Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: coyote7 on April 06, 2009, 01:13:21 pm
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Hi guys.
I am thinking of offering car upholstery cleaning to my services do many of you do this and how do you get on? I was wondering what to charge for a car/van etc
Any feedback appreciated
Thanks
Rich ;D
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Hi, I clean the odd car upholstery if I'm quiet. I charge £30 for a 4/5 seater.
They normally come up really well. I use pre-spray gold and then an acid rinse.
Cheers, Pete
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Is it worth getting out of bed for that sort of money? Time, travelling, diesel, chemicals??? Ive been thinking about diversifying in to a few other areas and one being cleaning car interiors but for £30 it wouldn't be worth my efforts!
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seems bit cheap may do it if asked and was on site apart from that would be minimum charge as with any other job
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My minimum is £50 but you could probably get £100 + per job if you offered a wider range of valleting services
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Long as you protect the insides from damp as well as any come back will be at your door ::)
I did some years ago and a good tip is when you have finished to put a turbo dryer in the car :)
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If that is for seats only then perhaps. If it is for doors and headlining etc, as well forget it. I did one many years ago and swore I would NEVER do one again!! And I haven't.
Pass it on to the valeting boys, let them get covered in drips off the roof and get a bad back from being a contortionist.
On the other hand if you are absolutely desperate give it a try. Round here in the West Midlands they charge 70 - 80 for inside and out valet and the car looks immaculate. Hard work for a couple of hours or so for two operators.
Trevor
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We cleaned upholstery in a Citroen Picasso, garage wanting to sell it and the previous owner had a dog so it was a bit whiffey. We charged £50 think it took about 1-1.5 hrs.
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How Much For Car Upholstery Cleaning?
A lot more than most people are willing to pay ::)
Basically, to clean thoroughly as you would a piece of interior upholstery or carpet, it'll take you 2-3 times longer than a car valet will take with their can of spray foam and a cloth.
Look at the job, estimate how long it will take you and then double it.
Car interiors are back-breaking, time-consuming and sometimes frustrating if you do it properly.
Pete, excuse me for saying so but the price you mention shocked me!
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Jim
It is a back breaking job as you say ::)
The roofs on some vehicles when wet go saggy and dont always go back ???
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Not something I would jump for.
Did 2 cars for a regular carpet cleaning customer - she was over the moon - I still wasnt happy.
She asked me again recently sayin "I know you dont like doing cars but you did it really well".
I said OK but, fortunately, she not come back to me.......... yet!
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there no money in standed car cleaning how ever for you want to do detail that a diffent matter we charge around 80 pounds an hour and a car can take up to 200 hours depening on what they want doing heres a one we done
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Thought you guys were at a day out.........
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there no money in standed car cleaning how ever for you want to do detail that a diffent matter we charge around 80 pounds an hour and a car can take up to 200 hours depening on what they want doing heres a one we done
Susan, you confuse me.
You say you cant get good rates for carpet cleaning but you charge and get £80 an hour for car prep. ???
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200 x 80 = £16000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is this the same kind of customising as the " pimp my ride " shows ?
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Hi Jim,
As I said I only do car interiors if I'm quiet (& then only for friends). I only do the actual seats for £30 (no headlining or door trims), and this takes about 1 hour. I am a relative newbie, so havn't got a full order book at the moment. It's not a service I market, but it's better then sitting on my butt.
cheers,
Pete
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Check the zeros Clinton, I was guessing it was a typo error
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there no money in standed car cleaning how ever for you want to do detail that a diffent matter we charge around 80 pounds an hour and a car can take up to 200 hours depening on what they want doing heres a one we done
Susan,
It doesnt seem long since you were posting that you were cleaning carpets and upholstery for next to nothing, make your mind up!!
Mark
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Forget car upholstery cleaning if you want to make a profit. It's hard work even for the Harry Houdini's of the cleaning world. £80 per hour - in your dreams !! - There are thousands of Eastern European Imigrants willing to do this for £5.00 per hour.
I believe that if you want to do this work, the cleaning cost has to have a direct relationship to the value of the vehicle.
