Steam cleaners are widely used in auto detailing processes for cleaning various parts of vehicles: especially wheels and rims. Their high output temperature, often as high as 386°F, makes them an ideal choice for eliminating dirt and stains from a number of surfaces both inside and outside of the vehicle.
However, the high output temperature has disadvantages too. Cleaning professionals have to make sure that soft and delicate surfaces, such as seat upholstery or paint coating, can handle such high output from steam cleaning equipment.
For example, painted exteriors cannot be cleaned with steam cleaners as the low moisture content requires constant wiping, which may scratch the vehicle. Additionally, due to the high temperature output, steam cleaners can only spot clean carpets; they are not designed to clean the full carpeted interior of a vehicle.
That being said, there are many applications for which steam cleaners are ideal, including: wheel and tire cleaning, rim cleaning, window cleaning, and cleaning of other hard surfaces. The following are some tips to select the right type of steam cleaner products for cleaning the metal parts of vehicles.
Dry Output
Make sure you select a machine that provides the driest output. The proportion of water content in the output should be as low as possible. The latest models of steam cleaner equipment provide super heated output that has less than 5 percent of water content. Low water content will eliminate the possibility of mold and mildew forming on surfaces or within fabrics that are spot cleaned. This is particularly useful when using the system as an upholstery steam cleaner for spot stain removal.
Automatic Refilling
Advanced models of steam cleaners allow the operators to refill the water tank simultaneously while continuing the cleaning process. In conventional machines, water is directly poured in to the boiler tank. This requires operators to shut down the machine, let it cool, refill, and reheat. In advanced models, another tank is connected to the boiler tank. Cleaning workers do not have to directly fill the boiler tank. Water is automatically transferred to the boiler from the secondary water tank when the water level of the boiler falls below a certain level.
Heating Elements
Heating elements are one of the most susceptible components in steam cleaner products. It is important to select a model that has inexpensive, replaceable heating elements, even if it costs more than other models do. After all, this will drastically reduce maintenance costs over the life of the car steam cleaner machine and save a great deal of money if the machine breaks down.
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