Auto Detailing Guide

Why We Need Heated Carpet Extraction For Proper Carpet Cleaning

When you are looking to get your vehicle fully detailed, check out their equipment. Why? Why not? They'll be cleaning the interior and exterior of your vehicle with this equipment. Shouldn't it be a good idea to at least see that they are successfully enough to buy half decent equipment to use?

Old school detailers just used an old shop vac, scrub brush and a bucket. It's a horrible way to scrub carpets, but they managed somehow. Other less professional detailers like to spray chemical on your carpets, pressure wash the dirt out and then drill small holes in your floor boards to let the water drain out. I know you think I'm kidding, but I'm not. I've actually seen several car dealerships do this with really bad carpets they didn't want to replace. It works, but the customer isn't really happy when they can't seem to figure out why their carpets get really wet during heavy rains when they drive their car.

That brings us to modern technology that all detailers should be using in this day and age. Professional heated carpet extractors will run about $1,500. So if your detailer does not have one, go somewhere else. If they can't afford $1,500 for equipment that will increase their productivity by a few hundred percent then you don't want your car near them. Heated carpet extractors will mix water and cleaning chemicals and heat that solution to 210 degrees. The handle attachment is for shooting the heated solution into your carpets and lifting the dirt back out with a very powerful suction system. It's by far the fastest and best method for cleaning carpets in a vehicle.

Now the reason you go to an experienced detailer instead of a newbie, is because of things like this. Cleaning carpets isn't as easy as you think it is. A good detailer will know how to pre-treat the carpet with specialized cleaners. Spots an stains are also treated with lifting chemicals to remove the stain once the heat hits it. We would also use a small buffer that had a scrub brush attached to it for really tough to clean carpets.

Everybody thinks they can be a carpet cleaner, but be careful. A good detailer knows to pre-spot sections of your carpet that aren't visible so that they can make sure there isn't any color separation during the cleaning process. Certain chemical cleaners can take the color right out of your carpet. This is a good time to also remind you to make sure your detailer is properly insured BEFORE you bring your car to them. Call them and ask the shop owner to fax you a certificate of insurance to prove they are insured and call the agent to verify the insurance is in force. Check out our proper insurance page for specifics as to what you should be looking for and asking about when it comes to insurance at your local shop.

You are spending good money to have your car detailed. Make sure your detailer has the proper equipment and insurance to do the job right and protect your investment at the same time. Your carpets should look great when they are done. If they don't look new ask the detailer about dyeing the color back to a new look again. Most detailers have dyeing packages for carpet, just don't let them use the can spray paint colors on your carpets. It rubs off eventually and it looks horrible. Injectable dyes are better and look more like the real thing.