How to protect carpet from furniture?
July 22, 2019 8:11 AM Subscribe
We are getting new carpeting in our bedrooms tomorrow. After moving the various pieces of heavy furniture out, I could see that the compression marks they made on the old carpeting were worse than I imagined.
Looking online, I see that there are various "carpet coasters" and other ideas for reducing this. However, I want to get advice about what actually works! What have you used to keep your carpet as uncompressed as possible? Keep in mind that most of the furniture is in the only position that will work in the room or is heavy, so shifting it around every month is not the best option. Thanks!
Looking online, I see that there are various "carpet coasters" and other ideas for reducing this. However, I want to get advice about what actually works! What have you used to keep your carpet as uncompressed as possible? Keep in mind that most of the furniture is in the only position that will work in the room or is heavy, so shifting it around every month is not the best option. Thanks!
I use rubber cups that are marketed to protect floors from furniture feet. They work for me on carpet and wood. On carpet they leave a larger footprint than the furniture does, but the pressed area is not as dense. Also, my old furniture has metal foot-pads, and these sometimes leave rust. The rubber cups prevent this.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 8:42 AM on July 22, 2019
posted by Midnight Skulker at 8:42 AM on July 22, 2019
Don't panic until tomorrow, and not even then. Often the carpet will spring back after a little while (days) -- in fact, I've never not seen this happen.
posted by amtho at 11:42 AM on July 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by amtho at 11:42 AM on July 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
But I'm not a huge authority on this -- just giving you my anecdote of experience.
posted by amtho at 11:42 AM on July 22, 2019
posted by amtho at 11:42 AM on July 22, 2019
Maybe this is too old school for you but it's cheap, practical and has a clean/smooth look: Ask for the leftovers of the new carpet. Little squares or round patches of those leftover parts can be used under heavy furniture legs, like coasters. That way you hardly notice the coasters. By using this as a second layer you protect the carpet underneath. After changing the position of heavy furniture, either steam clean (ironing a wet towel over the spot will do as well), vacuum and wait for the carpet to come back up.
You can also use the leftovers under plant pots and under a doormat etc.
posted by Mariemma at 2:39 PM on July 22, 2019
You can also use the leftovers under plant pots and under a doormat etc.
posted by Mariemma at 2:39 PM on July 22, 2019
Carpet coasters definitely work (and work better the larger they are) but I can also vouch for carpet cleaning bouncing a lot of these indentations right back up. You can get some really nice wooden ones designed to hold piano casters, if you're concerned about the look.
If you have any furniture that sits on a base like this instead of individual feet, you can get a couple long pieces of wood for it to sit on, arranged so only the very front is showing and the rest is under the furniture. Prevents it from making those horrible lines that are so much worse than little feet marks.
posted by stillnocturnal at 1:58 AM on July 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you have any furniture that sits on a base like this instead of individual feet, you can get a couple long pieces of wood for it to sit on, arranged so only the very front is showing and the rest is under the furniture. Prevents it from making those horrible lines that are so much worse than little feet marks.
posted by stillnocturnal at 1:58 AM on July 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Also, a once-a-year steam cleaning works very well for bringing all the carpet back to life. I find what is more unsightly after moving furniture is the traffic patterns make the carpet a totally different color than what's covered by furniture, so keeping it all clean and re-fluffed can help quite a bit.
posted by xingcat at 8:21 AM on July 22, 2019