Why The Vetta Vapore is a perfect exterior/interior steam cleaner
We feel that after you read this article, you will have a much better understanding of what you need in a commercial exterior and interior steam cleaner. We hope you will agree that the Vetta Vapore will fit your need and be the absolute best steamer for your detailing buisness.
New ways to clean a car- first there was waterless products
In our research and development over the last few years we have tried a few different things to aid in cleaning the exterior of a vehicle. We know it’s becoming almost necessary to clean a car with the least amount of water possible. This is a fact. More and more detailers have gone to waterless or polymer type of products to wash the car not only for water savings, but for effectiveness. This is a fact. Just a few short years ago, many detailers and consumers alike, would cringe at the idea of washing a car in this fashion. But is not only accepted now, it’s almost commonplace!
We have used Optimum No Rinse for over 6 years now and is a fantastic product. However, this waterless product as well as all the others cannot really clean an exterior on its own. We figured this out a long time ago as New Jersey weather can be unforgiving sometimes and cars can get pretty dirty. We know, and I am sure you have found out as well the same thing. So in cleaning the exterior of a vehicle with the least amount of water possible will involve a waterless product. But you really need a little more wetness and pressure and some rinsing ability to aid in getting the car clean and keeping the time frame to do it in, as short as possible.
Waterless combined with steam to clean the exterior of a car
So we all hopefully agree that combining a steam cleaner with a waterless product is the best way to go to accomplish this. But what kind of steam cleaner can do this? Years and years ago, even before I had a good commercial steam cleaner, I quickly figured out that a cheap little steam had no place anywhere near the exterior of a car. It just won’t work. I am sure you may have figured that out by now. I still always laugh at videos where guys to show a little bitty steamer trying to get a car clean. So if we agree that won’t work, we need a better steamer to clean the exterior. But what kind of steamer is the best at doing this? Also many detailers want, and demand that the steamer be able to clean the exterior as well as the interior. And…….as most Americans do….we want the steamer to work on 120 volt electricity. This is where it gets interesting.
Which steamer to buy to clean the exterior as well as the interior?
We have tried so many steamers on the outside. We have helped develop a couple as well for exterior/interior cleaning. While we really though we had it nailed with the machines we developed, we still saw some issues that needed fixing. But it seems that what I wanted and what you want in a steamer either makes it extremely expensive, or it’s just not as perfect as we had hoped.
My thinking was always high pressure is always better. It sure helps but just having what amounts to steam as compressed air will not get a car clean any better or faster. You can have a huge pressure steamer that is still dry vapor (as a steamer should be) but it is still not a perfect exterior machine. You need some wetness and water volume to help do a little rinsing on the exterior
So many detailers have bought into the diesel fired machines or even propane to clean the exterior. They sure look good in videos. The steam looks like it’s coming out of a fire hose and the guy in the video is just wiping the car with a micro fiber towel and the car looks great. Don’t get me wrong. These steamers are impressive but they have drawbacks. Propane and diesel cannot be used indoors. Fire inspectors just won’t allow it. It’s happened in my shop. Propane is far too wet to be used on the interior and these steamers have no brush attachments and a wand that cannot even come close to being used inside a car. The diesel machine is a little drier steam but still very wet. Even though the volume of steam is adjustable, it is still very wet and not a great interior unit, although it still can be used that way. This machine also does not have brushes to help clean the inside which we know we really need. But it’s a very nice machine but still has limitations on what it can do and it’s not a perfect option. If you are doing more car washing than detailing and need to actually wash many cars per day, this is an excellent choice. Both a propane steamer and a diesel steamer are fairly big and very heavy. Getting them on and off your truck or van will need a ramp. If you have a shop, you probably cannot use one of these
Electric 120 or 220 volt exterior steam cleaners
Here is where it gets difficult. We all would rather have an electric steamer in 120 volts. It’s just so much easier. But……making one with enough power is almost impossible. I know it, as the development of an electric unit to clean the exterior of a car is a very tough task. You just have limited amps and voltage to get a 120 volt heater to produce a huge amount of steam. You can get close but still its limited and then the huge electric draw means you need dedicated circuits or a huge generator to operate them. And they still are not perfect. These steamers need a gun and a bigger and heavier wand to hold the bigger pressure and higher heat output. This makes it a little more difficult to clean the interior with bulkier brushes and a heavier gun set up. But it’s the only way to do it. Regular plastic wands on most steamers would melt under these conditions.
Of course there are 220 volt units out there that have more amps so the steam output is much greater. The problem is that most shops will need a 220 outlet which will cost more money. Also a mobile detailer CANNOT use a 220 volt steamer. Although most good generators have a 220 volt outlet, they are not the same as what the plug will be on the 220 volt steamer. You can’t plug it in so it will never work.
