Something for everyone:

thinking about getting the car valeted, but it's never crossed my mind until recently. What should i be expecting? Are we looking at a hoover & a wipe down with some handi-wipes that i could do myself, or should i be expecting a good job - a vax machine used or something to give seats, mats etc a GOOD clean, and whatever else used for the interior glass/plastics, nooks & crannies etc? How crazy do they go? They don't start taking seats out to clean everywhere do they or what?

Hoping to get some people from Lancaster on this one......

Finding places that'll do this locally is easy. Finding places that people would recommend is a bit harder. I don't want to be going to some scam artist. So, anyone able to recommend a place in the Lancaster area?

cheers

well you can break this down into valeting and detailing!

valeting i would describe as vac inside wipe down all surfaces (some do carpet upholstery cleaning likely at extra cost) wash the outside, and wax it!

detailing concentrates on cleaing the car in the safest method (2 bucket) and paint correction!

i dont think you should personally pay for a valet....for what they charge i would do it and do a darn sight better job!

if your car is wanting to be professionally detailed and have the paint brought back to life and sealed uip protected for winter then go down this route! your looking at a few hundred quid though easy for that

I'd recommend you do it yourself, take a day and do it properly.

You're always going to get a guarenteed result you're happy with, no corner cutting, and free labour.

Only cost is price of cleaning products and equipment, then you won't have to pay for them again.

ahh never thought of it like that (valeting / detailing) so fair point.

Cheers for the info.

One thing i'll ask though........

I work for a building place & the wagons get absolutley grubby, not least because the drivers are filthy!! lol. They get sent away (the wagons, not the drivers) some times to get cleaned out.

The floors of the cab are absolutley immaculate when they come back & trust me, they're dirtier than the insides of any car i'll probably ever see, much more filthy.

What'd they be using to do this? I know i'll likely not need it for the car, i'm just curious. Steam cleaner is the only thing i can think of. As for products used, i don't know.

when i was a nipper my dad used to run a haulage company, then moved into cleaning plant machinery and HGVs

it was a huge steam cleaner he had with all manner of soaps degreasers etc.

he conecentrated on outers and not interiors though to be hinest, but i imagine seats etc and upholstery was done by some form of professional carpet cleaners!

we get them in work and its mad what the machines lift out of carpets etc!

if you are looking to pimp your interior cloth seats, i suggest the auto glym interior shampoo, and simply follow its instrustions, does a good job in breaking down grime, and then if you agitate it with a brush it removes a hell of a lot of muck, just have a go at it several times and the seats will become mint!

hgv gear is way too abrasive strong for what you will need, plus most of that stuff you will only get in 5 gallon drums

christian