Chemicals and equipment? Advice?

[Rookie]

I am detailing a lot for friends. I actually would not consider it detailing, I would consider it just cleaning the insides of cars. I vacuum, shampoo, clean everything.

I really like it and would like to stock up on some equipment and chemicals. I have been reading everything on here, and am going to get an extractor, wet-dry vac (Because I should vacuum before extracting, right??) and the whole bit of chemicals (preferably in bulk)

I have seen threads on the chemicals, but I am wondering if there is one on what to mix with water, and how much?

Also is it worth investing in a Vapor sprayer? What exactly do those do?

Any help would be great!

 

[Intel486]

Yes, you'll want to vacuum before you extract as most dirt in carpets is dry dirt.

What vapor system are you speaking of? The kind that fogs a chemical into the air for odor removal? I rarely ever get requests for bad odor removal. Unless you get a lot of those jobs, then you'll probably just be best off just getting some odor bombs.

What do you mean what to mix with water and how much? Certain chemicals are concentrated and you have to dilute them with water before they are RTU. It'll say in the instructions the proper dilution ratio.

 

[denverdetail]

Rookie,
I don't know what a vapor sprayer is either. How can you spray a vapor? Are you talking about a steamer?

As far as chemicals for carpet cleaning, you can go to your local grocery and buy extractor cleaner by Rug Doctor (expensive) or you can use a general cleaner degreaser for cleaning carpets. I use Kirklands in the 1.5 gallon jugs sold at Costco mixed 4 to 1 with water because it is one of the few degreasers I've found that doesn't foam up. I also use this mix to clean vinyl and other interior surfaces. If you don't have a Costco, I've used Zep's cleaner degreaser, it works nice too.

 

[Rookie]

I don't know what a vapor sprayer is either. How can you spray a vapor? Are you talking about a steamer?

Yes. I am talking about a steamer. I am sorry about that.

Thanks for the advice though!

 

[Intel486]

Yes. I am talking about a steamer. I am sorry about that.

Thanks for the advice though!

You can get cheap vapor cleaners for consumers. Priced from $70 and up to like $200. The cheaper it is though the more hot water instead of steam you will get.

The professional ones can be many more hundreds of dollars but I bet they work a lot better!

I've heard they're really good for getting stains out of carpeting. Some spot treatments, like those for red stains, need to be activated by hot steam. Hit it with the spot cleaner, use the steam cleaner, and then extract the area.