Most car owners take pains to maintain the outlook of their precious cars but hardly lift a finger to do the same for the car interiors thinking that the interior is generally clean and doesn’t need cleaning or maintenance. Unfortunately, that’s not true. Even for our one-year-old car.
We were invited by EA Detailer to try out their Cabin Interior Sanitization and Interior Anti Pest Fumigation services so my hubby brought the car over during the March holidays for the thorough cleaning. The services include:
1. Anti-Pest Biofumigation
2. Comprehensive Wipedown and Multiple Checks
3. In-depth Jet Vacuum
4. SGH-Certified Wonderkleen Sanitization (Physical Sanitization)
5. Matt Finished Leather Treatment Protection
6. Matt Finished Dashboard Treatment Protection
7. In-depth Interior Vacuum
8. ProMed Ozonic Treatment (Sanitize whole cabin inclusive of Aircon System to remove bacteria, any chemical residue, odour)
9. Complete with Viral-Rid Anti Bacteria
(Products used for Interior are ISO and Singapore General Hospital certified)
They also did Steam Cleaning for our car, to break apart the dirt and dust bond with the surface, allowing the dirt particles to be purged.
These processes usually take up to 6 hours to complete, and the usual price is $209nett. But for first-time customers going for a trial session, a discounted rate of $128nett applies. Large cars will cost another $50 more.
*You can click here for the online promotion for my readers or read through the post where the same link is available at the end*
[Because of the duration and also the possible fumes that might irritate the kids’ respiratory system, my hubby went for the session alone while I stayed home with the kids, so this review is written by my hubby!]
Soon after sending the car in and being briefed by the professional service counter staff, our car was swiftly driven to their work area and off we went for their first process. All items in the car were cleared out before the processes commenced.
1) Anti-Pest Biofumigation
Smoke out!!! The whole car was fumigated with their bio-degradable anti-pest fumes.
Once done, all doors were closed and the fumes were left in the cabin for 15 minutes or more. During this period, the fumes will reach most hidden corners of the cabin, including vents, gaps and even the aircon system.
2) Foam Wash
During this time, the staff quickly gave my car a “shower” with their foam wash.
I’d have to say that the foam wash was done much more thoroughly than most other car washes. Clay cloths were used to remove surface grime and a powerful jet spray was used to wash off the foam, hitting several hidden areas near the wheels.
3) Checking for “smoked-out” roaches
This is the most interesting and mind-blowing part. After the car was washed and dried, and the fumes left in the car for sufficient duration, the doors were opened to reveal the “results”….. The results for my car – 2 roaches killed by the fumes!
Photo’s not clear enough to show what that brown thing is? Look below. The staff will use one piece of masking tape to stick up all the killed roaches for each car, usually one piece of tape per car.
Both my “babies” above were about 1 cm long. The staff gave me a pat on my shoulder to praise me for keeping my car interior “very clean”. Why so? Look at the casualties from other cars (shown below). Even for a one-year-old car, many more roaches could have been expected.
Apparently, most cars have many more roaches in them, and sometimes adult-sized ones can be found too. Can you spot the adult-sized ones in the picture above? The fumes are promised to kill at least 80% of the roaches immediately. Those “commando” roaches that survived on the day of fumigation would most likely die in the next few days, so the staff assured me that it’s normal to see a few more crawling out half-dead in the next few days. Thankfully, we didn’t see anymore of those half-dead ones crawling around after that.
4) Steam Cleaning
Steam cleaning was done for the fabric surfaces of the car. Hot steam about 70 degrees celcius was sprayed on fabric surfaces to loosen any dirt, dust particles and food substances and also to kill dust mites.
The steam cleaning job was thoroughly conducted, reaching even the fabric surfaces in the boot compartment.
5) Leather Treatment Protection
The leather surfaces in the car were then given a refreshing layer of protection. This layer shines the leather slightly (as seen below) but it doesn’t make the leather surfaces outright oily. But the staff mentioned that the protection layer is still mildly oil-based in order to moisturize the leather.
