ionizer...do they work?

[sweetextreme]

i am considering buying an ionizer. I could charge the dealership extra for the smoker and stinky vehicles IF they work. one other detail shop in town has one and uses it to their advantage in their advertising. i would like to be able to have this advantage myself...what are your thoughts. here is what im looking at

AIR PURIFIER FRESH IONIZER NEGATIVE IONS 3500 SF IONIZER FRESH HEPA FILTER NEW | eBay

[sweetextreme]

or should i get an ozone generator instead

[sweetextreme]

like this NEW INDUSTRIAL OZONE GENERATOR MACHINE PRO AIR PURIFIER CLEANER OP-3000 OZONATOR | eBay

[mrclean81]

All Ive ever used was an ozone generator, but it worked great. It did leave the cars with a smell that a couple people complained about. Sadly it got stolen a few years back along with the rest of my equipment, and was never replaced.

[Stokdgs]

That first wood box ionizer is going to clean the air around it as long as its running, and no one is going to want to carry this around in their car, if it even works like it says it will.

Your second box is an ozonator wich is supposed to clean all the air and whatever is in that area of bad smells. What they dont tell you is that it sometimes has a bad effect on leather and some plastics too.
I have always wanted to find something to eliminate bad smells from vehicles too, and have investigated the ozonator machines, but there are several types, some have plates that are replaceable, and all have to be cleaned, the really good ones will remove everything from the air and you cant go inside the vehicle or room, while they are working. And then again, I read that some will have a detrimental affect on leather and some plastics..
And they cost a lot of money to boot !

What I have never done though, is go talk to the people who clean houses after fires, etc.., and use these things to clean up the air, and ask them how they really work. They would really know best, because they have to make these things work for them or they will not get paid..

My only other option in the Detailing business is to go after the source/s of the bad smell/s and remove the sources.
In a smoked out car, this involves, steaming and extracting as much as possible, with my Steamer and Extractor, including the dang Headliner which in my experience, I have found the area above the Driver and the area directly behind the Driver into the very back of the back window to have the most nicotine attached, and has to be really removed carefully and completely if you want the smell to go away.
The seat belts are also big carriers of nicotine and have to be carefully steamed with a good cleaner and you will be amazed how much brown gunk comes off on your white towel when you clean them!.

I have done a few Smoker cars, without an ozonator, and have actually removed enough nicotine that the smell was way, way, gone. I dont like to use cover up things either, because they only mask the smell and their own smell sometimes makes people sick.

There are odor elimanators like SoPure and Meguiars odor eliminator, that use enzymes to kill bad bacteria that causes smells and these sometimes help after all that you can do to get to the sources of the bad odors and remove them.

I hear of guys putting out these bombs in cars that are supposed to do this too, but I dont think that will ever work for me. I am not sure about the after effects of these things either on the leather, cloth, plastics, and carpeted surfaces of vehicles, and who knows what they do to the electronics under the dash, etc...

Good luck!
Dan F

[sweetextreme]

that was very informative dan thank you. and i never thought about the electrical or effects on leather or plastic. deffinatly something for me to think about!

[polisher]

i have seen most prof shops have them..so it prolly work