Extractor- to buy or not to buy?

K

kpagel

New member
OK, here's my situation. I've been detailing for a couple years now. I am proficient with both PC and rotary and IMO do a pretty darn good job. I mainly do family cars, as well as my own, and do the occasional detail for a friend (one or two a month). This summer I'd like to step it up, and I'd like to get to the point where I'm detailing three or more cars a week. When I mention to people that this is what I do, people are usually more interested in getting their interiors "really" clean. This has lead me to start looking into an extractor. Now, I've got a refund check from the local Toyota dealership because I traded my truck in without even going over the factory warranty, much less the extended 6 year/100,000 mile warranty I bought. I'll be getting around $1300 back. I was thinking of taking that money and buying a good extractor.



The ability to do interiors professionally and efficiently should be a good moneymaker for me if I can get clients. I have a few parents of friends with BMWs, Mercedes, and SUVs that are interested in my services, but I haven't nailed anything down yet. I'm thinking if I can do a few "full" details (exterior prep, polish wax, interior carpet extraction, dressing, etc) at $200+ each it should pay for itself in no time (just a little side note, is a $200 starting price for a full treatment too high, low?). My thought against it is I don't even really have a client base yet, maybe I should just wait until I actually have customers before making such a large purchase.



So what do you guys think? Should I just focus on exteriors, and do some basic interior vacuuming, spot cleaning, and dressing, and then maybe add the extractor later if it becomes necessary? Or should I bite the bullet and be set up right from the start? If it becomes worthwhile, I will try to make it a fulltime thing. I'm a student living at home, and I don't have tuition to pay, so working 15-20 hours at my dad's company and doing a few cars a week should be just fine for my current situation.



BTW, I already have a pressure washer, a good wet/dry vac, a PC and a Makita 9227c, with plenty of pads for each, and I'm well stocked up on chemicals, so there's not really much else I'd need before getting an extractor.



All input is greatly appreciated.
 
Depending on where you live, $200 may be about right if you are not doing serious defect correction. Have you tired something like folex and you already have a shopvac for extraction?
 
I haven't tried Folex, but I've used other interior cleaners. Mainly just vacuum, apply interior cleaner, scrub, and extract what I can using wet/dry vac. I also have a LGCM which I've used once or twice with decent success, but its very time consuming, and I know I'm not getting the results I could be getting with a real extractor. I'm looking to take it to the next level if it would be worth it for me.
 
Here's my take:



I detailed probaly 20 car last summer, and got a job at a detail shop for 6-8 months over winter. I was making money and doing something I enjoy. I saved up a lot of money working part time, and got serious about my own business. I purchased a lot of new equipment including an extractor, that would allow me to do a professional job now. I spent some money advertising, and a lot of time doing cheeper details to work up to what my price is now. When people learned how good of a job you do, price is not factor. I am now booked 3 weeks in advance, working on carerra gt's ferrari, and bentleys and hiring an employee to help me 4 days a week. I have never been this busy, and it is such a step up from last year. I credit more business to the advertising I did, but more to how much better of a job I can do with the equipment I bought. I considered all my purchases an investment, and for me they paid off. They can for you too if you have the right attitude, and drive within yourself.



The question I always asked myself was; "Am I going to be part of the 90% who are going to fail, or part of the 10% that succeed."





-Shaun
 
A good carpet extractor certainly has its place in any detailing arsenal, however, a quality commercial vapor steamer gives you much more bang for your buck. With an extractor, you are limited to carpets and fabric upholstery. I use a vapor steamer to clean the entire interior of a vehicle, from the dash, vents, headliner, to carpets, seats, leather, nooks and crannies and such. Not only does it eliminate the need for so many chemicals, but it also cuts down on the interior detailing times by a significant percentage while giving you extremely professional results. I only pull my extractor out a handful of times a year...95% of the time the steamer gives me as good or better quality results than an extractor gives me. Sure there are occasions such as large spills or extremely dirty carpets, where an extractor is better suited, but most of the time my steamer can handle most situations without a problem. Do a search for threads on this topic...as I know it has been discussed numerous times. Good luck.



