Wondering if anyone has had any experience forming or molding carpet in their rides. I tried the search but didn't get much for results. A buddy of mine has a steamer and says he has used it for upholstery and headliners with good results but has never tried it on carpeting. I don't know if steam would help relax it enough to allow much pliability or not. I'm willing to try just about any suggestions. None of the areas have any sharp angles, mostly radius bends. Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences. Chuck
I never had much luck getting flat carpet off of a roll to mold into a floor. I cut to fit so the pieces would lay nice and seamed the edges, or actually seamed the carpet. there's a whole!! lot !! of stretching and shrinking needed to do it in a single piece. The molded carpets are done on a mold with heat and pressure . I'd be interested in seeing how its done
Depends on the backing of the carpet...if you are using actual automotive carpet from a trim supply house, it should not even have backing applied to it. This lack of backing is only used where structural integrity is not an issue (as in auto or boat carpet). A steamer will soften it a little bit, but it might not be enough to overcome what you need it to do. Use (flammable) contact cement. When you coat the back of the carpet with it (using a paint roller), you will immediately feel the difference in how pliable it has become....you can now compress it to fit concave surfaces, and stretch it over convex areas. 35 years of experience doing this...
Special Ed, thats just the kind of tip I was hoping for with this post. I plan on ordering my carpet from and automotive trim supply warehouse and asking them for their in\put on the particular product they sell also. One question, once the contact cement is applied would I be bonding the carpet to the pad? The pad seemed to settle into the shape of the floor just by lying on it for the last couple of weeks. Chuck
Yes. Very LIGHTLY glue the pad to the floor (so it can be removed in the future, if needed), then glue the carpet to the pad. Just remember that contact cement is not very forgiving. Glue up the entire piece of carpet, and let it dry. Glue maybe a little more than a square foot or so at a time of the pad (with contact cement you glue both pieces). Start in the center of the car (trans hump), and work it towards the doors. You might have to make a relief cut or two in deep concave areas if you can't "compress" the carpet. It sounds more difficult than it actually is. Just rough-cut it in place first so you aren't battling more material than you need to...
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