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49K views 45 replies 25 participants last post by  AIRTUNE UK 
#1 ·
Interior Cleaning.

The use of the steamer cleaner in the interior of a car is a helpful addition. Due to the temperature of the steam. There is very little moisture introduce into the fabrics and materials, within the car. Where wet vacuuming has its place and the steam cleaner will never fully replace this as some jobs especially when removing heavy mud and the like from heavily soiled mats and carpets. But I hope to show you the advantages of the steamer within this write up.

When working with upholstery It is never a great idea to introduce water into this foam of a cars seats. The foam stays wet deep down and this effects the mild steel within the seat as well and prolonged contact with the stitching. Which can eventually lead to the threads rotting away.

As anyone who has wet vacuumed a car before will tell you. The seats will stay damp for sometime, especially in the colder months where airing the car is not possible.

The steam cleaner works on a principal of heating the seat and slowly breaking down the bond between the grime and the fabric or leather. This bond is normally made up of oils deposited by us humans and dead skin cells.

Introduction of water is limited by placing a MF over the seat and applying the steam directly on top of this. This contains the heat within the fabric and catches excess water in the process.. Once the area has been cleaned a wipe over with a clean dry MF will remove any grime that has not attached to the wet MF and aid in drying off moisture also. You can vary the temperature and moisture being introduce by moving the nozzle closer or further away from the area being treated.

Different cleaner have different attachments and I have a small triangular head with soft bristles. To which I can attach an MF to this and use in a scrubbing motion. It has its benefits as it introduces friction as well as heat and moisture to aid the clean up.

You can also use dedicated cleaners into the equation also. The addition of heat increases the cleaning ability of the products, much the same as a warm pressure washer aids the cleaning ability of snow foam. It is up to the user as to what method or product he sees fit to use.

I personally would not use foaming product with the steamer as these may lead to being difficult to remove. Chemicals also boil off at different rates.

So again the user must decide on what products fit the bill, dependant on their steam cleaner and temperature output. You will notice you can cut down the dilution strengths of certain products with the addition of steam.

I have not touch. Hygiene so far.
As you know steam cleaner are used to aid in cleaning when you have allergies or to disinfect surfaces. This is a great benefit when used in car interiors. Used to kill all musty smells, Bacteria and the smell of cigarettes. Steam can go many places where a wet vac cant. Under seats and very tight areas, to name but a few.

Here are a few examples taken from resent write up and details.

Triangular attachment with MF.





On this particular Detail G101 was used at 1-20. Sprayed sparingly on area and worked in with a soft paint brush. The steamer was them used to clean the area and then wiped over with a clean MF after I was happy with the results.

Before


During







After


50/50 Drivers seat.


Completed cars.
Before.

After.

Before.


After.

Examples.














Before.



During.




After.




Another useful addition with the steam cleaner is the ability to steam clean vents and air con units.



I have not posted or highlighted the use of the steamer when working on head linings again. With the lack of moisture there is very little chance of the lining sagging. Care must be taken when applying the steam and careful monitoring of temperature as always when working with fabric glue. Work from a safe distance at all times. Once happy with the results wipe with a MF to clean and dry off as much as possible. Before moving to another area. Take your time and continue to work over the area making sure all areas are clean and uniform.

Any look forward to any question on this subject and I will update the post as further tasks are completed.
Gordon.
 
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#2 ·
Nice Fabia- and even nicer Porsche. When did you do the Porsche ?

As previously, I just think that the steam cleaner is excellent. As you have demonstrated with your recent posts, it can be used for loads of things.

One thing I always meant to ask you Gordon, I bought 303 fabric guard and was going o apply it,but I done it on an inconspicuous test area but it seemed to leave a water mark. How would i avoid this ?
 
#4 ·
From what I have learned in the past is that its not a good idea to use steam to clean leather as I believe it can be quite damaging to the coating on the leather. Aslo you should not use microfibres on the leather as they can also pull up the finsh on the leather. Leather should be gently cleaned with an appropriate cleaner and a soft bristled brush to get in the grain of the leather. Then patted dry with a good paper towel to aviod damage to the finish. After that a protector can be aplied to the leather to make it easier to clean in the future.

