# Getting furniture marks out of a carpet

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-furniture-marks-out-of-a-carpet/600680>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 24, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-furniture-marks-out-of-a-carpet/600680 "2011-10-24T21:20:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-furniture-marks-out-of-a-carpet/600680/1 "2011-10-24T21:20:31Z")

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I was rearranging some furniture. And I now have a spot in the middle of the room where the carpet has been crushed down from where the legs of the couch were. Any handy ideas on how to get that spot back to its normal appearance?

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**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-furniture-marks-out-of-a-carpet/600680/2 "2011-10-24T21:59:07Z")

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It may fix itself with time - this has been the case with just about everything I’ve seen. Much of the depression that’s made is a result of compression in the pad under the carpet; if the pad is really old, it could be that it’s been completely crushed (I have seen carpet padding so old that it had literally been reduced to crumbs and dust), but a newer pad will spring back over a period of days.

For the surface effect of carpet fibers laid down flat, a vacuum should pull/brush them back up to more or less normal. Again, you might want to give them a couple of days too.

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**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-furniture-marks-out-of-a-carpet/600680/3 "2011-10-24T22:14:28Z")

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If vacuuming doesn’t quite cut it, I have had good luck with going at it with a hair pick.

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**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-furniture-marks-out-of-a-carpet/600680/4 "2011-10-25T00:27:07Z")

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I’ve had good luck with a small handheld steamer.

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**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-furniture-marks-out-of-a-carpet/600680/5 "2011-10-25T00:59:33Z")

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Soap and water. Warm ‘n’ mild, just as if you were cleaning it.

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**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-furniture-marks-out-of-a-carpet/600680/6 "2011-10-25T02:28:15Z")

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Ice cubes. Set an ice cube on the spot and let it melt and dry. The nap will come back up on the carpet. A realtor showed me the trick and it seems to work pretty well. Not perfectly, but darn good considering the effort involved.

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-furniture-marks-out-of-a-carpet/600680/7 "2011-10-25T02:38:14Z")

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> [@carnut](#):
>
> Ice cubes. Set an ice cube on the spot and let it melt and dry. The nap will come back up on the carpet. A realtor showed me the trick and it seems to work pretty well. Not perfectly, but darn good considering the effort involved.

Start with this. It’s usually enough.