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Here at Morantz, we believe that we’re only successful when our customers are successful. That’s why when we heard that ICS Cleaning Specialist Magazine profiled our customer, Nu-Look Cleaning Services of Philadelphia, PA, we couldn’t wait to share the news.
Click on this link to download a small pdf of the article to see the story about how Nu-Look cleaned 4,200 blinds on their first blind cleaning job.
Meet Mick Bantoft, owner and operator of Kleena in Queensland, Australia (kleenabc.com.au). Over the past 8 years, Mick has used Morantz Ultrasonics to create an entirely new niche market for his company cleaning curtains, microfiber cloths, trolley covers, privacy curtains, blinds, soot damaged contents and other hard to clean items for hospitals and hotels.
Shaking Up Business
In 2006, Mick Bantoft knew he had to shake up his curtain cleaning business or risk losing it. He flew half way around the world to attend a cleaning tradeshow in search of the “next big thing,” something that would help grow his business. During his browsing, he saw the Morantz Ultrasonics cleaning systems. Immediately, Mick knew he had found what he was looking for. “I was completely amazed with what I was seeing. Fabrics, like the ones I clean were being put into the machine and came out cleaner than I could ever get them, and all within seconds,” Mick said. Mick decided then and there to learn as much as he could about ultrasonics. A short time later, he was on a plane to Philadelphia to see all that Morantz had to offer. After a few days at Morantz H.Q., Mick ordered his first set of machines, a Morantz 3-in-1 System, and got to work.
“The learning curve was short and once my staff and I really began to understand the full capabilities of these machines, the excitement and work continued to grow.” said Mick. “I focused primarily on blinds and curtains in my first year because it was my client base. I was able to process existing jobs in a much shorter amount of time which generated higher profit margins and left me time to explore and promote other types of cleaning.”
Branching Out
Mick and his staff soon returned to Morantz H.Q. and attended a Morantz’s Firesonics® Seminar where they learned more about how to use ultrasonics to clean soot and smoke damaged items including electronics. “Very few people offer content cleaning in Australia. I knew this was a great opportunity to get my foot in the door. As soon as I started promoting it, the work came so quickly I ordered a SM-200 Super Mighty One from Morantz to dedicate to the contents side. I also purchased a golf club cleaning machine to promote content cleaning and other services at tournaments and meetings.” Mick added, “When I realized how useful the pneumatic lift on the SM-200 was for lifting heavy items, I started using it for curtain cleaning and it made a huge difference! My female employees were struggling with lifting wet, heavy curtains out of the tank, but the lift made this process of lifting and draining very easy.”
A Better Drying Process
As both his curtain cleaning and content cleaning businesses continued to grow, Mick knew he needed a better drying process. “While some curtains can air dry, other types need to be dried quickly or else browning starts to appear. Electronics also must be dried quickly and at higher temperatures. I had seen the Morantz Drye Rite cabinet, loved it, but needed something much bigger to accommodate all I had to dry on a daily basis. I had Lisa (Morantz) build me what is now the Drye Rite XL. It’s a full, room size dryer complete with Infrared Heat and Ozone for deodorization. We have both our contents and our curtains on rolling racks and roll them in and out. It’s incredible and has increased my productivity tremendously!”
Hospitals Took Notice
In 2010, Mick started seeing a significant increase in work from local hospitals. When he presented the data from Morantz’s independent testing (testing confirmed that ultrasonics not only sanitizes, but disinfects), hospitals really took notice. Mick tells us, “MRSA and C-Diff are big issues for hospitals. Morantz’s testing set a new standard that no other method of cleaning could touch. Now I had the capability of offering services well beyond privacy curtain cleaning. With my equipment, I clean wheelchairs, slings, trolleys, trolley covers, bed-side tables, microfibers, patient restraints… Some of the items they give me, I don’t even know what they’re for! The work orders keep growing and I keep bringing on new hospitals.”
Expanding… Again!
Business was growing so fast that Mick needed to expand yet again. After moving to a larger and newer building, he spoke to Lisa Morantz about adapting one of Morantz’s newer models, the SM-200-XL which had primarily been used for industrial parts cleaning, to suit his needs. “We put our heads together and came up with unique features which makes the new SM-200-XL a hybrid machine with all the best features Morantz has to offer,” said Mick. “I now use this model for everything I do and couldn’t be more pleased. It’s been terrific for all the new curtain cleaning and lamp shade work I am getting from hotels.”