We did quite a lot of contract work for garages some years ago, average £45 a throw. At least 4 hours work to fully valet. My advice - forget it and stick to carpets, working a quarter of the time for the same money !!
Apart from the labour costs, the valeting products are really expensive when worked out costwise per vehicle. Profit margin, slim to zero.
Jim
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I can't get my head around diversifying into areas that pay LESS than what you get CC.
Why not put more effort into marketing what you are already experienced at?
Investing time in learning new skills that up your hourly rate or are easy add ons to your current custy base then fair enough.
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there no money in standed car cleaning how ever for you want to do detail that a diffent matter we charge around 80 pounds an hour and a car can take up to 200 hours depening on what they want doing heres a one we done
Susan,
It doesnt seem long since you were posting that you were cleaning carpets and upholstery for next to nothing, make your mind up!!
Mark
detailing is a all new ball game and the stuff alone cost more then any c.c. chem ever made i think we paid 7k just for the polish ! as i show cars its something we just kind of fella on and with hubby being a fully trained paint sparyer he not fighten takeing wet and dry to the body work on an enzo to remove the marks off the paint work
however if things go wrong they cost big time we detail mostly footballers cars and young lads with no jobs and big gold chains (guess where they got they cash from ?)
as for the old golf its mine and ive just trun down 15k for the car as money isnt every thing
we dont do many but its nice when they book in but its not a nice job takeing every thing to the upper leavel and cleaning an alloy wheel with a very small brush for an hour isnt my cup of tea
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Susan
Your golf is a classic car now and prob wanted by many who owned that type of car when they were younger like most collectors do :)
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I saw on you tube a guy in London doing that special polish thing at £10k a car.
Shaun
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There was one on dragons den i think and he did just top end motors..
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Wouldn't give you £1500 for it.
My mate set up a car valetting business when he left the Army but he didn't last long at it.
Like he said, my idea of a valet and the customers idea was sometims way off the mark. Some wanted perfection for £25.
That was 13 years ago.
Not for me thanks I don't even like doing my own.
John
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Your right on that one john and did some years ago,and they do want perfection and any probs down the line it was your fault.
Think i would go for one of the franchises if i was going to start out now into it.
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It's a matter of finding the right customers and portraying the right image.
Shaun
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Wouldn't give you £1500 for it.
My mate set up a car valetting business.
Not for me thanks I don't even like doing my own.
John
john
i dont like cleaning my own carpets.
derek
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Me neither ;D
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Just slowly tapping this market by mistake & only reco work at the min but getting cleaning leathers £45 per seat £60 for joint back seat and silly money for Leather rest work . got 2 range rovers to do ( top £ in em )
got the back seating of a audi TT in the studio ;) for a re dye and you wouldn belive the £ I allowed the client to buy at and its got me a link to a garage that do the body work for shows
BUT a BIG BUT
Its proper hard graft & even though Ive been lucky with the clients , its a risk cause if you scratch mark or damage in any way and it will cost you big time .
the right Clients will pay silly money for there motors to look good ( seasonal )
but then the same clients OO and AR about the cost on cleaning domestically ( seasonal)
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There is good money to be made from leather restoration in cars. However make sure that the product you use is up to the job otherwise it will cost you dearly.
We are currently working on a fleet of Bentleys that were 'professionally' recoloured 8 months ago with these results :(
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg147/judy105b/Car%20seat%20restoration/DSC01447.jpg)
There are a lot of unprofessional jobs being done on car interiors which is a sad reflection on the industry.
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Apparently the going rate for a full restore of car leather upholstery is somewhere around £600 not too sure on how much work that consists of.
Shaun
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Depends on the car Shaun and the amount of work needed.
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You're right it was a sweeping statement but it was to highlight the money that could be made.
Shaun
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got my first auto to do on tuesday, quietly confident. just hope its not raining.
derek
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Might be good to take it to a unit or get a large cover that goes over all the car like they do with the dentmaster guys ???
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or go maccies till it eases ;D
derek
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Want a nice quiet unit, you don't want the dentmaster guys picking up on your good work!
Shaun
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Its worth buying one of those large covers that goes over all the car to protect it from the rain etc..
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Good ones are over a grand, you don't want it blowing away.
Shaun