# results from tornador....



## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

this offcut of carpet is what i use to neal on when doing things in the garage / outside working on the car.

ive had it for a good 3 - 4 years, and its never been cleaned. after a few passes with the tornador, this is what is achieved










the thing you cant see too well, is the pile of the carpet. it has brought that back to how it use to be










this is what the nozzle looks like after. all you do after is just dunk the end in a bucket of water, and its nice and clean again










and a 50:50 of another matt i keep in the garage










and a 50:50 of the drivers seat of my van










im HUGELY impressed with it. i also did the engine bay of the ST, and i must say, i think it is going to make cleaning them far far easier :thumb:


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

how does it work and do you have to vac the area that you have used it on afterwards?


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

Was about to post the same as above. :thumb:

I see it's got a hose attached...what does this attach to and how does it all work.

What did you pay for it?


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## Maxtor (Feb 23, 2007)

Nice!, but where has the dirt gone?

I thought the tornado was for plastics, dash etc...Or am I missing something?

Regards

Maxtor


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## jimmany cricket (Apr 22, 2008)

the hose attaches to a compressor and works by blowing air and or chemical thru the nozzel whilst spinning it with the little tube inside the nozzel therfore lifting the dirt of the surface and blowing it away a bit like a turbo nozzel on a pressure washer if u have ever seen one. my opionion is that its easier to wet vac seats carpets etc unless there quite clean and just need a freshen but its great on hard surfaces ill post some pics tommorrow if i have time ive got grubby starlet to clean


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

Maxtor said:


> Nice!, but where has the dirt gone?
> 
> I thought the tornado was for plastics, dash etc...Or am I missing something?
> 
> ...


can you not see the pics? :lol:

the nozzle of the tornador sucks the dirt up.

it can be used on anything really. as said, i used it on the engine bay and i was HUGELY impressed with it there, lots of small fiddly places the air can get in and clean


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

I remember seeing a vid of it in action, but your not actually removing the dirt, rather its pushing it out of sight. Plastic surfaces are different i guess.


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

hows it pushing it out of sight? see 2nd picture. thats after doing the green carpet


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

How does it suck the dirt up? If its suppost to be sucking it up, its not doing a great job as half of it is still left at the end of the nozzle.


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

jimmany cricket said:


> my opionion is that its easier to wet vac seats carpets etc unless there quite clean and just need a freshen but its great on hard surfaces ill post some pics tommorrow if i have time ive got grubby starlet to clean


disagree on carpets, this will be far more effective doing carpets than a wet vac

seats maybe. but it still did my seat very well quickly


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

Gaz W said:


> How does it suck the dirt up? If its suppost to be sucking it up, its not doing a great job as half of it is still left at the end of the nozzle.


ok sucking isnt the right technical word, but, that nozzle didnt touch the carpet at all, so how else did it get there? magic i guess then

as for still being on the end, thats because i didnt rinse it


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

I didnt mean your test. I meant vents, door cards etc. I didnt realise it sucked up the stuff too.


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

paddy328 said:


> I didnt mean your test. I meant vents, door cards etc. I didnt realise it sucked up the stuff too.


oh i see :lol:

yeah if you was using it on the dash, and there were bigger bits of dirt, then yes it does blow it away, cant comment on the dust on vents, but it did do a good job of cleaning them


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

did you get it from your autosmart rep?


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

i did yes mate


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## Maxtor (Feb 23, 2007)

ianFRST said:


> can you not see the pics? :lol:
> 
> the nozzle of the tornador sucks the dirt up.
> 
> it can be used on anything really. as said, i used it on the engine bay and i was HUGELY impressed with it there, lots of small fiddly places the air can get in and clean


Yes, I can see the pics. :thumb:

I would stick with the George for the carpets etc...

It looks to me that it has just blown the dirt into the mat,seat etc..

Just an observation :lol:


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

I think it has removed alot of dirt, but you can see the lines where it has been and its not as clean. I'll stick to my numatic 570 for the carpets and seats.


