Hit the Ground Running: Speed Is Key to Carpet Fixes

Care and prompt repair are the key to prolonging the life of your carpet. Vacuum at least once a week. Fix any damage before it gets worse. And clean spills immediately.

Here are some other tips on carpet repair:

Dents

Avoid deep furniture dents in your carpet by moving your furniture--just a couple of inches--every time you vacuum. If indentations do occur, fluff up the crushed nap with a screwdriver or butter knife. Then restore the nap’s height and texture by holding a steaming iron about a quarter-inch above the carpet surface.

Tears

Carpet tears occur most often at seams, where two pieces are glued or sewn together. If you’re rejoining a seam that was once glued together, you’ll find the old glue tough to work a needle through. Use needle-nose pliers to help push and pull the needle.

To resew a seam or tear, pull the halves together and hold them in place with nails driven about 6 inches from each edge.

Using an awl or ice pick to bore tiny stitch holes about half an inch from each edge, sew the edges together with a curved upholstery needle and a nylon fishing line. Run the stitches on the top of the carpet parallel to the tear and run the ones under the surface diagonally. Brush the carpet to hide the stitches and the seam.

Patching

Serious damage to a carpet may require patching.

Use a sharp utility knife to cut out the damaged section of the carpet. Line up the cuts with a carpenter’s square. Separate the threads of the carpet so you can cut through the backing without cutting off threads along the edge. This will make it easier to blend the patch.

Next, cut a replacement patch using the damaged piece as a pattern. Use a spare piece of carpet or borrow from an inconspicuous place such as the back of a closet, replacing the patch with the damaged piece.

Apply double-faced carpet tape to the floor around the perimeter of the hole. Press the tape into position on the floor, then peel off the backing on the top of the tape.

Press the new patch in place with a rolling pin. Or weigh it down with telephone books for a few hours. Brush the nap along the seam to blend the patch.

Stains

Blot excess grease, oil, lipstick or butter with paper towels. Sponge with dry-cleaning fluid. Work from the edges to the center.