How to Fluff Up Carpet

Co-authored by Kadi Dulude

Last Updated: July 22, 2021 References

If your carpet gets a lot of traffic, or it has dents from years of unmoved furniture, it’s time to fluff it back up to its prime look. Brushing and vacuuming may be enough for barely flattened carpet, but deep dents need more attention. Use vinegar and water, ice, an iron, or a blow dryer to give your carpet a boost. Rubbing the carpet with your fingers, scraping with a spoon’s edge, or combing with a fork fluffs the carpet after these primary treatments.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Using Vinegar

1
Spray the affected carpet areas with vinegar and water. Mix equal parts of water and vinegar in a spray bottle. Thoroughly spray the dented or flattened area of carpet. Make sure to cover the whole area with liquid, but don't saturate the carpet so that it’s soaking wet.^{[1]
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- Make sure the spray bottle is clean and free of other cleaners or chemicals before you use it.
2
Let the cleaner sit on the carpet for 10-30 minutes. Give the mixture time to work on the fibers of the carpet. Depending on how deep and flat the dents are, adjust how long you let the mixture work. Give it at least ten minutes, or wait about half an hour for deep impressions.
- Vinegar is often used as a cleaning solution, so the area you spray may end up cleaner than the rest of your carpet.
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3
Blot up the liquid with a towel. Grab a clean, white towel and gently press it into the wet carpet. Blot at the carpet until the majority of the liquid has been soaked up. Don’t press too hard or you’ll flatten the carpet out again.
- It’s important to use a white towel so that you don’t bleed any color onto your carpet.
4
Scrape the carpet with the edge of a spoon. Hold a spoon so the edge is against the area of carpet you’re fluffing. Pressing the spoon into the carpet, scrape it across the carpet in straight lines. This will cause the carpet fibers to spring up straight again.^{[2]
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- If a spoon doesn’t give you the results you hope for, try combing the carpet with the tines of a fork.
- Also try a brush with stiff but non-metal bristles to even the carpet out when the dent is gone. A boar's hair brush works well.
5
Allow the carpet to dry before you walk or put anything on it. After you’ve fluffed the carpet, make sure you don’t walk on it before it is dry. Also be sure not to put any furniture back on the spot while it is wet. This could take 2-3 hours or more depending on the size of the area.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Melting Ice

1
Set ice cubes on the dent. Grab some ice from your freezer and set it in the dents in your carpet. If you have multiple dents, like from the four feet of a couch, place at least one ice cube in each dent. If the dent is more than two inches (5cm) wide, place more than one piece in the dent.^{[3]
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2
Allow the ice to melt completely. Once the dents are covered with ice cubes, leave them alone long enough for the ice to melt. Depending on the temperature of the room and how much ice you put in each dent, this might take 20 minutes or up to an hour or more.^{[4]
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3
Blot the water up with a clean, white towel. When all of the ice in each dent has melted, use a clean towel to soak up all of the water. Press the towel gently so you don’t dent the carpet again. Make sure the towel is clean and white, so you don’t transfer color onto the carpet.^{[5]
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4
Fluff the carpet with your fingers, a spoon, or a fork. Rub the previously dented area with your fingers until the carpet stands up as it should. If this doesn’t fluff the carpet enough, try scraping the carpet with the edge of a spoon or combing the carpet with the tines of a fork.^{[6]
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- Use a soft brush to even out the carpet once the fibers are fluffed back up.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Using an Iron

1
Lay a wet cloth over the area you want to fluff. Grab a white washcloth or hand towel from your linen closet. Wet the towel with warm water. Lay it over the dented or flat carpet. If you need to fluff up a large area, you may need to use more than one towel or repeat the process a few times.^{[7]
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2
Steam the towel with an iron on medium heat. Plug in your clothes iron and set it to the medium heat setting. Hold it a few inches above the towel and move it around in a circular motion. Do this for 30 to 60 seconds, then check the carpet.^{[8]
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- Do not put the iron directly onto the carpet or the towel as you might damage the carpet fibers.
3
Fluff the carpet with your fingers. After heating the area, set the iron off to the side where it won’t burn anything. Remove the cloth from the area, being careful not to burn yourself. Rub the carpet with your fingers so the fibers spring back up. Apply the towel and heat it again if necessary.
- For more stubborn carpet fibers, scrap the carpet with the edge of a spoon or comb it with a fork to fluff it more.
- Brush the carpet afterward so it has an even look.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Using a Blow Dryer

1
Fill a spray bottle with clean water. Find a new spray bottle or thoroughly rinse out an old one. Fill it with warm water from the faucet. If your faucet doesn’t have very clean water, use bottled or distilled water instead. Don’t use extremely hot water, which could damage some carpet fibers.
2
Spray the flattened carpet with water. Make sure you cover the dented or flat area completely, but don’t spray it so much that you soak the carpet. Spraying too much water can end up ruining your carpet over time.^{[9]
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3
Blow dry the carpet. Grab a hairdryer and plug it in near the area of carpet that you plan to work on. Set the dryer to a low heat setting. If the dryer has a high fan setting, it’s okay to have the fan high. Hold the dryer about six inches (15cm) from the carpet and move it back and forth across the area.^{[10]
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4
Fluff up the carpet. When the carpet is mostly dry, rub your hand back and forth across the area to straighten the fibers up again. If the carpet doesn’t fluff the way you want it to, grab a brush with stiff but soft bristles and brush the carpet a few times.

Expert Q&A

Question

How do you keep your carpet smelling fresh?

Kadi Dulude
House Cleaning Professional
Kadi Dulude is a House Cleaning Professional and the Owner of Wizard of Homes, a New York City-based cleaning company. Kadi has over 10 years of experience and manages a team of over 90 registered cleaning professionals. Her cleaning advice has been featured in Architectural Digest and New York Magazine.

Kadi Dulude

House Cleaning Professional

Expert Answer

Mist pure white vinegar on a dry carpet to remove bad odors from the fabric. Always test a small area of your rug to make sure the vinegar or any other cleaning agent is safe before you use it.
Question

Does method 1 work?

ECO Carpet Cleaning Force Team

Community Answer

Vinegar contains about 7% acetic acid, and it can neutralize alkaline odours. Using vinegar as carpet deodoriser will not leave behind the artificial cheap fragrance that supermarket deodoriser does.