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## jimmany cricket (Apr 22, 2008)

it doesnt suck th dirt up in any sense of the word it does the exact opositte talk to ur AS rep it blows the dirt and spins it at the same time the reson it is in the nozzle is because u must of held it against the carpet etc therefore the dirt couldnt go anywhere else ive been using it now for about a month and half and there is no way NO WAY it is better than wet dry vac for upholstry. ill do a test tommorrow one half of seat wet dry one tornador.


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

ianFRST said:


> disagree on carpets, this will be far more effective doing carpets than a wet vac
> 
> seats maybe. but it still did my seat very well quickly


ill say it again for your benefit mate, this WILL be far more effective at cleaning carpets.

a wet dry, even when hoovering the crap up before the wet dry vac, will always leave particles of dirt behind. the tornador does not leave anything. so on CARPETS, it will be better. theres also the benefit of being able to use it in tigh areas, which you CANT DO with a wet dry

now, where did i say it was better for doing seats?

as for holding it too close, i dont think so. watched a full demo, and all the vids online, and asked the rep


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## BIG BAVARIAN (May 7, 2006)

it works by creating a spiral vortex (tornado) hence the name tornador,its good for ingrained "dusty" type dirt,but if very grimey,you will be reaching for the george or puzzi,i do some heavily soiled commercials on a weekly basis and it wasn't quite heavy duty enough for me,but for lightly used dusty cars, it will be great,i just make do with apc,a brush,cloth and standard blow gun


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## Guest (Jun 27, 2008)

Ian, question.

I gather you have used wet vac and of course this, which leaves the seat drier?

Whilst i assume that a wet vac using extractor will do a "deep clean" of a seat, but it leaves it wet?

Did you "chase" the tornador with a MF to mop up what was left?

Was the underneath of the mat wet or bone dry?


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## dad_of_two (Jun 14, 2008)

The Tornador has been bought into the market not as a replacement for a wet vac, but to work along side it.
It's brilliant on roof linings and mats etc, but the big plus is that it dries instantly!
It's only for light and remedial work, wont do heavily stained pieces.
How it works is, think of what a tornado does as it moves across the ground, it lifts everything from the ground upwards.
You do need to use a compressor thats capable of running around 8bar quite comfortably thou, and you can only use selected AS chemicals thru it otherwise ur warranty is invalid


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## Maxtor (Feb 23, 2007)

ianFRST said:


> ill say it again for your benefit mate, this WILL be far more effective at cleaning carpets.
> 
> a wet dry, even when hoovering the crap up before the wet dry vac, will always leave particles of dirt behind. the tornador does not leave anything. so on CARPETS, it will be better. theres also the benefit of being able to use it in tigh areas, which you CANT DO with a wet dry
> 
> ...


Where does the dirt go?

I must be seriously missing something here?
If you blast air and water into the carpets, the water must end up in the floor pan of the car...yes? so, how do you get the water out again?

Does the Tornador suck it up?

Sorry if I am missing something, but I just can not see how this works on the carpets.

If you have a wet vac you can spray the shampoo mix into the area that needs cleaning via a spray, and then remove with the hose adapter.

Maxtor


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

matt1263 said:


> Ian, question.
> 
> I gather you have used wet vac and of course this, which leaves the seat drier?
> 
> ...


depends how much water you put in the seat mate 

ive always used the wet vac to apply the water with cleaner, and then sucked out. this left it quite wet, even when extracted

but i now just use a bottle, spray the seats, scrub, then extract. leaves them much drier

the tornador doesnt put out much liquid, but it could have been sucked out to make it a bit drier


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

dad_of_two said:


> The Tornador has been bought into the market not as a replacement for a wet vac, but to work along side it.
> It's brilliant on roof linings and mats etc, but the big plus is that it dries instantly!
> It's only for light and remedial work, wont do heavily stained pieces.
> How it works is, think of what a tornado does as it moves across the ground, it lifts everything from the ground upwards.
> You do need to use a compressor thats capable of running around 8bar quite comfortably thou, and you can only use selected AS chemicals thru it otherwise ur warranty is invalid


thanks :lol: thats what i was trying to say when i used the word "suck"

as you can see from my pics, it did a great job of cleaning my carpet sample, but it wasnt 100%, which a good scrub and extract probably would.

i never have real dirty cars to clean, so this will probably be used more than the wet vac for me (personally)


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## Chris424 (Dec 5, 2007)

I think everyone is wondering where the dirt goes, as far as I know from lots of research, you follow the tornador with a damp/dry microfibre to wipe away the dirt. The tornador loosens it then you wipe away the dirt - as someone said earlier in a post?


