How to Get Creases Out of Your Rugs, Once and for All

Rugs are more than just a delightful accent in a room. A well-placed rug can serve as insulation, help with noise reduction, or protect your floor from scratches and scrapes. Whether you’ve just laid out a brand-new carpet or an old, weathered favorite, however, the movement of everyday life can lead to unsightly creases and curled edges that seem impossible to force down. Thankfully, there are a variety of DIY options that you can use to flatten your rugs, once and for all.

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Give Rolled Rugs Some Time to Relax

A freshly unrolled rug may need a day or two to fully flatten. This means that the most passive way of flattening a rug is to simply lay the rug out, smooth it down as much as possible, and leave it to sit. Generally, time and foot traffic will flatten your rug for you.

Use Heavy Weights

If your rug’s corners are curling upward, fold them underneath the carpet and weigh each corner down with a heavy object, such as a thick book or a piece of furniture. After one or two days, remove the weight. The corners should now lie flat.

Flip the Carpet

If your rug’s corners curl underneath, it’s time to flip the carpet over. Place a heavy object on each corner to weigh them down. Let the rug sit like this for one or two days, then remove the weights, and flip it back over to its original position.

Try Two-Sided Tape

Two-sided carpet tape is an inexpensive, mostly invisible solution for unsightly creases. Place tape on the back of your rug and then press it firmly against the floor. The tape should help the carpet lie flat and in place.

Apply Heat

To use this technique, you will need an iron and a piece of parchment paper. Place the paper over a crease on your rug, turn the iron to the lowest setting, and slowly run the iron back and forth to flatten the rug. You can also try this method using a hair dryer — simply hold it six inches away from the rug on medium heat to help flatten out creases and curls.

Expose the Rug to Natural Sunlight

Leave your carpet in a room with plenty of direct sunlight for several hours. The heat from the sun’s rays will flatten out any creases, leaving your rug as good as new.

Try Reverse Rolling

If your carpet develops creases after being rolled up for a long period of time, try unrolling it the opposite way and letting it sit for a day or two. Reversing the direction usually allows gravity to slowly flatten your rug.

Use Spray Bottle

Using a spray bottle filled with water, liberally mist any dents or creases on your rug. Use a hair dryer on a low to medium setting to dry those areas. To speed up the process, you can gently use a terry cloth towel with your other hand to fluff your rug as it dries.

Try Ice Cubes

If you’ve got a particularly stubborn dent in your carpet, leave an ice cube on the dent to melt overnight. The weight of the water melting should help flatten any of the carpet’s puckered areas. The following morning, the dent should have largely disappeared.

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