Growing by 200%
By 2014, since meeting Morantz, Mick has increased his business by 200%. His processes with the Morantz machines can now be duplicated around the country, and that’s just what he intends to do. Mick has just completed a new deal to bring Morantz Ultrasonic equipment, and his know-how, to a major Australian cleaning franchise.
Congratulations to Mick and the entire team at Kleena. Best wishes for your continued success.
Buongiorno and welcome to Milan, Italy! We bring you all the way around the globe to meet Michele Lazzarotto, owner of Elle Emme custom window treatments and LavareTutto (literally translated from Italian to mean “Wash All“).
Michele and his family operate several businesses all over Italy that custom manufacture window treatments of all types including blinds and curtains. He has owned and operated his famous shop in Milan for nearly 25 years.
How He Got His Start
Michele first learned about Morantz’s blind cleaning equipment in 2008 while researching on the internet ways to properly clean blinds for his clients. Amazed with what he saw, Michele booked his flight to Philadelphia to see the machines in action. He even brought samples of fabrics and blinds to test clean. Excited by the results, Michele placed his order for equipment.
“I could not believe the opportunity I had come across when I saw the Morantz blind cleaning machine working,“ exclaims Michele. “No one in Italy was offering to clean blinds. The market was wide open and desperately in need of this type of cleaning“.
Michele let all of his long-time customers know that he can now service all the window blinds he had sold them. He also created a separate company and website, Lavarre Tutto, to start promoting everything he could clean. Soon he had jobs not only cleaning blinds, but items such as hubcaps, wood stools, metal parts (including engine parts), light diffusers and much more. Here are some photos he sent us to share with our readers, Prima (Before) and Dopo (After):
A Machine Called “Money!”
Michele lovingly named his blind cleaning machine “Money,” and the name has stuck to this day. “It is unbelievable how much money this machine continues to make, so the name fits,” Michele said. “My staff is constantly busy with cleaning blinds of all types: Roller shades, mini blinds, vertical blinds and more.”
How He “Sells” It
One of the many ways Michele promotes ultrasonic cleaning to his clients is by hooking them on the technology when they visit his shop. Next to his coffee machine proudly sits his Morantz SZ-400 Table-Top System. During offers to clean his clients jewelry and eyeglasses. While cleaning, he explains that this is the same technology that he uses to clean blinds. “It works beautifully and demonstrates my capabilities for cleaning,” says Michele.
Success, and More Success
Michele was doing so much ultrasonic cleaning that in 2011 he purchased a second machine, the Morantz SM-200-XL. “With the XL machine, I am able to clean a wide variety of items including curtains and even multiple blinds at once. This all-purpose system has really opened up Ultrasonic Cleaning to my company. We have diversified in ways we never dreamed of.”
Watch Michele clean those wood stools in his SM-200-XL
Note: The video is in Italian, but the results are Universal!
(click here to watch on YouTube)
Expanding his Business
To procure commercial cleaning jobs, Michele takes his machines to tradeshows in Italy including the largest exhibition for window blinds as well as the largest for general cleaning. In this way, he is constantly in front of decision makers showcasing his company’s technology and capabilities. “When I show potential clients how Morantz Ultrasonics works, they can’t believe what they are seeing I create a lot of excitement at these trade fairs, and have taken on many large commercial jobs as a result of these exhibitions.”
Michele recently completed a large commercial blind cleaning job for one of the many buildings on the campus of ENI Petrol Company. They were so pleased with the outcome that they have now hired Michele’s company to clean another 5000 blinds this Spring!
“I Get Calls Every Day”
Michele tells us that he is constantly receiving calls for his service. “I get calls everyday,” He says, and with the economy in a major slump in Italy, and with local banks not loaning money, he is glad he invested in the equipment. “Small businesses are closing everywhere in Italy. Companies like mine who manufacture and sells blinds are very slow, so they’re looking to maintain what they own,” He said. “The timing could not be better for me to offer this service for blinds and other items. Ultrasonic cleaning is not only keeping my doors open for business, it’s growing my business.”
The Success Keeps Coming
Michele has sent us even more photos including those for the job above. You can see them on our Facebook Page. All of our best wishes for continued success to Michele Lazzarotto and the entire Elle Emme and Lavare Tutto team.
Keep cleaning up in Italy!
Ciao!
There are many uses for our Ultrasonic Cleaning Systems, but just when we thought we knew them all, along comes something new. A few months ago, I was contacted by an energy optimization company that works for many large companies including Kraft Foods Inc. Kraft had a specific part for their baking ovens that needed to be cleaned and the pressure washing/hand cleaning they were doing wasn’t working. The question posed to me was, “Can you clean them?” My answer: “I don’t know until we try”. So that’s just what we did, and as usual, our machines worked beautifully.
