Patent ID: 7661173

Claim:
A method of restoring hook material used for hook and loop attachment, the hook material having stems arrayed thereupon with the stems each terminating in a hook, the method comprising the step of raking along a length of the hook material with a member having an arcuately curved handle with an elongated cross-section having a leading edge with a plurality of spaced teeth disposed in first and second rows extending along the cross-section, with the second row having elongated teeth angularly bent from the curve of the handle inwardly toward a plane defined by the teeth of the first row, and the first row having elongated teeth shorter than the teeth of the second row, wherein a. the width of each respective tooth, and b. the spacing apart of adjacent teeth, are such that adjacent hooks on the hook material have one of the teeth fit therebetween closely adjacent to their stems, and wherein the leading edge is raked along the length of the hook material to have the teeth engage and bend the hooks from a hooked state to a more straightened state such that debris situated within the hooks is lifted from the hook material by the teeth.