How Do I Get Rid Of Indentations In The Carpet

We recently moved into a 3 year-old house. The carpet is in great shape, except for one thing: There are indentations in the carpeting where the previous owners had their furniture. How do we remove them? Will cleaning the carpet help?
Signed, Mrs. Dent

Deep furniture indentations are a combination of compression of the carpet pad (which is most likely irreversible), stretching of the carpet backing (which can sometimes be improved), and distortion of the face fibers.
Cleaning alone, will not remove the dents. It may help improve the carpet and backing, but will do very little for the carpet pad. Over time, the pad may slowly return to it’s original shape, but that rarely happens - especially if the pad is of lower quality.
You can try a couple of things:
1. Place a damp, white towel over the dents and set a steam iron over the towel. Remove it after 1 minute, then fluff the carpet fibers up and allow to dry.

2. Try the ice cube trick: Put an ice cube on each dent and let it sit over night. I have never tried this, but I’ve heard that it works in some cases. Don’t ask me why.

If none of the above works and the indentations are really bugging you, as a last resort you could have the carpet pulled back and have new pieces of carpet pad inserted where the compressed pad is.

How To Mix Homemade Cleaning Solutions

Ammonia, diluted with 3 parts water in an empty spray bottle can be used to clean windows, appliances and countertops. Full strength it can remove wax build-up from the kitchen floor.

An excellent way to scour copper and brass is 1/2 cup vinegar mixed with 1 tablespoon salt.

Full strength pine oil is great for deodorizing garbage cans, and scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom floor.

Removing Carpet Depressions Left By Furniture Legs

Moisten the area with hot water. Cover it with a damp, white, disposable towel. Press
a hot, steaming iron to the towel for up to 90 seconds, being sure to check the carpet underneath for signs of damage such as scorching.

This will soften the backing of the carpet and after removing the iron you can work the backing up so that it is flush with the rest of the carpet. This will not work on all carpet types.

Removing Spots That Keep Coming Back

When you clean the spot off, use a detergent that does not leave a residue, such as liquid diswashing soap. Be sure to rinse the cleaning agents out once the spot has been removed, by repeatedly blotting with a fresh towel and clean water (soap residues could be the problem, because they will attract dirt and make a spot reappear).

Lastly, place several folded white towels on top of the spot and as much weight as you can, say several large books. Leave them overnight. This will cause the spot to wick into towels and draw it off the carpet.

If the spot ever comes back again, repeat process, but this time pack the carpet with talcum powder or baking soda and salt before placing the towels over the spot. These powders will also pull the residues out of the carpet and absorb them as the carpet dries.