What do you guys use to get those nice carpet lines?

Most people here use the Bissell Little Green Machine for cleaning carpets. The fancy lines are just a matter of alternating direction on each pass. I actually made some of those fancy lines myself today on my floor mat by hand. It's just hard to get straight lines by hand.



And yes, a good extractor costs a lot of money. The Bissell LGM is a cheaper, "mini-extractor".
 
Just go to Target or Wal Mart you'll find them there. You can also do a search on the carpet lines as you call them and you'll fine a great deal of info on 'how too'. Its very easy.
 
I scrub carpets with a warm water and Woolite mixture, treat nasty stains with undilluted Simple Green, and extract with a Bissel Big Green Clean Machine filled with hot water and some extractor shampoo. The carpets get clean and the lines come with ease.
 
Check out the Century 400 spotter which is available at TOL. I think it is down under $450. I have owned and used one for two years now. It has been extremely reliable, and is a very powerful machine for its small size. The lines you are talking about are made just like the other guy stated, moving the wand in oposite directions. The ones I make look like triangles, but it is kinda hard to explain. I learned how to make them while working as a maint. tech in an apartment complex while still in highschool.
 
To get the lines I just vac the car..



When I am done I take my vac attachment with the brush and make stripes...



Think of your carpet as Suede. You know when you rub your hand across it creates the pattern?



very easy to do..
 
I use a "big, honkin extractor", and it does a magnificent job of tuly cleaning the carpet, and, as an aside, leaving those 'pretty' lines. They relly do give the car a finished look!



On occasion, we need to disturb those lines we created, and we 'recreate' them with a few careful strokes of a carpet brush.



Jim
 
My favoriye way to do it is with a white wall brush.



Just using the vac or extractor doesnt seem to do as good of a job.
 
General Lee said:
I find not all carpets are willing to work with you in creating the lines. Certain materials just don't make nice lines.
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QFT. :werd:



To create stripes without an extractor:



You can just spritz the carpet with water, wipe dry then using a nail brush (or similarly small brush) alternately brush up then down and you will get the stripes.



I have some customers who love them but most just want the nap of the carpet all brushed one direction.
 
Scottwax said:
I have some customers who love them but most just want the nap of the carpet all brushed one direction.
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I have to say I don't like the lines in carpet, I much prefer having the nap brushed in one direction. I think the interior of a car looks much smarter this way, but that's just my opinion.



Ben
 
Scottwax said:
QFT. :werd:



To create stripes without an extractor:



You can just spritz the carpet with water, wipe dry then using a nail brush (or similarly small brush) alternately brush up then down and you will get the stripes.



I have some customers who love them but most just want the nap of the carpet all brushed one direction.
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Mostly floor mats Scott. I forgot to mention that. Especially cheap after markets mats. They won't give you a nice line for s*it. I guess the nap is to thin or short. At least for me they don't.
 
General Lee said:
Mostly floor mats Scott. I forgot to mention that. Especially cheap after markets mats. They won't give you a nice line for s*it. I guess the nap is to thin or short. At least for me they don't.
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Can't do it at all with the factory floor mats in a Nissan Titan.
 
n2_space said:
Me too, never personally been a fan of the lines :nixweiss
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While I don't personally like the lines, I think that the pros here are smart in using them. They make no mistake to the client that attention has been given to the carpets. Otherwise, the client might wonder if anything had been done. It is a nice touch and a very good way to signal a complete job.



Our housekeepers leave the stoppers "up" in the sinks. I used to get really annoyed at this, but then it dawned on me one day that this is the only "proof" I have that they cleaned the sink (other than the sink being spotless, of course).
 
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