[markpowell]

When you move a suite and you get the grooves in the pile where the feet have been is there anyway of relifting.
I have been told that placing ice-cubes on the area can sort the problem is there any truth in this or is it just an old wifes tale
Mark

[Neil Williams]

If you have plenty of time on your hands get the vacuum and suck the pile back up with the added use of a brush. Now, this is only a temporary/cosmetic answer because it's also the underlay that has been crushed to 1 mm thick and you can't undo the damage there.

[John Kelly]

Using ice cubes works to some extent but only because the fibres swell up with the moisture. Theres also the risk of browning. The dents don't just affect the carpet face fibres. The backing is also distorted as is the underlay. Wetting and lifting with a blunt tool can improve it, but the only way to get a really good result is to lift the carpet and place some kind of stiff thin material between the backing and underlay.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

John is spot on, you have to see to the backing before the fibres but once they have been crushed the resiliance has gone and they soon return to being flat again.

Shaun

[Neil Williams]

As I was saying temporary/cosmetic answer
The answer given by John would in effect be a restoration project with lifting carpet, padding out and refitting. But a lot of customers do ask what can be done about the dents.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

As I understand it, when carpet fibres are wetted they can lose their memory of how they should lie, and as such they can be retrained to lie in another way. In othe wordsyou can then tease out the dents.

The reason for ice cubes is because if you suggest wetting a carpet to a customer you don't want them chucking a bucket of water over the carpet. An ice cube is a defined amount of water and is sufficient to wet the carpet enough to then retrain the fibres.

It's one of those jobs that if customers ask me about I explain how they can do it themselves but if they really want me to do it I shall be happy to do so but as it is a time issue I shall be charging them appropriately.