# Cleaning Cloth Interior



## beatty599 (Sep 18, 2016)

Hello,

I'm trying to clean up my cloth interior, not that it's overly bad had it from new and now on it's 4th year. It just has a couple of marks from dirty boots, and rugby kit. 

I have a wet vac and a yellow drill brush, is it safe to spray some fabric cleaner on the seats and let it dwell for a minute then hit it with the yellow (medium stiffness bristle brush ) drill brush and then suck it out with the wet vac?

Leave it for a week then hit it up with some fabric coat?


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## \Rian (Aug 23, 2017)

I would not recommend using a drill brush on the seats, on carpet it will be fine.

if you planing to add a fabric coat its worth once youve wet vac'ed the fabric cleaner out spray some plane water on the fabric and suck that out to, that ensures youve removed as much solution as you can and the fabric coat will have a better bond


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## AnthonyUK (Jul 25, 2018)

I have honestly not found anything better than a steam cleaner that is better for cleaning fabric, upholstery and (p)leather and uses nothing but water. 

You can sometimes find the Karcher one I use for as little as around £50 and it is also great around the house so SWMBO will be pleased for a change.


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## tomstephens89 (Jul 17, 2018)

The BEST thing I have found for cleaning fabric is the 'Tornador' air gun thing. It mixes water/cleaning solution with air and blasts it out in a tornado like storm. I'm not joking when I say that I've never seen anything get dirt out of carpets and fabric like this thing. 

I usually spray on some APC, scrub it in then use the Tornador with clean water to blast the dirt out. I should say I don't have the genuine Tornador branded attachment. I have a much cheaper copy from Amazon.

Downside being that you need a high flow air compressor with a large tank to be able to use one. This makes it expensive and takes up space.

Best easy method is just to use an APC of some kind diluted with water, spray on and scrub with a gentle upholstry brush. Wipe off with a wet microfibre and repeat until the dirt is gone.

Then allow the seats to dry properly. Easiest way to do this is leave the car running with the heater on max. Make sure to leave windows open a crack all round to allow moisture to escape.You can speed this up with a hair dryer if you want.


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## beatty599 (Sep 18, 2016)

AnthonyUK said:


> I have honestly not found anything better than a steam cleaner that is better for cleaning fabric, upholstery and (p)leather and uses nothing but water.
> 
> You can sometimes find the Karcher one I use for as little as around £50 and it is also great around the house so SWMBO will be pleased for a change.


I've got a cheap amazon steamer and wouldn't say I'm in love with it, I love it for leather but not really cloth, what one do you have? and is there an attachment I should be using?



Rian said:


> I would not recommend using a drill brush on the seats, on carpet it will be fine.
> 
> if you planing to add a fabric coat its worth once youve wet vac'ed the fabric cleaner out spray some plane water on the fabric and suck that out to, that ensures youve removed as much solution as you can and the fabric coat will have a better bond


I've a drill with adjustable power and a clutch so it can't really get to damaging speed, thanks for the clean water tip!



tomstephens89 said:


> The BEST thing I have found for cleaning fabric is the 'Tornador' air gun thing. It mixes water/cleaning solution with air and blasts it out in a tornado like storm. I'm not joking when I say that I've never seen anything get dirt out of carpets and fabric like this thing.
> 
> I usually spray on some APC, scrub it in then use the Tornador with clean water to blast the dirt out. I should say I don't have the genuine Tornador branded attachment. I have a much cheaper copy from Amazon.
> 
> ...


I actually forgot about the tornador! I have one sitting in my basket on Slimsdetailing just never committed! I already have a 25L compressor so it's not too bad for me, does it not just blow the water into the middle of seat foam?


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## tomstephens89 (Jul 17, 2018)

beatty599 said:


> I've got a cheap amazon steamer and wouldn't say I'm in love with it, I love it for leather but not really cloth, what one do you have? and is there an attachment I should be using?
> 
> I've a drill with adjustable power and a clutch so it can't really get to damaging speed, thanks for the clean water tip!
> 
> I actually forgot about the tornador! I have one sitting in my basket on Slimsdetailing just never committed! I already have a 25L compressor so it's not too bad for me, does it not just blow the water into the middle of seat foam?