As a result, over the past couple of months I personally visited several Kraft bakeries to install custom equipment and train their staff on the operation of the system. The photos that follow are from Kraft’s Chicago operation (which as I was told is the largest bakery in the world!). I have no doubt as each of their ovens was literally a football field long (that’s Gridiron football for all you non US citizens reading this).
Kraft’s needs were specific and they required a machine built to their specifications. In most instances, one of our standard (or slightly modified) machine models will work for a specific application, this time we had to build a specialized system. Working closely with Kraft’s engineers, we built exactly what they needed. Below is a photo of Kraft’s new system now installed in their bakeries throughout the U.S.
The Kraft staff watching parts clean and learning the operation of the system. They were all very grateful they no longer had to spend tedious hours working on these by hand.
I am fortunate to be in a business where I have the opportunity to watch our clients’ businesses grow. Sometimes its their Ultrasonic business that takes off, and sometimes Ultrasonics is a launching pad to propel them in another direction.
The latter is true of Steve Hanson who I reconnected with at a recent tradeshow. When we first met Steve (and when he purchased our equipment), he was the owner/operator of a janitorial company in Boise, Idaho. Now Steve operates The Janitorial Store.com and MyHouseCleaningBiz.com, both of which are on-line stores with a personal touch. For those with questions about running a successful cleaning business, Steve can provide the answers. Much like how Morantz provides training for the Ultrasonic business, Steve will train members in developing systems, reviewing bidding and estimating, discussing hiring employees, advice on sales and marketing (and more) for the Janitorial and House Cleaning businesses.
Steve recently told me that his Morantz Ultrasonics equipment was a huge asset to his janitorial company and believes it would be an asset for his clients as well. He then asked to interview me so that his members could learn more about the technology and the potential profits. I was happy for the opportunity, and if you are a member of the Janitorial Store, you can find this interview at: http://www.thejanitorialstore.com/members/AUDIO-Ultrasonic-Cleaning-Machines.cfm.
Steve has also written the following article about Ultrasonic Cleaning to share with his members:
Ultrasonic Cleaning: High-Tech Cleaning Services
By Steve Hanson
Are you looking for innovative ways to increase your services and your profit margins? Ultrasonic cleaning services can be a way for your cleaning business to add another income stream that can be highly lucrative.
How does ultrasonic cleaning work?
The item being cleaned is immersed in an ultrasonic tank filled with water and a small amount of cleaning agent, and then agitated with high frequency sound for a brief time. The item is then rinsed in another tank filled with water and a small amount of rinse-agent, and then dried.
The underlying process is the creation of microscopic bubbles in the liquid. Agitation causes these bubbles to collapse with great force. This force produces shock waves up to 20,000 pounds per square inch. These waves then loosen and displace soil from the item being cleaned – this is called cavitation. Some of the advantages of ultrasonic cleaning include:
The types of items that can be cleaned with ultrasonic technology are almost limitless:
Cleaning electronic equipment has always been time-consuming and cumbersome. When using ultrasonics to clean electronics, the process becomes efficient and can be very profitable for your cleaning business. However, there is a lot of confusion about how the process affects electronic equipment.
Many people believe that electronic equipment cannot be placed in water. While it’s true that you should never place electronic devices into water that are still plugged in, use of the proper solution to clean and proper drying techniques allows items to be cleaned and restored using ultrasonics. With the proper equipment and training, there is no damage to electronics being submerged in water (Click here to learn more).
Many people also believe that ultrasonics will loosen solder joints and the item will not work properly. This thought is based on the theory that ultrasonics shakes off debris with vibrations. The cleaning process is called cavitation, which forms and collapses tiny bubbles – a safe and effective cleaning method.
Some people don’t believe the ultrasonic cleaning process works. This is usually due to a lack of understanding of how the process. Plus many people have never experienced the results firsthand. If you invest in the proper equipment and perform the process correctly, ultrasonic cleaning is not only effective, but actually reduces cleaning time and save tons on labor costs.
Ultrasonics is not just for cleaning small items such as jewelry. Ultrasonics can clean and restore items such as window blinds, light diffusers, small electric appliances, silk plants, and much more. Just think of all the homes and office buildings with mini-blinds and silk plants. The possibilities are endless for your cleaning business.
Adding ultrasonic cleaning services to your cleaning business should not be entered into lightly, as there is a large investment in equipment and training. However with proper training and an effective marketing plan, ultrasonic cleaning can not only be another service you provide to your clients, but a great added income stream for your cleaning business.
