Interior Cleaning Made Easy with the Tornador
by Zach McGovernI’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… interior cleaning is not my favorite part of the detailing process, but a clean interior is the perfect complement to a perfectly clean exterior, so we always spend some time getting the interior in good shape before we send a car out the door.
The Tornador Black is a newer addition to our tool cabinet, and it is something I wish I would have purchased much sooner! This unique looking tool works by using compressed air to create a blast of cleaning solution and air over the surface you are working on.
I tend to use this tool mostly for interior surfaces such as carpets, floor mats. cup holders, consoles, pedals, and things of that nature, but the possibilities are almost endless with this thing. It can be used in engine bays, wheels/tires, almost any other task thanks to the variety of attachments made to work with the Tornador Black.
The Tornador Black quickly makes your mats and carpets look brand new. The following photo shows a floor mat with general dirt and soiling. Nothing too bad, but certainly something that needs improvement.
After just 2 passes with the Tornador Black with some ONR solution in it, the mat looked way better. This process took maybe 1 minute to do, and another 30 seconds or so to wipe with a towel to ensure the mat was almost completely dry and ready to go.
This Ferrari mat looked just fine after vacuuming. No real stains or soiling, but the color just didn’t look very vibrant and new. Again, just a quick pass with the Tornador Black with some ONR solution completely removed the embedded dirt and rejuvenated the color. This also just took a minute or two to complete. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
The Tornador Black is capable of handling more intense cleaning as well. When paired with a stronger chemical like a degreaser, fabric cleaner, or all purpose cleaner, the Tornador Black can help to break up stains and soiling, but in some cases scrubbing and/or extracting may still be needed for optimal results.
To me, this tool is more of a luxury item rather than a complete necessity. Similar results can usually be achieved by hand with a collection of brushes, chemicals, and some hard work, but the real benefit here is the time savings and reduced stress on your body to complete these tasks… as the saying goes, work smarter, not harder.
In the end, the Tornador Black has allowed us to provide better results for our customers while saving a lot of time and sweat, and I couldn’t ask for anything better than that! Take your interior services to the next level with this handy tool.
How big of a compressor do you have? The biggest complaint I hear about the tornador black is that without a giant compressor, it falls flat.
We run it on a cheap Harbor Freight 21 Gal 125 PSI compressor which is capable of 4.7 CFM @ 90 psi. This is all we need for the tornador. The compressor runs most of the time while the tool is being used, but put some ear plugs in and it won’t bother you. A larger compressor would certainly have benefits, but you do not ‘need’ one to get good results with the tool.
Zach,
Could you describe your compressor setup for this please? I know that compressor requires oil, would like to see what your air hose setup is for the non-oil (Tornador).
Zach, I’m intrigued about your use of an ONR solution for interiors. Care to shed any light on your dilution ratio? It’s not adding any shine to interior plastics?
We’ve used ONR for cleaning fabrics for years… it is really a great product for all sorts of uses around the vehicle. My dilution ratio is not too precise in the tornador… typically 0.5 – 1 cap of concentrate into the reservoir. I don’t clean too many plastic surfaces, but I have not noticed any shine or change in appearance when using ONR on door sills, pedals, cup holders, etc.
Hey Zach…Big Fan.Great info, as usual! I also have, use, and LOVE the Tornador Black. I use the pre-measured 2oz Tornador solution packets for mine. Even if I didn’t use Tornador’s pre-measured solution, I would have thought to use an APC. But I see you use ONR in your Tornador. I’m just curious, how you came about using the ONR? And, what area of the interior do you use it with the ONR? I THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR TIME AND HELP WITH MY Questions!!! Keep up the GREAT work you do!!! 🙂
Hi Kevin – We use a variety of solutions in our tornador… APC, Degreaser, ONR, Water, etc. ONR is something that is extremely versatile in what it can effectively clean. It is obviously a fantastic rinseless wash solution, but it also works great at removing dirt from fabric and plastic pieces, too. It is our choice when harsher chemicals are not needed.
In this article, Greg talks a little bit about using ONR on interiors.
https://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-Pro/maximizing-your-chemicals-yet-another-use-for-onr/
I must be the dumbest person but what kind of solutions. Is “ONR” solution?
ONR = Optimum No Rinse… remember, there are always clickable links in the articles to the products I am referring to 🙂
Thank you for the info and the ONR link! 🙂
I love my Tornador Black. It’s probably in my top 3 tools I purchased for detailing. I don’t know I I got along without it and grab it for many reasons other than interiors. I like it for cleaning the gunk from around logos and emblems that you realy can’t get in-between the letters etc. Just makes the job look overall better.