Steam Cleaning Basics

[Belo]

Just bought my first steam cleaner. Videos and articles on how best to approach the use of the product are pretty wildly varied so I thought I'd ask you fine folks.

1. For carpet / upholstery, it seems some spray with an apc first. Is this something I should do or does it depend on how dirty it is? What are some products you guys use?
2. For carpet / upholstery some videos show guys just shooting the steam jet, others have the triangle brush attached and are scrubbing and others have a mf pad wrapped around the triangle head brush. I'm so confused on what I should be doing.
3. Is there any reason I would or wouldn't use the steam on leather? I like to condition my leather, but also appreciate a chemical free clean if it's an option.
4. finally i plan to use this for cupholders and door jams, but it seems some aren't vacuuming first? why would you risk blowing that stuff all over? Wouldn't it be better to vac first?

 

[sudsmobile]

1. Don't use APC. It will lead to resoiling. If you have to use chemicals, use something specifically designed for carpet that won't lead to resoiling two days after you do the work.

2. Personal preference. I use the steam directly to break up trouble spots first. I pretreat, hit it with the steam all over the stain and then try to scrub it up. The triangle brush is cool, but often too big for tight spots around seats. Don't use MF on the triangle brush, use a terry towel. I bought some cheap beach towels and cut them up. MF towels don't have enough nap to scrub good. I have a Vapor Chief, I use the round, hard bristle brush with a terry towel wrapped around it. I use those neon color tie wraps to keep the towel on the tool. I find the round brush is smaller and easier to control. Also because of the angle of the tool, much easier to really get after heavy stains with some good pressure.

3. We steam the leather of every car we do an interior detail on. Same idea really. I use a round horsehair brush with a terry towels doubled up on it. I have 3 or 4 old horsehair brushes that are kind of matted down that work excellent for this. I pretreat the seat with a spray leather cleaner from my favorite manufacturer of products not carried here, rhymes with mine mupply. Then just really clean it good with the steam. Another key is to turn down the output so you're not getting as much water through the tool because on some leather it can leave faint lines.

4. Good question but honestly not a whole lot you can do sometimes. If the car is so dirty that you need to blow the cupholders and pockets out with steam, that #### is likely not vacuuming up in the first place. I mean seriously, what's the risk, you might have to vacuum again for two minutes. We typically vacuum first. My son doesn't like to clean the plastics until the car is vacuumed because he feels like he's dragging his clean towel through the crap if the car isn't vacuumed first. You'll find with the steamer no matter how careful you are it blows stuff out of every nook and cranny so you'll probably have to touch up the vacuuming again regardless of how careful you are.

Hope this helps. We use our Vapor Chief almost every day. I've done three full interior details in the last two days. For something that I hemmed and hawed over purchasing because it costs us $1000, this thing has made me money hand over fist in time savings and quality alone. If it wasn't such a pig on power, I'd buy another. I don't think I can legitimately run two at the same time.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Nice answers sudsmobile! :dblthumb2:


I'm not sure I can add anything to what sudsmobile shared except one real important safety tip...

Do not leave the steam head in one place for very long - you can easily damage or melt whatever it is you're steam cleaning.

This is real-world example, I, yes me personally, the first time I used a steam cleaner left the round brush on a cloth seat for just a little too long and it melted the fibers and left a circle impression on the face of the seat. Keep in mind, what is called "cloth" as in cloth seats isn't really like cotton cloth, it's usually some form of acrylic fiber, which is closer to plastic than it is to cloth like you think of cotton t-shirts or jeans. So it melts.


Luckily this was a rental car.


Try to learn from other people's mistakes, you may not live long enough to make them all on your own -Eleanor Roosevelt

 

[Belo]

1. Don't use APC. It will lead to resoiling. If you have to use chemicals, use something specifically designed for carpet that won't lead to resoiling two days after you do the work.

2. Personal preference. I use the steam directly to break up trouble spots first. I pretreat, hit it with the steam all over the stain and then try to scrub it up. The triangle brush is cool, but often too big for tight spots around seats. Don't use MF on the triangle brush, use a terry towel. I bought some cheap beach towels and cut them up. MF towels don't have enough nap to scrub good. I have a Vapor Chief, I use the round, hard bristle brush with a terry towel wrapped around it. I use those neon color tie wraps to keep the towel on the tool. I find the round brush is smaller and easier to control. Also because of the angle of the tool, much easier to really get after heavy stains with some good pressure.