6) Matt Finished Dashboard Treatment Protection
The plastic and acrylic surfaces of the car’s interior were also given a layer of treatment and protection. This was also applied to similar surfaces in the boot compartment.
7) ProMed Ozonic Treatment
An ozone machine was then placed in the car’s cabin to remove any bacteria, chemical residue, or odour in the car.
8) Sanitization
The car’s interior was then sanitized with a Viral-Rid Anti Bacteria spray. This product is also bio-degradable and is certified and used by Singapore General Hospital.
9) Caring for the Lil’ Passengers
The child seats or booster seats in the car were also given a thorough cleaning and sanitization. I found this particularly useful because I have never cleaned my kids’ child seats before! We hardly ever allow the kids to eat in the car so we’ve never really thought to steam-clean them. 😛
The Baby Seat Sanitization process includes:
– Steam Cleaning (To loosen any dirt, dust particles and food substances attached to the seat fabric and kill dustmites)
– Tornado Intensive Cleaning (High pressure water which is injected on the surface of the cleaning area to further loosen all the bacteria, germs, food substances and cleanse the surface)
– Physical sanitization
– Vacuum
the staff spraying the booster seat with the Viral-Rid Anti Bacteria spray, the same one used to sanitize the cabin
10) In-depth Interior Vacuum
The guys really gave my car’s cabin a very thorough vacuuming job. I have no photos to show the results of the vacuuming, though, but this is really the cleanest vacuum job I’ve ever seen!
11) Final Touch-up Detailing and Handing Over
The car was then carefully driven to their main showroom where the counter staff delicately touched up any fine jobs left to be done. Although I did not opt for an exterior grooming package, he still professionally touched up some minor scratches on the car’s paintwork. He then inspected the car thoroughly before handing over the car back to me.
Overall Experience
What I liked about their service would be:
- the touch of professionalism from the start till the end where the car is returned to me
- the safety assurance of the products that they used
- having an eye for detail (thorough cleaning of the kids’ child seats, for example)
- reasonable prices, at least for first-timers. A saloon car would only cost $128 nett for the trial session (without steam cleaning).
- a suite of comprehensive services to choose from and to be completed in the same time. Customers can opt to groom their car’s exterior from a range of packages while the interior is being treated. The down time for your car would still be around 6 hours.
A minor point for improvement could be:
- although they have a large and comfortable waiting lounge for customers and their products are bio-degradable and certified safe, the smell of the sprays used could get into the lounge and some customers might still feel that the smell is a bit too much for their noses.
It is recommended to clean and sanitize the car interiors regularly and consistently (3-5 months once).
Special Promotion for Simply Mommie readers!
EA Detailer has two options that you can choose from for you to try out their thorough car cleaning services!
[OPTION #1]
1. 50% Off 3-Stage Interior at $108 (Usual Price $209)
-> Anti Pest Biofumigation
-> Anti Viral Sanitization (Covers Physical and Air environment including aircon system)
-> Leather Treatment
-> Dashboard Treatment
-> Indepth Vacuum
-> Anti Mold/Odour Smell Ozonic Treatment
(Duration: 4 hours)
[OPTION #2]
Take both 3-Stage Exterior and 3-Stage Interior Detailing at ONLY $198
3-Stage Exterior process includes the following
-> 3 Steps Compounding
-> Machine Buffing
-> NanoSealant
-> Engine bay detailing
-> Detailing area on door shuts, boot shuts, bonnet edges and fuel cap
-> Rims polishing
-> Exhaust polishing
(Duration : 4 to 6 hours)
(Additional surcharge of $50 applies for MPV/SUV/Large & Flagship Luxury Sedans)
To book an appointment, simply click on the link where you can make your booking conveniently.
Disclosure: We were invited to try out EA Detailer’s services. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are ours.
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