What Product/Tool brings your interiors to another level?

Quote Originally Posted by David Fermani View Post
I updated my OP just to clarify that this 1 product/tool is so important that the final outcome would not be the same without it? So those saying that a certain cleaning product couldnt be replaced with another similar one? I find that hard to believe?

I could probably replace steam with a good APC/Degreaser, but I feel like I would become less efficient. And with the D156, I`m sure something similar would give me the same effect, but I`ve never tried anything else similar to it. However I will stand to my statement that it is way more effective for me than a dressing unless the interior is really worn and then a dressing is needed in my opinion to mask some of the flaws.
 
Easy answer: Hot Water Extractors. I`ve always said there are detailers WITH a hot water extractor and there are detailers WITHOUT a hot water extractor. Nothing else really replicates injecting hot water, then sucking it all back up. Having a hot water extractors takes you up to another level.

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Vega@Autopia said:
Easy answer: Hot Water Extractors. I`ve always said there are detailers WITH a hot water extractor and there are detailers WITHOUT a hot water extractor. Nothing else really replicates injecting hot water, then sucking it all back up. Having a hot water extractors takes you up to another level.

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thanks Ray you just brought back some repressed mini van memories ...lol
 
Vega@Autopia said:
Easy answer: Hot Water Extractors. I`ve always said there are detailers WITH a hot water extractor and there are detailers WITHOUT a hot water extractor. Nothing else really replicates injecting hot water, then sucking it all back up. Having a hot water extractors takes you up to another level.
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Excellent point. It`s the only(and most expensive) thing that I`m missing in my arsenal. I live in Canada and with our rough winters it`s almost essential. Especially this time of year where EVERYONE wants their carpet shampooed. I must have rejected about 20 jobs in the past two weeks because I can`t properly shampoo carpets with calcium stains.
 
RangerDetails said:
Excellent point. It`s the only(and most expensive) thing that I`m missing in my arsenal. I live in Canada and with our rough winters it`s almost essential. Especially this time of year where EVERYONE wants their carpet shampooed. I must have rejected about 20 jobs in the past two weeks because I can`t properly shampoo carpets with calcium stains.
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It is the only thing I am missing as well. Guess I better start saving!

What extractors do you guys recommend?
 
RangerDetails said:
Excellent point. It`s the only(and most expensive) thing that I`m missing in my arsenal. I live in Canada and with our rough winters it`s almost essential. Especially this time of year where EVERYONE wants their carpet shampooed. I must have rejected about 20 jobs in the past two weeks because I can`t properly shampoo carpets with calcium stains.
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It can really pay for itself quickly after a few jobs. Keep an eye out for our open box deals to save some money. I just sold a Mytee Lite III 8070 that was basically brand new at a great price. It`s rare for us to have big $ items like extractors or steamers on open box, but when we do you can save a lot of money on tools that are normally never discounted.
 
Since I am a hobbyist WITHOUT either a steamer OR extractor, my favorite tool(s) are:
Toothpicks and Q-Tips (AKA cotton swabs).
Go ahead and laugh: I go through DOZENS of them on vinyl seams, edges, cracks and corners, indented lettering on shift knobs/door panels/seats, radio knobs and ventilation controls, switches, and especially HVAC vents. Small things are what set the "average" clean from the OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Detailer) clean and owners of vehicles I clean can see it. Yes, it is just that: obsessive (according to my wife.) By the way, I do prefer Johnson & Johnson Q-tips® over bargain brands, as the winding of the cotton to the stick is of better quality. (I HATE it when the entire cotton tip comes of easily and gets stuck somewhere that I need to extract with a long medical tweezers)
 
Lonnie- I sure won`t laugh at toothpicks and swabs! I have a vast assortment of wooden sticks (orange wood seems especially durable) and I go through a dozen or more swabs every time I wash (let alone what I use when I do the interior).

And yes, I too find you often get what you pay for when it comes to cotton swabs. Wish the sticks on the Medical Industry ones were sturdier...

If/when I ever use up my current stock, I`m gonna look into Swab-Its. Foam swabs will never completely replace cotton for me, but for some jobs I think it`ll be a good upgrade.
 
Q for the guys who use compressed air: what happens to the dirt after you blow it loose from wherever it is?

I understand using air on things you remove from the car- take a mat out, blow the [stuff] loose, said [stuff] floats off and dissipates somewhere (in the shop, outside...*somewhere*).

When you use air to blow stuff *inside the car*, where does that dirt go? Doesn`t it just float around the interior and settle on some other surface, from which it then needs to be removed?

I`ve seen people post about using air to clean vents, but I`d *never* blow my dash vents clean as it`d just drive the dirt down into the ductwork, where I *DON`T* want it to go (lest it cause issues with all the flaps/bushings/etc. down in there).

I just don`t get the use of dry air....it`s like those little cans of it to clean stuff like keyboards- gotta do it outside or you just blow whatever`s in the keyboard all over the room and then you gotta clean *that* up.
 
For me it`s Meguiar`s D149 Detailer Quik Interior Detailer, this stuff just cleans so well and leaves a nice finish
[h=3][/h]
 
The MEguiar`s QID *is* really nice stuff, but some of my interiors seem to respond better to 1Z CP so I find myself needing both.
 
Accumulator said:
Q for the guys who use compressed air: what happens to the dirt after you blow it loose from wherever it is?

I understand using air on things you remove from the car- take a mat out, blow the [stuff] loose, said [stuff] floats off and dissipates somewhere (in the shop, outside...*somewhere*).

When you use air to blow stuff *inside the car*, where does that dirt go? Doesn`t it just float around the interior and settle on some other surface, from which it then needs to be removed?

I`ve seen people post about using air to clean vents, but I`d *never* blow my dash vents clean as it`d just drive the dirt down into the ductwork, where I *DON`T* want it to go (lest it cause issues with all the flaps/bushings/etc. down in there).

I just don`t get the use of dry air....it`s like those little cans of it to clean stuff like keyboards- gotta do it outside or you just blow whatever`s in the keyboard all over the room and then you gotta clean *that* up.
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I wouldn`t classify the stuff a "dirt" that gets blown out. It`s not like you`re making a dust storm cloud inside the vehicle. Air should be used to loosen up lodged up dust particles, crumbs and soiling that is wedged within and around trim. And 9 times out of 10 this stuff is dampened too. If you`re a smart blower, you`ll either blow from front to back or back to front and then final vac all the stuff away. It doesn`t create a larger mess than what`s already there and it does more good then harm. Stuff finds its way into places that a vacuum, steamer or a towel can`t access. Air will get it all!
 
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