stainless steel trailer

**nittyv12** · 06-21-2010, 02:36 PM

i've branched out into commercial detailing. a repeat customer has a 40 foot (+/-) grain trailer he needs washed and degreased. it has stainless steel railings, but since i wont be polishing them, will an APC give them a good enough cleaning or does any1 have other ideas/ chemicals they know work?

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**Dubbin1** · 06-21-2010, 02:48 PM

Are you sure that's stainless?

**nittyv12** · 06-21-2010, 07:10 PM

im mistaken..its not stainless. its similar to link fence poles

**sgtmillhouse648** · 06-22-2010, 06:40 AM

It's a galvanized trailer, not stainless. There's a lot of dirt on that, but remember as well that some of it is soot from the stack on the tractor. The finish on it is very durable, and I'd personally go about it by spraying it down with a degreaser (simple green/purple power) and scrubbing it with a mop with a scrub brush on the end of it. You can try a pressure washer, but I don't think it will have enough umph to get it all off.

Mike Phillips · 06-22-2010, 07:31 AM

Originally Posted by nittyv12

i've branched out into commercial detailing. a repeat customer has a 40 foot (+/-) grain trailer he needs washed and degreased. it has stainless steel railings, but since i wont be polishing them, will an APC give them a good enough cleaning or does any1 have other ideas/ chemicals they know work?

A couple of things... from a guy that's worked on a grain farm, Farmers don't really care about "pretty", they care about ROI, or Return on their investment. They'll spend more for anything that won't rust versus spend less for something that in a few years they'll have to replace because it rusted to the point it needs to be replaced.

The point being unless this farmer is completely different than all the rest, just focus on getting it clean but not polished all pretty.

A good all purpose cleaner and a stout brush on an extendible and strong handle should get the job done, a mop was suggested, I would look more for some kind of "Scotchbrite" mop and I think you can get these for cleaning floors, the green, aggressive Scotchbrite material together with an all purpose cleaner should remove that built up grunge pretty well.

Check out a Janitorial Supply Store, they usually care a good selection of brush and mop heads and heavy duty handles.

DP Cleanse-All Exterior Cleaner is a strong but safe all purpose cleaner that has tackled everything I've used it on.

DP Cleanse-All Exterior Cleaner

I keep bottles of it in the Studio always ready to go.

Mike Phillips · 06-22-2010, 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by nittyv12

im mistaken..its not stainless. its similar to link fence poles

If it were made of Stainless Steel, it would be one very nice and expensive trailer. The show piece of the farm.

**nittyv12** · 06-26-2010, 07:52 AM

thank you all for the help. this is actually a bank repo @ a trailer resale lot. they are definitely looking for their ROI. today is the day and like you guys suggested, degreasing and scrubbing.

**nittyv12** · 06-26-2010, 08:36 PM

trailer completed a few hours ago. I used mean green degreaser and aluminum brightener on the posts. chemicals did their job, but it was still a bit of a process.