How To Become A Car Cleaner: What It Is and Career Path

What is a car cleaner and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Car cleaners clean equipment and vehicles using cleaning agents, brushes, clothes, hoses, etc. They are tasked with cleaning both vehicle's interiors and exteriors, windows, wheels, mud flaps, high-pressure hose, and bumpers.

There are some skills one should have to increase their chances of getting this job, some of them include a cautious attitude, the ability to maintain a professional attitude, and good customer service. One should also be flexible enough to work extra hours and physically strong enough to do the job.

There are no minimum education requirements to qualify for this job. As for the salary structure, it depends on the size of the organization, the experience of the candidate, and the country of residents. In the United States, an average car cleaner earns between $26,862 and $49,500.

ScoreCar CleanerUS Average

Salary

2.3

Avg. Salary $29,423

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.6

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.91%

Asian 5.19%

Black or African American 13.26%

Hispanic or Latino 16.63%

Unknown 5.05%

White 58.96%

Gender

female 18.44%

male 81.56%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress Level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.1

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.6

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a car cleaner

Explore car cleaner education requirements

Most common car cleaner degrees

High School Diploma

58.6 %

Bachelor's

12.2 %

Diploma

11.0 %

Start to develop specific car cleaner skills

Skills	Percentages
Clean Windows	41.43%
Vehicle Damage	27.76%
Customer Service	15.66%
Clean Vehicle	10.79%
Vehicle Exterior	1.81%

Complete relevant car cleaner training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New car cleaners learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a car cleaner based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real car cleaner resumes.

Research car cleaner duties and responsibilities

Inspect transit equipment and vehicles for cleanliness and damages to insure compliance with standards and transit regulations.
Use equipment such as sanders, grinders, automate immersion unit, high pressure spraying units, and vapor units.
Work in the sanitizing section with the duties of maintaining, cleaning, and prepping full face respirators for re-issue.
Couple air and electrical connections between locomotives.

Prepare your car cleaner resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your car cleaner resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a car cleaner resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Car Cleaner Resume templates

Build a professional Car Cleaner resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Car Cleaner resume.

Apply for car cleaner jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a car cleaner job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do car cleaners rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Car Cleaner reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2023

Cons

You may work in extreme heat for very little pay

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

Outside always surrounded fresh water dirty foamy soapy foam.