Matt Williams

Silver Lining Detail
 
SilverLine said:
A good carpet extractor certainly has its place in any detailing arsenal, however, a quality commercial vapor steamer gives you much more bang for your buck. With an extractor, you are limited to carpets and fabric upholstery. I use a vapor steamer to clean the entire interior of a vehicle, from the dash, vents, headliner, to carpets, seats, leather, nooks and crannies and such. Not only does it eliminate the need for so many chemicals, but it also cuts down on the interior detailing times by a significant percentage while giving you extremely professional results. I only pull my extractor out a handful of times a year...95% of the time the steamer gives me as good or better quality results than an extractor gives me. Sure there are occasions such as large spills or extremely dirty carpets, where an extractor is better suited, but most of the time my steamer can handle most situations without a problem. Do a search for threads on this topic...as I know it has been discussed numerous times. Good luck.



Matt Williams

Silver Lining Detail
Click to expand...



Matt,



Thanks for the input. I've read your praisings of the steamer in past threads on this subject (trust me, I spent hours researching extractors, and then researching the extractor vs. steamer debate). I've done lots of research, now my main question is whether or not one of these tools is right for me. The thing holding me back from a steamer is I've never encountered an interior that couldn't be cleaned with APC, Quick Interior Detailer (or similar product), some microfiber towels, and a couple brushes. I have, however, not been able to get carpets as clean as they should be, which leads me to an extractor.



If you don't mind answering another steamer question, how much do I need to spend to get a good one? Remember, I'm going to be happy with doing 3-5 cars a week. I'm not a full blown detailing shop.



Would something like this do the trick, or is this too cheap?



http://www.topoftheline.com/vaporblitziv.html



Something in that price range would allow me to also pick up an extractor in the $800-900 range, and I'd be able to get both.
 
For a while i was using a wash mitt, brush and wet/dry vacuum for carpets, that got old real quick.



Anything that can make an interior detail more efficient and less physically demanding is well worth the money in my opinion. I'm looking to invest in a steamer soon.



I also bought the aqua brush for my PC, we'll see how that works.
 
Jordan@DD said:
For a while i was using a wash mitt, brush and wet/dry vacuum for carpets, that got old real quick.



Anything that can make an interior detail more efficient and less physically demanding is well worth the money in my opinion. I'm looking to invest in a steamer soon.



I also bought the aqua brush for my PC, we'll see how that works.
Click to expand...



I have a carpet brush for my PC. It works OK, but I don't think its really any better than just scrubbing it by hand.
 
I'm no professional detailer and only detail my own cars and those of family so I won't speak to the steamer vs extractor arguement I don't have the experience but what I do know about is finance. Like another person said, if you're spending that kind of $$$ you're going to want to get the most versatile piece of equipment. As a previous poster mentioned he gets more use out of a steamer which sounds like it saves him time and money. As I am sure you can also use a steamer under the hood, headliner, on wheels, etc, that would be a big time and cost saver.



Now if your client base is going to be composed of daily drivers how dirty does the carpet really get? I've seen some bad cases on this BB but im sure those are the exceptions rather than the rule. And if you eventually move up to high end cars do you really think a porsche owner is going to jump in his/her $80k car with greasey shoes? I think you're biggest problem will be the coffee stain or the occassional oil stain, better to work on spot removal techniques that will save you some $$$$.



Well that's my $0.02 worth of advice
 
honestly kyle, that steamer you linked to appears to be marginally better than the picollo steamer I have and it was 1/10th the price....based on the numbers provided by both....



everyone else, please keep the comments coming as I am curious too!!!! I need to figure out a way to speed up the interior details....longer strokes made the last one go by faster, but I need something even faster!!!!
 
Well, I think I've decided to go ahead and buy an extractor. I'll probably go with the Mytee Lite II in case anyone cares.
 
kpagel: That steamer you gave the link for appears to be horribly overpriced. By way of comparison, look at the "Mcculloch" steamer Harbor Freight sells. You can buy that for about $70-$75 if you catch it on sale and with one of their 20% off coupons you get when you're on their mailing list. HF's steamer is similar in performance and accessories.



Janitorial supply companies sell industrial-grade extractors for prices that seem to me to be well below what "detailing" suppliers do. Google is your friend here. There are bargains to be had with an hour or two of searching.



Generally, wet-dry vacs don't develop the level of static pressure that a dedicated extractor does, so they're not as effective at removing water. A wet-dry vac has to trade-off air volume for picking up dust and large objects in a 2" dia hose, v. static pressure. Fan properties for high volume are different from the properties that produce high static pressure, so you typically won't find an optimum performer for both tasks in one package. You'll notice that the wet-dry vac people usually don't have a lot to say about using their product for extraction. In their advertising you see them picking up puddles of water which is a lot different than pulling water out of a carpet.
 
how is the LGCM for a cheap extractor? I honestly don't have the $ for an extractor but if the LGCM does actually work I can swing that.
 
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