Carpet and Stain Removal

Runaway-boy

New member
How do you mobile guys survive the winter? Isn´t it too cold to wash the cars or do you bring some kind of tent with a heater?Do you wash the textiles as well? It all sounds very strange to me to work as a mobile detailer. It must take you a lot longer time to fix an ordinairy car compared to do the work at a shop. Here in sweden there is no such thing as mobile detailers probably because the winter is so long and hard.
 
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How do you mobile guys survive the winter? Isn´t it too cold to wash the cars or do you bring some kind of tent with a heater?Do you wash the textiles as well?
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I wear gloves. :) And a hat. I don't go outside and touch water unless it is 40+ degrees F. 45 degrees is good, but warmer is always better.

We are having a warm winter this year, so it is not like we are snowed in with 6 feet of snow and below freezing every day (in Colorado).

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It all sounds very strange to me to work as a mobile detailer. It must take you a lot longer time to fix an ordinairy car compared to do the work at a shop.
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I don't think it takes any longer to do a good job on the car. It takes a few minutes setting up, but once you start working on the car I don't see why it would take any longer. I carry all my supplies and chemicals with me. In a shop they are all there too.

I am not in Sweden though. I'm sure it is colder there than it is here.
 
Lucky me has a wonderful rare disease that pretty much forces me to wear gloves if it gets below 70 degrees out. (thus the move back to Texas) So needless to say the detailing comes to a screeching halt in October or November and doesn't really pick up again until late May. I only wash my own car once a week becaue it is just to stinking cold outside for me. This is the main reason I haven't gotten my business legitimate yet. I know that it won't afford a living year round. You almost have to live in the perfect climate to be a mobile detailer with any amount of overhead to think about. Fortunatly my little hobby pays for itself most of the time. I've only done a few cars this winter but it made me enough money to get my Blackfire and that is all that matters. :)
 
I live in Arlington, Texas; about 15 miles west of Dallas. Our normal high in January is about 54 and the low is 32, so it isn't too bad. I have some neoprene gloves that I wear with some knit gloves underneath, so my hands don't get too cold. I usually wear a t-shirt, then a sweatshirt, another t-shirt if needed and a waterproof windbreaker. By about noon or so, I am usually in just a t-shirt and sweatpants, especially on sunny days.



BTW, it is supposed to be 70 tomorrow (Wednesday).
 
I just discovered a product that's made in Georgia. It's an APC that works as a degreaser and can get all sorts of stains out of carpeting too. It's called Krud Kutter. You can get it at Home Depot or Lowes (often in the paint department b/c it can remove overspray). It removed about 90% of a burgandy shoe polish mark on my mom's Lexus that numerous other cleaners would not touch. THIS STUFF WORKS!! I'm not going to link it, but google it and check out their website and the tons of testimonials. PM me for some links to some jobs it did for me that were awesome.
 
what about for an oil spill, such as Mobil1 synthetic automatic transmission fluid? the stuff is deep red but its still oil. my carpet is dark gray so stains arent visible. i blotted as much as i could out with towels but i happened to drop a book on the floor of my car and when i picked it up some of the pages were a very faint pink from absorbing the residues still in the carpet.

i just got the 303 Rug / Upholstery Cleaner & Spot Remover from the interior kit at PAC (i heart kits). should i give that a try - any special instructions or just follow whats on the bottle?

i also found a tub of Sterling's magic paste that my land lord left behind, its supposed to be safe for carpets, anybody have any experiences? its a mild alkali cleaner in paste form. thanks.
-meGrimlock
 
meGrimlock - first you need to get more of that ATF out of the carpet before dealing with the stain. First try an APC, then move to a degreaser if needed. I have used Folex like some others and it works well, just not on all stains.

grungy
 
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