Carpets can make any room look more beautiful, however mouldy carpets are not ideal in the home or in the office. Nor is a carpet with burn marks. Carpets tend to wear and tear quickly, especially in places where there is high traffic. You surely would not want to spend thousands replacing your carpet. Proper care and maintenance are necessary if you want your beautiful carpets to last a long time.
One of the biggest enemies of carpets is burn marks and holes. When iron falls onto the carpet, there are three various levels of burns that could appear and remain on your carpet. If the iron sits still for a few seconds, the topmost part of the fibres is damaged. If the iron sits for a longer time, the fibres get even more burned and this would warrant a replacement of the carpet. The least burn is when the fibres are not affected at all. What remains on the carpet are just scotch marks which are quite easy to clean.
Iron burn on carpet is not nice to look at
Image attributed to Wikimedia Hans Bernhad
Less severe burns
Less severe burns can be easily trimmed away so that your carpet will look new. The tools you will need are the basics such as sandpaper, hand held vacuum, scissors and a wide-toothed comb. Trimming away burned fibres is very easy and it is something which everyone can do. Start by sanding away scotch marks by using the sandpaper and then vacuum all the debris away. If you see any black burnt fibres remaining on the carpet, you can just easily cut them away.
After all signs of burns have been removed, you can comb the area with a wide-toothed comb to blend it with the other areas.
Severe burns
If an area of the carpet has severe burns, you have no other choice but to replace that section. This means that you will need to purchase a matching carpet scrap which is large enough to cover the area with the burns. You will also need scissors, a utility knife, vacuum, paper, wide-toothed comb and carpet adhesive.
You can begin the task by vacuuming the debris away from the carpet. Always start with a clean work area so you can get better results. Carefully cut out the burnt section of the carpet but be careful not to also cut the padding underneath. Use the removed piece as a pattern to create two pieces from the scrap which of the same size and shape.
Vacuum the area where the burnt piece was removed to clean out fibres and debris, and then place the scrap into the hole. Make the necessary adjustments so that you can get it to fit correctly. Apply carpet adhesive and press the scrap firmly in place. Cover the area with something heavy until the adhesive dries and gently comb the carpet with a wide-toothed comb to blend the fibres.
Iron burn on carpet may be difficult for some people to replace so if you are in doubt about your skills, it is best not to attempt to do it yourself but just ask the professionals. You may be charged with a nominal fee but you can be sure that you will get good results.
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