3. We steam the leather of every car we do an interior detail on. Same idea really. I use a round horsehair brush with a terry towels doubled up on it. I have 3 or 4 old horsehair brushes that are kind of matted down that work excellent for this. I pretreat the seat with a spray leather cleaner from my favorite manufacturer of products not carried here, rhymes with mine mupply. Then just really clean it good with the steam. Another key is to turn down the output so you're not getting as much water through the tool because on some leather it can leave faint lines.

4. Good question but honestly not a whole lot you can do sometimes. If the car is so dirty that you need to blow the cupholders and pockets out with steam, that #### is likely not vacuuming up in the first place. I mean seriously, what's the risk, you might have to vacuum again for two minutes. We typically vacuum first. My son doesn't like to clean the plastics until the car is vacuumed because he feels like he's dragging his clean towel through the crap if the car isn't vacuumed first. You'll find with the steamer no matter how careful you are it blows stuff out of every nook and cranny so you'll probably have to touch up the vacuuming again regardless of how careful you are.

Hope this helps. We use our Vapor Chief almost every day. I've done three full interior details in the last two days. For something that I hemmed and hawed over purchasing because it costs us $1000, this thing has made me money hand over fist in time savings and quality alone. If it wasn't such a pig on power, I'd buy another. I don't think I can legitimately run two at the same time.

Greatly appreciate the thorough response. So it sounds like you're confirming what I was expecting. Don't use chems unless needed, and if needed use something designed for upholstery.

The only confusion I have is with your leather brush example. you're wrapping up a brush and hand scrubbing or is this an attachment I'm confused about. My whole goal here is to do less manual labor haha. All my cars are in good shape, so my thought is if I can use a tool (steamer) to once over the leather or cloth seats instead of elbow grease than that'd be good.

 

[sudsmobile]

You really don't need to "scrub." For most leather seats, it's more like you're making a few nice slow passes to remove the grime and shine from the seats and then wiping them up. If they're really grimy, you might not to give it a little more umph but it's definitely not scrubbing like you're used to now. You can kind of tell when they're clean because the liquid that the steamer makes stops coming off brown.

You will find that the steamer really cuts down on your scrubbing and the time you spend cleaning interiors.

 

[Belo]

ok cool. I will try the terrycloth approach for both styles of seats. thanks again.

 

[Belo]

So last weekend it was finally decently warm and I was able to try my new shop vac and steam cleaner. I was not attempting a professional clean, but the truck had gone the second half of hunting season and all winter without an interior clean. Overall I'm happy with the steam cleaner. I'm not sure it's quite the miracle worker I had read about, but I'm still learning. It was great on the doors, cupholders and other nooks that are tough to get too. It was not so great (even with attachments) on the rubber floor mats or embedded salt stains. I was hoping the steam would do wonders on the rubber mats and still resorted to my megs gold wash and tire brush method.
I also had to resort to using some stuff called salt off and as you can see it still needs some work. Any suggestions welcome.

Overall, I think it was worth the money and helped to cutdown on my time and chemical smell. I really liked using the triangle attachment with terry cloth for scrubbing seats and carpets (including leather). I'm curious if anyone can recommend a carpet spray for general cleaning and not just spot treatment, i think that would help. I apologize for not taking pics of the wife's kid hauler explorer, but it was too embarrassing haha.

Pics below are all vac and steam, but also a mckees fast interior spray once over.
View attachment 66379View attachment 66380View attachment 66381View attachment 66382View attachment 66383View attachment 66384View attachment 66385View attachment 66386

 

[Coatingsarecrack]

What kind of steamer you use?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I really liked using the triangle attachment with terry cloth for scrubbing seats and carpets (including leather).

How often did you swap to a new cloth?


I too like to use a cotton towel on the triangle brush attachment and this is what I also show in my classes. The paint in the butt part is if you're cleaning anything dirty - the only way to really leave an area clean is to change cloths often.

 

[Calendyr]

1. Don't use APC. It will lead to resoiling. If you have to use chemicals, use something specifically designed for carpet that won't lead to resoiling two days after you do the work.

