Last Update: Sept 10, 2007
Every dealer in new or used automobiles in the nation has a need for a clean product to show to his potential buyers. Automobiles are easier to sell and will bring a higher price when they have eye appeal. Understanding that the need exists for this service the only thing left to do is contact the people in need and convince them that the required service is available through your company at a mutually agreeable price. The price for providing this type of service varies from one geographical location to the next. The price runs from as low as 75 cents per vehicle to as high as $2.00 per vehicle with the average price being $1.00 to $1.25 per vehicle.
What you will be expected to turn out for this price is a dirt free, spot free vehicle. The trick is to accomplish this with a minimum of overhead. In most cases the vehicles need to be cleaned an average of every 10 days. These vehicles should already be clean except for dust or water spots. Your job will be to keep them looking good by washing off the dust and atmospheric contamination that accumulates as time passes.
The difficult part of this is delivering a spot free rinse. There are essentially three ways to accomplish this. The first, the most labor intensive and also the oldest method is to dry the surface of each vehicle using a chamois or soft cotton towel. The second is to buy a Reverse Osmosis unit [ R. O. unit ] and purify the water at your shop to be carried with you to each job. This is not only expensive and labor intensive but it is also highly impractical. The third and most commonly accepted is to rent DI units [ de-ionizer units ] which will give you water in its purest form. [ 1-800-433-2113 ] Depending on the number of cars you do and the quality of the water that you run through the DI tanks you should be able to use DI tanks for about one month before it becomes necessary to re-generate the DI tanks. The average cost for DI water is about 5 cents per car. In most cases you will never use soap or hot water in performing lot maintenance. Because your are not using hot water or detergents you should be able to discharge your wash water to storm sewer because the runoff is similar to rain event. You will need to check with your local municipality to verify that this procedure is O.K in your area.
You should be able to deliver the desired product by rinsing the vehicle with DI water after using a mop dipped in water to wipe off the hood, deck and top of the car. If you should opt to use a DI system you need to use it in conjunction with a cold water pressure washer. DI water is easily contaminated, and should never be discharged through a heater as it will pick up contamination as it passes through the heater coils. DI water should be transferred to your pressure washer through PVC pipe or plastic or rubber hose. When it is discharged from your pump it should go directly to your pressure hose passing through a minimum of metal components. To achieve maximum life of the charge on your DI tanks you should never run hot water through them. Anything in excess of 100 degrees would be too hot. If you will incorporate the use of a carbon filter in your water line prior to the DI tanks this will also extend the life of the charge.
DI tanks are housings for anion and cation resins which remove the positive and negative ions from the water leaving the water as free as possible of spot causing elements. The re-generation of these resins is accomplished through the use of acid and liquid caustic soda and is done by the company from which you rent the unit. So essentially all you have to do is return the spent tanks to your supplier. He will replace them with freshly charged ones and you are ready to start washing again. You can find DI water suppliers under "Water Filtration & Purification Equipment" in the Yellow Pages.
For "Fundamentals of Deionization by Ion Exchange" go to http://www.culliganmiami.com/pf5.html
For the latest version of this report go to http://www.dcs1.com/del/carlot.html
For more answers to your questions please call Larry Hinckley at Delco Cleaning Systems 1-800-433-2113.
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