What is the most logical option?
So if you can’t really make a propane unit or a diesel unit work for you. Or they are too big for you, or they are not really good interior steamer, you still want and need a 120 volt steamer. But we already talked about how difficult it is to produce huge volumes of steam with great pressure in a 120 volt steamer. So what do you do???
You think a little out of the box! Here is what we have found
To correctly clean the exterior of a car with steam you don’t need that much steam or pressure. Don’t get me wrong, a little bitty steamer still won’t work but you don’t need propane or a diesel in most cases. If you are detailing cars and NOT trying to run a car wash, the biggies are not needed. I can clean an average dirty car, even with some salt or heavy dirt with a Vapor Chief. I use the steam and pressure to blow dirt out of cracks and crevices first. I blow the steam under maximum pressure out of door moldings, door handles, mirrors, emblems. Between lights and the body, etc. What you really want, and need, the steam and pressure to do is get the dirt from a tight area and move it and disperse it into a flat body area where your waterless product can do the rest. This is why many guys still insist that a waterless product alone will get a car clean. Now, on a fairly clean car this may be true. On a dirty car it will be “cleaner” but not perfect. We all have seen this. The body looks good but the cracks and crevices look like crap and look as if they were not touched. This is where I thought that if the steamer had more pressure, it would solve the issues. But it does not. The same is true with more volume. It sure helps to have wetter and higher volume steam, but it just means more wipe up and drying you have to do. And again, a steamer with more pressure and volume in 120 volts is a huge task to create
But don’t you still need volume or a little “rinsing” action?
Sure you do! There is no doubt about it. A total dry steamer won’t rinse a dirty wheel after you spray cleaner on it and brush it (which is still the correct and ONLY way to clean a dirty wheel). The same is true for a wheel well, a trunk sill, an engine or other really grimy area. Dry steam, even at high pressure can’t really do the job. As well, the dry steamers will lose too much pressure too quickly and run out of steam, and water in the boiler. This leaves you with an empty steamer and the need to refill it and wait for it to heat up. We all have been there. So…….you at least need a continuous fill model. But if it’s a dry steamer it still does not solve the “rinsing” issues. It just means you can keep adding water and keep producing dry steam
How do we rinse with steam?
The best answer to that question is…..we “DON’T” rinse with steam. For the majority of the car we don’t really need to rinse. If we understand my previous explanation, we see we can get most of the car clean with good pressure and dry steam. But the wheels, wheel wells, trunk sills, etc. we do need some kind of rinsing action. But the steamer cannot do it.
Hold on, I have seen steamers with “hot water injection”! Yes, that is correct. There are a few 120 volt steamers with hot water injection that will give some rinsing action to the process. But…….these systems rob hot water from a very small boiler to do this. It’s simply running water with the steam and taking the water…..and pressure from the boiler. In no time at all…..and I mean no time, you will have nothing left. Then you wait…..and wait….until it pressurizes again and you can do this again for a very short time. Even if the steamer has continuous fill it can’t catch up fast enough. The injection feature through the boiler is neat don’t get me wrong. However it is not enough to solve our rinsing issue on these tough exterior areas. These steamers will not work
But I still need to rinse
This is why the steamer does indeed need an injection system. However, the injection system “should not” and “cannot” be run through the boiler for maximum effectiveness. The steamer needs an injection system that is basically “separate” from the boiler. By doing this you will get rinsing and NOT rob water or pressure from the boiler.
This is why we LOVE the Vetta Vapore
The Vetta Vapore has a fabulous injection system. It has another pump that pumps water or anything you decide to put in the tank. It’s not steam but for rinsing you really do not need steam. This is the revelation! The steam is not needed here and the pressure won’t matter. To take a vast amount of time to rinse with dry steam will not aid the process. This slows you down, wastes steam and you will run any boiler out very quickly. This system uses another pump and hose and runs the water through the steam hose but bypasses the boiler. It’s brilliant! And is perfect for doing exteriors. And it’s a perfect interior steamer as well the brushes are excellent. The wand is light (no gun needed). Its pressure is still almost 100 PSI so there is plenty there if needed and its continuous fill! It’s what we have been looking for and hopefully what you have been looking for. It’s small and light at only 33 pounds for this stainless steel little monster.
We think this is the perfect steamer for a detailer that needs to clean cars without water. As we stated in this article there are options for exterior steaming but they are all flawed. We think this is the best option for this purpose and we would love to explain it more to you if you will call us. But in the meantime please look more at the unit here on our site by clicking here to see the Vetta VaporeWe will have videos of the machine soon enough so hand in there but please call us at 888-302-6400 for more information
