveyou replaced? I have a customer who has a Air machine and vacuum route, he buys air chucks by the gross and air hoses 50 at a time. He told me that he keeps 25 hoses and 50 air chucks on his truck all the time. I think he has about 100 vacuums and 50 air machines at gas stations. He wanted to put an air machine at my car wash, not enough return on it. The rug beater we had on trial lasted about 2 weeks before someone decided they needed it more than we did.

 

[Waxman]

I've had mine for four or five years and replaced the air chuck and hose once. Most of my customers wrap it up neatly when they're done, unlike the vacuum hoses which they seem to love to leave on the ground.