There is no need for condition on coated leather as it can no penatrate the coating of the leather, so in effect all you need to maintain is the painted finish on the leather not the leather itself.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I have never had any problems with cleaning leather.
You just have to adapt your technique.

Lay a MF on the area being steamed and apply the steam on top of the MF. Not directly onto the leather and certainly not using the triangular brush. Once the area has been warmed slightly and the MF is removed you can the use the soft leather brush is really need to gently work into the creases. But in most case the steam will have softened the grime and this the as become attached to the MF laid over the top. So normally no need to wipe. Dab is all that is required. You can also turn down the steam output to accommodate your need.

So you can see it does work. You just have to change your techniques when working with any leathers. Still no chemicals introduce into the leather as they are not required.



As far as Alcantara is concerned. Much the same as above. But you cant spot clean you have to do the complete section. Apply steam through the nozzle onto a MF and the gentle wipe over with a clean cloth changing regularly. Once happy a gentle brush over with a dedicated brush to lift and revive the fibres. But always to full panels as you would with a dedicated cleaner with alcantara anyway.

Gordon.
 
#6 ·
excellent write up there gordon:thumb::thumb::thumb:

did you find that it took longer to work with than using say a numatic?

i find that the large numatics dont leave a lot of moisture behind. seat are left touch damp but it doesnt get to drop through the sponge with being sucked up as soon as it hits the seat (with correct tool on hose)
 
#7 ·
excellent write up there gordon:thumb::thumb::thumb:

did you find that it took longer to work with than using say a numatic?

i find that the large numatics dont leave a lot of moisture behind. seat are left touch damp but it doesnt get to drop through the sponge with being sucked up as soon as it hits the seat (with correct tool on hose)
Horse for coarse Karl.
It take roughly the same time to do upholstery. Carpets on the other hand and dependant on dirt your wet vac might still be required. Both machine work hand in hand with each other. The real benefit is using less products as water at present is free. :lol:

But again when you look at the full picture. Wheels, glass, head lining engines as well as upholstery. Also a nice sterile enviroment. And then you can start to see where the little machine has its benefits.

Hope this helps.
Gordon.
 
#11 ·
Maybe i read this wrong but a steam cleaner is the deepest upholstery clean there is.My steam cleaner will no doubt, clean better and deeper then any wet vac.Idea of the prochem system is you pre-spray the upholstery and scrub with a horse hair brush.Then use the hand tool which on drag you press the trigger which pushes steam and moisture (which is mixed with a chemical) that gets instantly pushed into the upholstery and extracted out via the vacuum on the same hand tool.This method is most defently the best way to extract 100% of all dirt and contaminants out.
 
#14 ·
I now just offer steam sterile details, the phone never stops ringing.

Makes a change from machine polishing!!!!
 
#16 ·
Very useful, many thanks.

Sorry for the thread revival, but when steam cleaning the carpets, i assume you just use the triangular brush and just steam directly onto the carpet and not through a MF?

If so, how do you deal with any excess water?

And how best to achieve the striping effect?
 
#21 ·
They stopped making that now haven't they Gordon used to use a nimbus

I know a friend has the Karcher SG 4/4 from cleanstore and cant rate it enough even get free trolley lol
 
#22 ·
Gordon still has his Nimbus 1300 as far as I know Lee. Great build quality and sadly no longer available, unfortunately.

I removed some aftermarket window tints from the R32 with it and it left no glue residue on the glass whatsoever – very impressive. :thumb:

Alan W
 
#23 ·
Gordon still has his Nimbus 1300 as far as I know Lee. Great build quality and sadly no longer available, unfortunately.

I removed some aftermarket window tints from the R32 with it and it left no glue residue on the glass whatsoever - very impressive. :thumb:

Alan W
Not spoke to him in while Alan so was not sure.... it was a very good machine thought they had stopped making them I have tried a few steamers over the years and it does seem the case more you spend better they are lol.
 