2. Personal preference. I use the steam directly to break up trouble spots first. I pretreat, hit it with the steam all over the stain and then try to scrub it up. The triangle brush is cool, but often too big for tight spots around seats. Don't use MF on the triangle brush, use a terry towel. I bought some cheap beach towels and cut them up. MF towels don't have enough nap to scrub good. I have a Vapor Chief, I use the round, hard bristle brush with a terry towel wrapped around it. I use those neon color tie wraps to keep the towel on the tool. I find the round brush is smaller and easier to control. Also because of the angle of the tool, much easier to really get after heavy stains with some good pressure.

3. We steam the leather of every car we do an interior detail on. Same idea really. I use a round horsehair brush with a terry towels doubled up on it. I have 3 or 4 old horsehair brushes that are kind of matted down that work excellent for this. I pretreat the seat with a spray leather cleaner from my favorite manufacturer of products not carried here, rhymes with mine mupply. Then just really clean it good with the steam. Another key is to turn down the output so you're not getting as much water through the tool because on some leather it can leave faint lines.

4. Good question but honestly not a whole lot you can do sometimes. If the car is so dirty that you need to blow the cupholders and pockets out with steam, that #### is likely not vacuuming up in the first place. I mean seriously, what's the risk, you might have to vacuum again for two minutes. We typically vacuum first. My son doesn't like to clean the plastics until the car is vacuumed because he feels like he's dragging his clean towel through the crap if the car isn't vacuumed first. You'll find with the steamer no matter how careful you are it blows stuff out of every nook and cranny so you'll probably have to touch up the vacuuming again regardless of how careful you are.

Hope this helps. We use our Vapor Chief almost every day. I've done three full interior details in the last two days. For something that I hemmed and hawed over purchasing because it costs us $1000, this thing has made me money hand over fist in time savings and quality alone. If it wasn't such a pig on power, I'd buy another. I don't think I can legitimately run two at the same time.

First time I hear about APC leading to re-soiling... can you elaborate? In what way does APC make the fabric easier to get dirty again?

 

[TTQ B4U]

First time I hear about APC leading to re-soiling... can you elaborate? In what way does APC make the fabric easier to get dirty again?

Using APC in the 10+ range can also cause re-soiling if you don't neutralize it with an acid or rinse enough. Even with basic more balanced products, I mix white vinegar into my rinse solution.

 

[Belo]

What kind of steamer you use?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm not sure I can mention the brand as it's not sold on AG, but you can see it in the picture and find it on amazon and ebay. I'm a hobbyist and just can't swing the professional $600 ones.

How often did you swap to a new cloth?


I too like to use a cotton towel on the triangle brush attachment and this is what I also show in my classes. The paint in the butt part is if you're cleaning anything dirty - the only way to really leave an area clean is to change cloths often.

excellent point, I noticed it got super dirty in one pass. I was using an old hand towel, so I could kind of just shift the towel... but it's not easy. It's hot, wet and I was using the wife's hairtie to keep it on lol.

 

[TTQ B4U]

excellent point, I noticed it got super dirty in one pass. I was using an old hand towel, so I could kind of just shift the towel... but it's not easy. It's hot, wet and I was using the wife's hairtie to keep it on lol.

I do a two-handed pass. I don't do a lot of interiors as I prefer not to, but when I do, I simply use I use a small home-based steam cleaner and use it in my left hand with the steamer in my right. The way I do it is to pre-treat the area for a few minutes with just a light spray from the solution tank of the small unit. Then as I pass over the areas with the steamer, not only is that steam extracted but also the pre-treatment is pulled out. I may do 1-2 or more passes depending on the need and then I finish with a small spray of rinse water and a final extraction.

Certainly not as simple as some of the professional units but the results are excellent and it works for me.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

First time I hear about APC leading to re-soiling... can you elaborate?

In what way does APC make the fabric easier to get dirty again?

I'll take a shot at answering this...



It's not so much an APC leading to re-soiling, it's ANYTHING you apply and don't 100% remove. If you spray some APC or any type of cleaner onto your hand and let it dry, the film will feel sticky or tacky. Same thing applies to a fabric.

