Starting a mobile car wash and detailing business requires versatile and effective equipment. For efficient cleaning, many experienced professionals recommend using multiple cleaning machines. Ideally, one must use a soft surface carpet and upholstery cleaner for cleaning the interior of vehicles and a hard surface pressure washer for cleaning the exteriors of vehicles.
An Overview of Mobile Car Wash Systems
Before going deep into the types of cleaning machines available for the job, it is better to understand the task. What does the mobile car wash process try to achieve? The major goals are fairly obvious. The dirt and dust accumulated on the vehicle must be removed. The exterior and interior surfaces must look good and look as new as possible.
In addition to these obvious objectives, there are other goals as well. Interior upholstery and carpeting can become deeply embedded with food stains, spills, and other residue. Removing such stubborn change can be a challenge.
In order to achieve these goals, a worker will need to use one or sometimes two types of cleaning machines. This article provides some useful tips about selecting different types of machines for a mobile car wash.
Carpet Cleaners
Carpet cleaners are soft surface cleaners. They offer only modest output pressure, paired with water injection and robust extraction to remove deeply embedded residue. These are good for cleaning the interior surfaces of automobiles, such as car mats, carpets, and seat upholstery.
When selecting carpet cleaners for this task, there are two things to consider. First, heated carpet cleaning machines should be selected. Second, carpet cleaners equipped with low flow technology are more suitable for this kind of cleaning.
Ordinary carpet cleaners offer only cold water output. However, heated carpet cleaning machines are best suited for auto detailing. These machines contain a heating element, which can raise the output temperature to 210°F for maximum cleaning power.
It is better to use carpet cleaners equipped with low flow technology for auto detailing. These machines allow the surfaces to dry up quickly, often in as little as two hours, one hour for upholstery.
Steam Cleaners
Steam cleaners are hard surface cleaners that provide a high temperature output. Still, portable steam cleaners are used as car wash equipment, particularly for spot cleaning carpets, and sanitizing steering wheels, dashboards, and cleaning windows.
It is better to buy portable steam cleaners with an output temperature as high as 386°F for cleaning vehicles. Care must be taken to avoid over exposure to the output. Over exposure during a steam car wash job can lead to damaged surfaces.
In addition, dry steam cleaners feature low moisture output that requires constant wiping during the cleaning process. This can cause damage to vehicle exteriors, thus a steam cleaner should never be used in the exterior steam car wash process.
Pressure Washers
Pressure washing machines make up the ideal car wash equipment for cleaning the hard external parts of vehicles. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the output pressure level should not exceed 1500 psi. Similarly, flow rate must also be low – preferably less than 2 GPM. This ensures limited water use and waste, while uses of high steam temperatures ensure high cleaning power. Such systems are ideal for cleaning in situations with low water availability. This is often the case in mobile auto detailing applications where operators travel to their clients’ homes and offices to clean their vehicles.
Tri-mode pressure washers are another viable option, allowing the workers to change the output temperature based on the nature of the surface to be cleaned.
To find the systems most suitable for your specific mobile car wash applications, visit a reputable online retailer today.