#28 ·
Good post (no matter the age). Still trying to find an effective way to remove the smokers smell from my van. And the missus has got a little steam cleaner hiding under the stairs. I was concerned about using steam on the headlining but the idea of putting an mf cloth over the head is brilliant. In fact I think it might have an mf head on it already :confused:
Just about to read your post in interiors.....
 
#29 ·
take a look at www.airtune.eu. The AIRTUNE system pulses out a vapour cloud of 1 micron sized droplets that give much deeper penetration to all surfaces in the vehicle. The odour destroying properties of AIRTUNE Fresh will effectively remove the smell and leave a pleasant and lasting citrous aroma. Your steam idea is therefore on the right track.
 
#30 · (Edited)
HAHAHAHA CITRUS on tobacco.oh dear oh dear.


Mint is the key to removing oil based smells. Citrus just masks it. Citrus is used to "even out" the smell when doing the interior fully.
On top of that basicly you are saying use a fogger.
Again NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO gum up the Windows gum up the switches nessecitating recleaning. When all this does is heats a fluid to a steam. Better idea is hang a disco ball in car crank stereo up and pretend it's a disco because they are the same design of machine that a dj uses for artificial smoke.
To do the job properly take a look at an ozone generator or O3 to the tecky bits. Read up on them and then decide yourself.
After 20 and some years I ain't found a fogger that lasts the day yet alone does what it says ..
They don't clean they just fill the car with a horrible smelling steam that basicly sits on everything.... ozone generator is the way to go every time
 
#31 ·
Destroying odours, not masking them

Well, thanks for the dusting down and it may take me a little time to explain that AIRTUNE is not a fogger and the nasty smells are destroyed by complete oxidisation and not masked by any scents or perfumes. We added a citrous aroma as customers wanted to sense the car was clean when they collected their vehicles. The huge advantage of the AIRTUNE system is that the droplet size means the vapour passes through all the car's air filtration system, including condenser and, as our video shows, you can see the vapour reappearing through the vehicle vents. This means all surfaces are reached and treated - unlike anything else you mention. The machine itself (and the AIRTUNE liquid) is made in Germany by a company that specialises in micro pumps for military and medical devices. Requirements for machine reliability and longevity are therefore vital. The fogger machines on the market are cheaply made and not by companies with the same technical requirements and experience. We agree with you they are not effective and do largely work on masking and not destroying the odour source. They also leave nasty deposits in the footwell and on door sills/seats that requires further cleaning. My suggestion is you try the AIRTUNE system. You might surprise yourself and it might help explain why 95% of German airports are rolling it out for car rental returns and why AIRTUNE was shortlisted in a group of 5 top new products in Germany in 2015. :newbie::)
 
#32 ·
Steam cleaning

Great article and rightly supports the effectiveness of steam. It is precisely that principle of penetration that we we developed AIRTUNE which has the added benefit of working right through the vehicles' air conditioning system which harbours fungi and bacteria and bad smells. AIRTUNE pulses a steam vapour with 1 micron particles that smother fungi and bacteria in the aircon system and destroys them. Summary of the report for the disinfectant effect of an AIRTUNE process
The Institute of Biochemistry of the University of Applied Science Mannheim
(Germany) has recently tested the disinfectant effect of AIRTUNE. Within this test the investigations of the Institute confirm that after 1 application the reproduction of microorganisms - depending on the art of microorganism - can be reduced up to 99,994%.After a large number of investigations the head of the project Prof. Dr. Lasse Greiner summarises:
"In the tests conducted with Airtune, both a reduction of germs and inhibitory action on their growth was found. This was found for exemplary germs and noteworthy for a mould, which are known for their health impact. Applying the evaporation was superior to the application of the liquid alone, which is attributed to the even distribution of the vapour compared to spraying or other forms of application. Moreover, the likelihood to reach remote and hardly accessible surfaces is strongly increased. Especially cold spots, prone to water condensation and formation of microbial nests, are effectively treated. Overall, a general reduction of microorganisms and reduction of their growth can be achieved by the regular application of the evaporation."
 
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