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## Serious (Mar 19, 2008)

My AS rep was trying to sell me one of these with 50L compressor for £90 but my poor old honda genny wont power it. Shame.... Seen them demoed on carpets glove boxes door bins ect and it is a great system.


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## lee74 (Mar 17, 2008)

Serious said:


> My AS rep was trying to sell me one of these with 50L compressor for £90 but my poor old honda genny wont power it. Shame.... Seen them demoed on carpets glove boxes door bins ect and it is a great system.


so the offers for a tornado and a compressor for £90 ??


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## The Doctor (Sep 11, 2007)

Your supposed to use Autosmart Tornado Clean in it. Its a Ph neutral multi purpose cleaner designed for the Tornador that drys quickly.

I wasnt impressed on carpets and seats when it came to cleaning them. It hardly touched dirty seats even using G101 in it and on dirty carpets it didnt clean them as good as a wet vac would. What it does do well is what Ian showed and thats lift the pile of carpets up and bring flattened old mats back to life. It also did a pretty decent job cleaning in the door shuts where its awkward to get to. 

As already said,the dirt is sucked by the vortex effect and sticks into the nozzle. The proof is in the picture of the dirty nozzle and the fact that it lifts the pile of carpet up and doesnt flatten it.

Im not quite sure where it fits in a valetors set of tools to be honest. I was expecting it to shift heavy soiling on seats and carpets so maybe thats why im disappointed. I suppose it would be ideal for freshening up lightly soiled interiors but if im honest by the time id got it out and gone over the car i could of done it using traditional methods.

I suppose its one of those things that the more you use it the more uses you find for it.


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## The Doctor (Sep 11, 2007)

lee74 said:


> so the offers for a tornado and a compressor for £90 ??


The list price of the Tornador alone is about 90 odd quid. Ive no idea how the 90 quid deal with a compressor can be true.


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## Serious (Mar 19, 2008)

I'm sure he said 90 for the lot. It was a silverline compressor.
I will double check the price tho.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

I think primarily it was designed for interior surfaces like dashboards etc with lots of nooks and crannies. It just so happens to be useful for other stuff. Saw it used on my lightly dusty car and lightly soiled carpets and it did a good job :thumb: maybe best for getting all the particles out of the grooves, vents etc that you cant get with a MF or even a brush sometimes.


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## quattrogmbh (May 15, 2007)

This warranty aspect could easily be challenged
"you can only use selected AS chemicals thru it otherwise ur warranty is invalid"

Restrictive clauses like that don't sit well with EU legislation. It would be down to the OEM to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the use of an alternate chemical actually resulted in the damage... Would they go to the effort? Probably not.. They'd just swap it.


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## alanjo99 (Nov 22, 2007)

I tried Megs APC about 40:1 in it - and its great !

Its not the APC thats doing the work as much as the machine - found this ratio good on dashboards and seats etc 

Its a great tool as mentioned on the pile of carpets - a quick bast straightens the flattest of piles - quick once over with the wet-vac if really dirty - and your carpet is like new.


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

The Doctor said:


> As already said,the dirt is sucked by the vortex effect and sticks into the nozzle.


cheers, i was begninning to think i was a bit backward with people questioning me how it works, and then giving my answer only to be asked the same question again.

as ive said, sometimes you get real bad carpets, where no matter how much you hoover them, the little partlicles of dirt just wont lift out the carpet. when i tried the tornador on it, it brought these little bits to the surface and into the nozzle, imo, this is where its going to earn its money for me. i spent a good hour trying to get carpets clean, but this might well do it in 10 minutes.

i paid £85 for mine, so for another £50 you could buy a george, if i had to choose, it would easily be a george, but both together will be pretty darn good


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