How to Remove Furniture Indentations from Carpet

Happy Friday, friends! Today’s post is an oddly specific one, but hopefully it’s helpful if you find yourself in the same situation. Now that we finally have nice carpet throughout the upper level bedrooms in our home, I’m committed to keeping it that way. I found myself in a dilemma a few times since installing our new carpet that had me panicked… furniture indentations, imprints, or dents set in the carpet. Given I’m always shifting things around and restyling the rooms in our home, I’ve noticed our wool berber-style carpet is easily imprinted or dented by furniture. Given our home evolves with us and is ever-changing, I worried the dents would be permanent. I wanted to share a couple easy ways I was able to lift even the deep imprints that had HEAVY furniture resting on top of the carpet. Click through for my tips & tricks! I no longer worry that I’m ruining our carpet or stress that dents are permanent. Hopefully this post is helpful if you’re faced with a similar situation…

When replacing our upstairs carpet around 10 months ago (in January of 2023), I was thrilled with our wool blend choice. In fact, I still am- I’d choose it again in a heartbeat. It’s durable, timeless, and has held up well to our dogs. With a low pile, non loop carpet- imprinting is inevitable. This is something I already knew, but figured once shifting the furniture, dents would naturally lift on their own… without the weight of furniture pressing on the carpet. As it turns out, with time, the carpet does rebound… but if you don’t want to wait weeks or have had furniture denting the carpet over the span of years- it may take some coaxing. Here are a few ways to remove furniture indentations from carpet. I figured I’d test the most popular methods for you…

Assess the Dent & Choose Your Method

Depending on how deep the divot is, the location, and how quickly you’d like to see results- you can experiment with the following methods: ice, steam, and heat. In my opinion, ice has been the easiest for simple carpet dents. Here’s how you do it…

Use Ice to Remove Carpet Indentations

Grab a few ice cubes, place them over the carpet divot, and allow them to completely melt. 8-10 hours later, soak up any excess water with a sponge or towel.

Then, grab a spoon (facing down toward the carpet) to pull back the fibers, causing the carpet to rebound. The water soaks the carpet, causing the fibers to expand, and then you can reshape it with the spoon.

This has been my preferred way to remove carpet dents here at home… and the spoon trick hasn’t been necessary for my carpet- but it is still relatively new.

Use Steam to Remove Carpet Dents

For the really deep dents caused by heavy furniture- or ones that have been there for awhile, I read that steam is the go-to method. Place a damp towel directly over the divot, then use your iron on medium/high heat to run over the towel for 1-2 minutes.

You can also use the steam function on your iron or a handheld steamer. Depending on your carpet material, you’ll definitely want to place a towel of some sort in between the heat source and the carpet, so it doesn’t burn your carpet (mostly an issue for synthetic carpets).

Once you’ve steamed it and the dent has started to lift, grab your vacuum to pull the fibers upward even further.

Use Heat to Lift Carpet Divots

Another handy trick I tried, that totally worked… you can use your blow dryer to regain carpet fiber volume (just like your hair). Grab a spray bottle filled with water, spritz the carpet divot one or two times.

Next, grab your hair dryer to heat the area, while fluffing the carpet fibers with your fingers. Keep the heat applied until the carpet is totally dry.

This method took the longest amount of time, but had really good results. On an unrelated note- isn’t it wild how much my carpet color changes in different light or at different camera angles? I do love the color!

Allow Time to Naturally Lift Carpet Imprints

I typically don’t have time to allow carpet imprints to lift naturally over time. I’m usually shifting furniture or restyling a room to immediately photograph and share, and the dents are pretty obvious in photos & videos. However, if you have time to wait and they don’t bother you… 95% of them will disappear on their own, with no help. Don’t worry too much that they’ll be permanent or your carpet is ruined (like I did). The heavier the compression, the longer it will take.

Preventing Carpet from Furniture Imprints

One thing I started doing to prevent this altogether was using felt furniture pads for certain pieces of furniture. If the weight is evenly distributed, it’s not as big of a deal… but if you have a tapered chair leg or pointed table leg that is compressing in one smaller spot- it’s a good idea to add a felt bad to the bottom. Remember when I shared tips for a bedroom refresh- without renovating? When I swapped our bedside tables, I immediately put sticky felt pads on the new demilune nightstands because those three tapered legs on each table will definitely leave compressed dents.

FAQ

I hope this post proves to be helpful when and if you need it! New carpet is a big investment and keeping it well maintained can be tricky. The indentations had me worried, until I learned how to remove them. Hopefully this will alleviate stress if you find yourself in the same situation. Emmett & I are enjoying New Orleans and I’ll have a fun recap of our gorgeous historic hotel on the blog next week! Until then, feel free to follow along on Instagram. Have a lovely weekend, friends!