This is why in my detailing classes I only show using water in a hot water extractor - not water plus an APC or some type of upholstery cleaner. If you're always injecting a cleaner into fabric or upholstery when using an extractor you're always injecting the CLEANER INTO the fabric or upholstery. You are NEVER purely extracting. Thus you leave some level of residue behind and this can accelerate re-soiling.



Now follow me....

If the above happens wit a tool that injects and then extracts liquids (extractors) - how much more so will the same thing happen when using a steam machine that ONLY cleans topically - it doesn't EXTRACT. Thus any cleaning agents (and dirt loosened with the cleaner), that is NOT on the surface will thus remain IN the fabric and because it will be tacky or sticky it will lead to accelerated re-soiling.


At least that's my opinion based upon using these tools and what my brain is able to figure out simply by thinking about it.



Just to note - when I lived in California - there was a carpet cleaning company called zerorez, (note zerorez is a palindrome, which spells the same thing backwards or forwards), and their entire sells pitch was with their system they leave ZERO RESIDUE. And of course they also claim any system that DOES leave a residue leads to accelerated re-soiling.

Also the way they claim to clean without cleaners is to use what the call/make Electrolyzed Oxidated Water - Assuming this is true and accurate then they are injecting water and extracting water and whatever is in the carpet or upholstery.

 

[Belo]

I'll take a shot at answering this...



It's not so much an APC leading to re-soiling, it's ANYTHING you apply and don't 100% remove. If you spray some APC or any type of cleaner onto your hand and let it dry, the film will feel sticky or tacky. Same thing applies to a fabric.

This is why in my detailing classes I only show using water in a hot water extractor - not water plus an APC or some type of upholstery cleaner. If you're always injecting a cleaner into fabric or upholstery when using an extractor you're always injecting the CLEANER INTO the fabric or upholstery. You are NEVER purely extracting. Thus you leave some level of residue behind and this can accelerate re-soiling.



Now follow me....

If the above happens wit a tool that injects and then extracts liquids (extractors) - how much more so will the same thing happen when using a steam machine that ONLY cleans topically - it doesn't EXTRACT. Thus any cleaning agents (and dirt loosened with the cleaner), that is NOT on the surface will thus remain IN the fabric and because it will be tacky or sticky it will lead to accelerated re-soiling.


At least that's my opinion based upon using these tools and what my brain is able to figure out simply by thinking about it.



Just to note - when I lived in California - there was a carpet cleaning company called zerorez, (note zerorez is a palindrome, which spells the same thing backwards or forwards), and their entire sells pitch was with their system they leave ZERO RESIDUE. And of course they also claim any system that DOES leave a residue leads to accelerated re-soiling.

Also the way they claim to clean without cleaners is to use what the call/make Electrolyzed Oxidated Water - Assuming this is true and accurate then they are injecting water and extracting water and whatever is in the carpet or upholstery.

this basically confirms what i thought prior to using the steamer and post results. You're really just spraying hot pressurized water into your upholstery and you're not really removing it. Still great on hard plastics and better than nothing on carpets, but it's not a miracle machine.

 

[duffthebluff]

So last weekend it was finally decently warm and I was able to try my new shop vac and steam cleaner. I was not attempting a professional clean, but the truck had gone the second half of hunting season and all winter without an interior clean. Overall I'm happy with the steam cleaner. I'm not sure it's quite the miracle worker I had read about, but I'm still learning. It was great on the doors, cupholders and other nooks that are tough to get too. It was not so great (even with attachments) on the rubber floor mats or embedded salt stains. I was hoping the steam would do wonders on the rubber mats and still resorted to my megs gold wash and tire brush method.
I also had to resort to using some stuff called salt off and as you can see it still needs some work. Any suggestions welcome.

Overall, I think it was worth the money and helped to cutdown on my time and chemical smell. I really liked using the triangle attachment with terry cloth for scrubbing seats and carpets (including leather). I'm curious if anyone can recommend a carpet spray for general cleaning and not just spot treatment, i think that would help. I apologize for not taking pics of the wife's kid hauler explorer, but it was too embarrassing haha.

Pics below are all vac and steam, but also a mckees fast interior spray once over.
View attachment 66379View attachment 66380View attachment 66381View attachment 66382View attachment 66383View attachment 66384View attachment 66385View attachment 66386

Hey Belo, I'm also trying to find a product that I can use for general carpet cleaning and not just a spray treatment, what did you end up using?