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Date: 02/20/2026

Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment

Wash or otherwise clean vehicles, machinery, and other equipment. Use such materials as water, cleaning agents, brushes, cloths, and hoses.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Apply paints, dyes, polishes, reconditioners, waxes, or masking materials to vehicles to preserve, protect, or restore color or condition.
    • Maintain inventories of supplies.
    • Lubricate machinery, vehicles, or equipment or perform minor repairs or adjustments, using hand tools.
    • Sweep, shovel, or vacuum loose debris or salvageable scrap into containers and remove containers from work areas.
    • Pre-soak or rinse machine parts, equipment, or vehicles by immersing objects in cleaning solutions or water, manually or using hoists.
    • Scrub, scrape, or spray machine parts, equipment, or vehicles, using scrapers, brushes, clothes, cleaners, disinfectants, insecticides, acid, abrasives, vacuums, or hoses.
    • Scrub, scrape, or spray machine parts, equipment, or vehicles, using scrapers, brushes, clothes, cleaners, disinfectants, insecticides, acid, abrasives, vacuums, or hoses.
    • Inspect parts, equipment, or vehicles for cleanliness, damage, and compliance with standards or regulations.
    • Monitor operation of cleaning machines and stop machines or notify supervisors when malfunctions occur.
    • Disassemble and reassemble machines or equipment or remove and reattach vehicle parts or trim, using hand tools.
    • Turn valves or disconnect hoses to eliminate water, cleaning solutions, or vapors from machinery or tanks.
    • Rinse objects and place them on drying racks or use cloth, squeegees, or air compressors to dry surfaces.
    • Press buttons to activate cleaning equipment or machines.
    • Sweep, shovel, or vacuum loose debris or salvageable scrap into containers and remove containers from work areas.
    • Connect hoses or lines to pumps or other equipment.
    • Mix cleaning solutions, abrasive compositions, or other compounds, according to formulas.
    • Turn valves or handles on equipment to regulate pressure or flow of water, air, steam, or abrasives from sprayer nozzles.
    • Clean and polish vehicle windows.
    • Drive vehicles to or from workshops or customers' workplaces or homes.
    • Pre-soak or rinse machine parts, equipment, or vehicles by immersing objects in cleaning solutions or water, manually or using hoists.
    • Clean the plastic work inside cars, using paintbrushes.
    • Monitor operation of cleaning machines and stop machines or notify supervisors when malfunctions occur.
    • Transport materials, equipment, or supplies to or from work areas, using carts or hoists.
    • Fit boot spoilers, side skirts, or mud flaps to cars.
    • Sweep, shovel, or vacuum loose debris or salvageable scrap into containers and remove containers from work areas.

    Skills

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    3
    Workplace Documents
    4
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    Knowledge

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    Career Video

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    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 34750/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 16.71/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 16,940
    • Yearly Projected Openings 2250

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Dependability
    • Attention to Detail

    Tools

    • Air compressors
    • Air dryers
    • Carpet cleaning equipment
    • Cleaning brushes
    • Cleaning scrapers
    • Gas generators
    • Handheld thermometer
    • Heat guns
    • Hoists
    • Pneumatic sanding machines
    • Polishing wheels
    • Power buffers
    • Pressure or steam cleaners
    • Squeegees or washers
    • Thickness measuring devices
    • Tire pressure gauge
    • Vacuum cleaners
    • Water hoses

    Technology

    • Calendar and scheduling software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Inventory management software
    • Operating system software

    Tags

    • Apprenticeships are available for this occupation. These programs can help you get hands-on experience and build your skills.

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