Instantly Revive Matted Carpets Using These Ordinary Bathroom Items

Carpets add warmth, color, and comfort to our homes and our lives. They can take a room from drab to dazzling, quiet an echo-prone space, or provide a cushy play area for our kids. But there are, indeed, downsides to installing carpet. As floor coverings, they also absorb a good deal of dirt, wear, and even abuse. The results? A matted carpet looks old and worn. What can be done? The good news is we have a trick to revive matted carpet areas, using a item from your bathroom ... a blow dryer. But first, we need to understand how matting occurs and why.

Carpets are made from all sorts of fibers, everything from wool to synthetic fibers to bamboo. The fibers are fixed into a base or backer in loops, and the length the loops extend over the base is called the pile. The longer the pile, the more material there is that can become matted. Short pile, less matting, long pile, more matting. How tightly the loops are packed together per square inch is called the density. Logically, the more fibers per square inch, the more they will resist matting. Matting occurs when the fibers are pressed down by high carpet traffic, perhaps exacerbated by dirt and grime. Matting also occurs under furniture, like the feet of a chair.

To get rid of a matted area in your carpeting, start by vacuuming it thoroughly, employing the beater bar if you have one. Then dampen the area with water — don't soak it. Grab you blow dryer and — holding it three inches or so above the carpet — start to dry the area. Rake the matt with your fingers as you use the blow dryer. (Use a low heat, too much heat and holding the dryer very close to the fibers can actually harm synthetic fibers significantly. Carpets are commonly made from nylon, polypropylene, polyester, acrylic and the like. Too much heat will ruin those fibers.) If the matt is being stubborn, try using a discarded brush or comb to fluff the pile.

Have you ever left you clothes in the dryer and gone back to them and found them wrinkled? So, you turned the dryer on for another five or 10 minutes so the fibers in the clothes will warm up and the wrinkles will disappear. The same principle is occurring here. Warming the moist carpet fibers and manipulating them encourages them to return to their former fluff.

To prevent matting, regular vacuuming at least twice a week is a must, more if you have children and pets, and regular carpet cleaning will keep your carpets looking their best and lasting longer.