Carpet Cleaning - Hot Water Extractor - brush marks

[pingable]

For those that own a hot water extractor or just get your car professionally cleaned, does the end result on the carpet leave a nice uniform finish.



Awhile back, I brought my car in to get cleaned and the result on the carper wasn`t to my liking. It was as if there was a 1/4 teeth all along the length of the extractor head. The whole car (carpets and matting/trunk panel, etc) had the same pattern. Over time, I`ve used my shoes and just ran them along the floormats but the *pattern* is still there. Hard to explain but hopefully someone knows what I`m talking about......

[MBZ 500E]

What kind of car is it? Can you take a picture of the pattern?



You`ll probably need to use a bristle brush on your car`s interior carpet to remove any markings left behind from the extractor. This will take some time but should work fine. In the trunk you`ll need to be more careful as some cars have a woven type carpet and I wouldn`t use a brush on that. Picture would help here.



For your removable mats you can vacuum them using an upright vacuum in it`s lowest setting. This will not only clean them but it will lift the carpet pile and help restore it`s condition. I use this method regularly to maintain my carpets. You`ll want to shampoo occassionally to remove any stains etc.

[pingable]

Here`s a picture of what I`m describing. It`s hard to tell as I think the flash is making the lines less pronounced. This is my front passenger carpet that has been vacumned numerous times since the cleaning, and I just gave it a thorough washing today myself with some diluted EFHI and very HOT water. Notice how the *lines* are still there. In the car, it`s worse. Can`t seem to get rid of the *lines*. I`ve tried vacumming numerous times to *move* the carpet pile but the carpet still remains with those lines. It`s as if the heat extractor ironed those lines into the carpet :mad: I`ll grab of pic of the car tomorrow. The weave is not plush like a carpet. It`s more of a *tweed weave*.



http://alan.home.pipeline.com/carpet.jpg

[MBZ 500E]

You mentioned you vacuumed aleady, was it an upright vacuum with a spindle brush or just a suction vacuum. The spindle brush needs to make good contact with the pile and you`ll need to go over the carpet a few times to smooth it out. Move the upright parrallel and perpendicular to the lines to help move the pile and lift it.



Without seeing it I`m not sure what to use in the trunk, can you take a photo of that as well?

[mickg]

Was steam used in cleaning the carpet? We have one of those

Laura Star steam irons for clothes and when my wife first used it on one of her older suit jackets(not sure what the material was..something like velour)the steam made exactly the same marks as in your pic. Basically it ruined the jacket as no amount of ironing etc could bring it back. ...it was as if the steam "blew" the material away.

[Anthony O.]

chefwong,



Take a water bottle and mist the carpets while brushing the carpet. Try to brush in one direction after brushing back and forth or forward and back several times.



What may have happened is that not all of the shampoo was removed and the carpet became stiff after it dried.



Steaming the carpet, as already mentioned, will help also. In the future make sure they brush the carpet out properly.



Anthony

[pingable]

Here`s another picture of the carpet area under the rear seats. http://alan.home.pipeline.com/carpet_2.jpg





I switched out the floormats for the winter and cleaned up the factory ones with EFHI and alot of rinsing with hot water. I scrubbed the carpets too and after drying, the *lines* are still there in the carpet. Not as pronounced but still very noticable.



I`m going to try the borrow my friends steamer .......it`s this crazy machine that has a small *needlenose like* tip and emits some heavy duty steam. I think they use it to disinfect/clean stuff but hopefully this will steam it out with some heavy brushing.

[Anthony O.]

Those almost look like marks, or rather "damage", to the carpet itself caused by their carpet extractor head. As if it had a chiped or cracked nozzle.



I would take it back and let them know about it before you do anything else or they will just blame it on you.



Good luck,

Anthony

[pingable]

I was sorta suspecting that would be the answer but hoping it wasn`t.





I got a full exterior from them also and a couple days afterwards, when it rained, there were areas of the car where there was white streaky marks as if a glaze was used. I brought my Klasse twins in, etc and for $375 and when the detailer tells u he didn`t used the Klasse but used his own synthetic - I saw alot of Presta/Automagic products, I would not expect white streaks that looked like glaze marks a couple of days after leaving the shop.





Well....u live and u learn and I won`t bring my car to them again. Their shop had a deionizer, lights galore, 3 lifts, etc and maybe I was expecting too much but I wasn`t impressed. Thanks Anthony for the insight. I`ll swing by their shop this week and see what their response is.

[Anthony O.]

Chef,



Remember that a true professional, in any field, will be willing to hear the customer out fully and always seek to remedy the problem if at all possible.



The one pretending to be a pro will brush you off, not pay attention and claim he is the best in his field and would never do that damage.



I hope this person is a pro and not just playing one.



Happy Holidays!

Anthony