[coyote7]

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

[CarPete Cleaning]

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

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

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!

[richy27]

seems bit cheap may do it if asked and was on site apart from that would be minimum charge as with any other job

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

My minimum is £50 but you could probably get £100 + per job if you offered a wider range of valleting services

[clinton]

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

[Kinver_Clean]

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

[suffolkclean]

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.

[Jim_77]

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!

[clinton]

Jim

It is a back breaking job as you say :

The roofs on some vehicles when wet go saggy and dont always go back

[Joe H]

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!

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

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

[robert meldrum]

Thought you guys were at a day out.........

[Joe H]

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.

[robert meldrum]

200 x 80 = £16000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is this the same kind of customising as the " pimp my ride " shows ?

[CarPete Cleaning]

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

[robert meldrum]

Check the zeros Clinton, I was guessing it was a typo error

[markpowell]

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

[Jim Gibbard]

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

[Mike Osbourne]

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.