How do you get rid of impressions or dents in your rugs?
Everyone who has carpets, whether wall to wall or area rugs has experienced these dents or indentations in them from heavy furniture. So, how do we get rid of these unsightly impressions? First, you must realize these impressions in your rugs could be a combination of a few effects of the furniture being on the rugs. The greater the weight, the greater the chances of impressions as well as more severe. Other factors are the density of the pile, with the less dense carpets having less vertical support and thus allowing greater dents. The fiber composition also plays a role along with the humidity and length of time objects have been on the carpet. We must consider the backing of the rug, which could be cotton, jute, nylon, polypropylene, latex, or even a combination of a few of these in the backing. The natural materials will tend to expand and contract more readily than a synthetic back that may expand and stretch but never contract once it is stretched out of shape. And let us not forget the padding or type and quality of the padding under the carpet. Before I give you any information on removing these impressions, I have seen many suggest putting an ice cube on the dents. The problem with this procedure, this will wet the backing and maybe too much. If you have jute in the back of the rug it will very likely cause a brownish stain on your rug. If the face yarns are wool, it could very easily be a permanent stain.
These are all the things that can have an impact on both the severity as well as the likelihood of removing these impressions. Let’s start with an area rug since it is a little simpler to try to resolve these issues. First, you want to vacuum the rug extremely well, going over areas that have these impressions several times and in different directions. Then take a white cotton cloth, or a microfiber cloth and wet it with hot water. Squeeze out the majority of the moisture but not all of it. Blot any indentations enough to get all the fibers wet with the hot moisture but not enough to get the backing wet. This will help relax the fibers and using a soft brush or your fingers, lightly brush the nap of the rug in the direction that allows it to stand up the most. Once the rug has dried, 2 to 8 hours usually depending upon humidity, vacuum those areas again. This step will revive most of the life back into the fibers themselves. Now we need to lift the rug and see on the backside where the impressions are. As far as the back of the rug itself goes, over time, these impressions will gradually improve as the changing of humidity within the house will cause any natural fibers to expand and contract, to eventually return to their original state. If the backing is latex or synthetic material, it may be stretched out for good. If this is the case, you can take cotton balls, put them where the impressions are on the underside of the rug, and duct tape them into place. This will compensate for the stretched-out backing and perhaps a little of the padding under the rug that has been flattened. When the rug is now in place any of these impressions will seem to be gone.
If your issues are with wall-to-wall carpeting, you have the same options as with an area rug except how to get to the back of the rug. If it is a small room, with little or no furniture in it and you feel comfortable removing the carpet off the tackles then reinstall the rug, great. In most cases, I would suggest this be left to a professional carpet installer. Someone capable of stretching the carpet to recommended specifications from the manufacturer of that particular type of carpet. Beyond these tips, having your rug professionally steam cleaned will also aid in restoring the nap portion of your carpets or rug closer to its original appearance. Remember, sometimes the combination of heavyweight and the time your rugs have been subjected to these conditions can cause conditions that will never be completely corrected. As always, Alec’s Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning will always do everything possible to resolve problems like this when we are called upon.
Email Us