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Mobile Car Valeting Equipment needed to start your business

Below I will go through the mobile valeting equipment and accessories I used during the 7 years I owned and ran a successful mobile car valeting business. 

The car valeting equipment listed below outlines what a business would need to start a BASIC mobile car valeting business so this article is best suited to a startup and not an established business, detailer or DIY valeter looking to clean their own car. 

If you are searching for articles to help you clean your own vehicle and some DIY valeting equipment, I would suggest this article: How to valet a car.

Choosing your mobile valeting van

You shouldn’t be surprised when I mention you need a van. The reason I mention this is that not all vans are created equal.

When I first started my business I actually used a car derived van for the first few months before deciding it was a terrible idea.

The importance of a good valeting van

My first valeting van was more of a car than a van. It was a ford Fiesta “van”. It couldn’t carry weight, no room for signage on the sides and it just didn’t look professional at all.

So unprofessional that one of my first ever customers I gained actually turned me away. I got the work from a flyer drop I did to a group of office blocks. The flyer was well designed and I had all my prices on there.

When I turned up in my “van”, the guy was bit taken back and started to speak down to me. I was young at the time. He went back inside the offices for a minute, returned and made the excuse of needing all the chemicals to be eco-friendly.

Because I couldn’t prove this at the time, I was turned away! After getting a bigger/better van with professional signage, this never happened again.

Choosing the right size car valeting van

The key things to look for in my opinion is size. This depends on the type of work you plan to do.

Small valeting vans;

For example, if you plan to soley do private work, you want something that isn’t too large which you can easily fit into driveways and car parks. Remember you may be back and forth to your van quite a lot.

You don’t want to be squeezing in-between cars all the time to reach your valeting equipment if you have stuff stored in side loading doors – which you will more than likely. Vauxhall combos, ford transit connects and berlingo’s are great for this job.

Medium valeting vans;

If you plan to do fleet cleans for office blocks then you will need to carry a large water tank. Something like a 1000l IBC or baffled tank. Which isn’t going to be a good idea in a transit connect, combo or similar sized van.

Think more standard transit vans, Vivaro’s etc. Don’t even think about trying to work this business out of a car as many do. You WILL need a van.

Full mobile car valeting equipment list:

Electric pressure washer options:

PETROL PRESSURE WASHER options:

If you need more power from your pressure washer and are okay with lugging your petrol pressure washer in and out of your van – the above will be more than enough.

Electric pressure washers Vs Petrol pressure washers

Electric pressure washer thoughts;

• Electric pressure washers are considerably cheaper to buy
• They are cheaper to run (Most of the time customer will plugin)
• I have found them to be more reliable
• Much easier to manoeuvre around cars
• Easier to lift in and out of the van

 Petrol pressure washer thoughts;

• Much more power potential
• Can be more mobile due to no need to plugin
• Hose is generally much longer
• Different nozzles available with quick release fitting

Petrol generator options:

If you decide to get an electric pressure washer, remember that your generator must be powerful enough to power this (the more powerful your pressure washer, the more expensive the generator will be).

Most electric pressure washers have an induction motor which takes 6 times the working power to start and a lot of power to run. Therefore you should make sure you speak to someone who knows the power ratings required before buying one.

If you’ve decided to go with the petrol pressure washer then you just need to worry about the generator being powerful enough to power your vacuum and wet vacuum cleaner. This generally doesn’t require that much power.

Vacuum cleaners

Dry Vacuums

As far as vacuum cleaners come almost any small vac would do the trick. I always use a small henry vacuum because;

• They are easy to manoeuvre around vehicles
• Small and compact for storage in your van
• Have a lot of power for their size
• Most have the recoil wire for you to just wind back in after a job, saving LOTS of time and most of all frustration!
• One of the best and most reliable brands on the market

Wet Vacuum

I would recommend spending the extra money on your wet vac. You preferably could do with a wet vacuum which will pump shampoo into the seats with a trigger on the handle.

I use a Numatic George which has always done a really good job of sucking up dirt on seats and never let me down.

If a George is out of your price range then just try a normal wet vac with no extraction unit for now which just requires a little bit more hard work. But when you get the money, definitely get one.

Baffled Water tank:

There’s no need to go crazy on this and start looking at the massive IBC 1000ltr water tanks, these are way too big for the standard mobile car valeter.

Why people get these for car valeting is beyond me, usually the average you’ll need to clean a car is about 75-100 litres, at a push you could do 3 cars a day, that’s 225-300 litres so aim for a tank with about 250L plus and you’ll be fine.

Cleaning Chemicals

Personally, I love Autosmart products. I’ve tried many different brands in the past but I would always recommend Autosmart. Depending on where you are in the UK they will also deliver to you on site! Which not many suppliers do.

The options above provide all the products you need to give them a try. If you are happy, then I would suggest getting in touch with your local sales rep by calling Autosmart direct to purchase the 5l bottles because it works out cheaper. You can find your local Autosmart dealer here: Autosmart

Car valeting accessories

snow foam lance:

This if used with the right chemical can do wonders for you. Attach it to your pressure washer and spray over your vehicle. You can make your car look as if its been in the Arctic for a week. TIP: Clean the wheels whilst its still on then wash off.

Electric buffing machine:

Use with caution. If you haven’t used one before then try buy the machines with a speed adjustment and use on the lowest speed until you are used to it.

WEBSITE:

It comes as no surprise that nowadays most businesses have a website. If yours does not, you may run the risk of customers thinking your business isn’t very credible. You want to know that your pride and joy is going to be left in capable professional hands. A combination of a good website, Facebook page and google business page would be the minimum I would suggest to get the more profitable private customers.

*update – we now offer small business web design packages from £250 and SEO services; contact us for more info.

SMALL BUT ESSENTIAL EXTRAS:

Usually the 5L drums are supplied direct by your franchise dealer – whether that be autosmart or whomever you decide to go with. I always used Autosmart and have always been happy with their products.

As for chemicals the car cleaning industry is ‘awash’ with different manufacturers and suppliers so I will narrow it down a little for you to get you started. Once you know what you like you can test other brands to suit your needs.

Industry leading suppliers seem to be Auto-smart and autogylm. I have always used Autosmart, the products I find are very competitive on price and are one of the best vehicle valeting products I have ever used.

My personal second choice would be autoglym. These two brands are more than enough to get you started for car valeting, Car detailing on the other hand would be a whole different kettle of fish and just isn’t covered in this article.

So there you go, that’s what I would class as a good basic vehicle valeting business set-up. Remember it doesn’t cost for a quote so go crazy and make sure you are getting the best deal.

Find the best possible quote you can or just find the best quality items you can for the best possible price. IF YOU THINK SOMETHING SOULD BE ADDED TO THE LIST – LEAVE ME A COMMENT BELOW