It's a very fine mist of water and it's flying around all over the place (I suppose like a Tornado huurrrrrduurrrrr) rather than jetting it directly into the surface.

Always worked for me


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## beatty599 (Sep 18, 2016)

tomstephens89 said:


> It's a very fine mist of water and it's flying around all over the place (I suppose like a Tornado huurrrrrduurrrrr) rather than jetting it directly into the surface.
> 
> Always worked for me


Think I'll order one of the ebay specials worth a punt at £14.00!


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## tosh (Dec 30, 2005)

I’ve found the Tornador gets everything looking clean, but the stains come back, as they’re not being extracted. 

I’ve gone back to wet vac. 

Spray and agitate your solution with a brush or drill brush. Then use the wet vac with just warm water. 

If you have a sensitive area (like a headlining or a heated cloth seat) don’t use water, just use the vacuum to suck as much liquid out. 

Tornador is awesome for nooks and crannies, seat rails, and all around the dash. Any plastic or pleather, leather, engine bays. Basically any non-permeable surface. 

If you’re using it inside the car, you need a face mask. Just leaving the doors open isn’t enough. 

Good luck. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## tomstephens89 (Jul 17, 2018)

tosh said:


> I've found the Tornador gets everything looking clean, but the stains come back, as they're not being extracted.
> 
> I've gone back to wet vac.
> 
> ...


Use both, Tornador and wet vac 

But in all the times I used mine I haven't had any issues with repeat stains? The design of the Tornador blasts the dirt out and it coats the inside of the funnel, which is why you have to rinse it out in a bucket often.


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## beatty599 (Sep 18, 2016)

tosh said:


> I've found the Tornador gets everything looking clean, but the stains come back, as they're not being extracted.
> 
> I've gone back to wet vac.
> 
> ...





tomstephens89 said:


> Use both, Tornador and wet vac
> 
> But in all the times I used mine I haven't had any issues with repeat stains? The design of the Tornador blasts the dirt out and it coats the inside of the funnel, which is why you have to rinse it out in a bucket often.


Thanks for the advice chaps, have been watching a few youtube videos as I 'patiently' wait for mine to come on Monday. It'll be mainly used for the weird places like seat rails where I can't quite reach, as it'll probably only be used for my car interior as I seem to be one of a few people that prefer cloth to leather!

I don't use any tools on headlining's it's reserved for a good handjob :lol: with delicate microfibre use. Luckily working on a Range Rover atm so I can really test it out on that as it has very deep imprints on plastics which hold dirt extremely well!

Will report back soon!


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## tomstephens89 (Jul 17, 2018)

beatty599 said:


> Thanks for the advice chaps, have been watching a few youtube videos as I 'patiently' wait for mine to come on Monday. It'll be mainly used for the weird places like seat rails where I can't quite reach, as it'll probably only be used for my car interior as I seem to be one of a few people that prefer cloth to leather!
> 
> I don't use any tools on headlining's it's reserved for a good handjob :lol: with delicate microfibre use. Luckily working on a Range Rover atm so I can really test it out on that as it has very deep imprints on plastics which hold dirt extremely well!
> 
> Will report back soon!


Good to hear. RE Headlining I've used the Tornador with water on the headliner and it worked wonders.


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## beatty599 (Sep 18, 2016)

tomstephens89 said:


> Good to hear. RE Headlining I've used the Tornador with water on the headliner and it worked wonders.


An eventual update - got 2 tornado guns, one was chinese fitment and then bought a slightly more expensive one from amazon which worked. Then realised a family member changed the air compressor to american fitment...

So bought my own from sgs engineering so now everything fits with all the bells and whistles of attachments. Put the tornado gun to use on some old car mats I use for work ( building sites ) and wow like brand new, took a good 30 minutes or so on each mat maybe 45 on the drivers.

Brilliant bit of kit for the money, a must in my arsenal now.


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