How to Flatten a Rug in 4 Easy Steps? Wrinkled and Rolled

New rugs often come with a lot wrinkles and folded from its corners. Besides, pets and children also play a big role in messing with floor rugs. If the rugs are crumpled, they remain in the same shape even after you lay on them on the floor. As a result, it becomes irritating to properly flatten them on the floor.

Putting weight on them is usually a typical method to change their default shape. However, this process consumes a lot time. You’ve to put a sustainable weight until the fabric changes its shape.

But the issues with putting weight is that it doesn’t eliminate the wrinkles. It only helps settling the fabric to lay on the floor. It may appear flatten, but in actual, it’s not flatten adequately.

To perfectly put a rug on the floor, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Putting Weight on the Rug

It may sound silly as we already have explained it doesn’t help ideally. However, it’s an important step initially. Because the fabric of a folded rug would not just change by leaving it on the floor. You’ve to do a little efforts which help settling the bumps of a rug.

Prerequisites:

Anything that you can use to put weight on the rug such as home gym weights. For better results, it’s good to put a table upside down on the rug.

Putting Weight on Rugs Corners and middle
Putting the Weight on a Rug’s Corners and Middle Parts

Procedure:

  • Put the rug upside down, it helps the fabric stay steady.
  • Now put weight on its corners and middle parts.
  • Let the weight be there for a couple minutes.
  • Check if the fabric has changed its shape.
  • If it doesn’t have changed its shape, put the weight again for several minutes.
  • Repeat the same steps until it has been completely settled down.

Step 2: Wash the Rug Using Shampoo

Putting the weight on different locations of a rug helps eliminating folded corners and wrinkled parts. However, some wrinkles are so stubborn that require extra efforts. Hence, washing the rug with a suitable shampoo is the only option.

When you wash our hair with shampoo, they become straight. So you can style them in any way you prefer. The same goes with rugs fabric. Shampoo cleaning helps the rug fabric becoming straight. As a result, it becomes easier to lay them on the floor without a bump appearance.

Essentials:

  • Vacuum Cleaner
  • Lukewarm water
  • Decent Rug Shampoo
  • 1-2 teaspoonful of Salt – It helps soothing the Fabric
Washing the rug after putting weight on its corners for flattening
Washing Process of a Rug Using Shampoo

Follow the Process:

  1. Start by vacuuming the rug to remove the hidden dust.
  2. Add lukewarm water into the washing machine.
  3. Now add the shampoo into the water according to the size of the rug.
  4. Mix the teaspoonful of salt into the water appropriately.
  5. Let the machine run for a few minutes.
  6. Dry the rug after the wash

Make sure not to add more salt than required. It’s only supposed to smooth the fabric to remove creasy lines of the fabric. Overusing can lead to fade a rug.

Mistakes to Avoid After Washing:

  • Using machine’s inbuilt dryer
  • Leaving the rug into sunlight for a longer duration
  • Avoid Wringing the Rug
  • Laying the rug right after drying – Reason explained in step 3.

Step 3: Ironing the Rug Precisely

Laying the rug directly after a wash and dry would be a huge mistake. Why? Because even after washing, a little creases are still present. The only option to get rid of the leftover creases is to iron them carefully.

Creases is also the most common problem with new rugs. Moreover, crumples of a rug look similar to the waves of an ocean or a sea. Fortunately, it’s possible to remove the wrinkles of a rug by following the steps below.

Tools Required:

  • Iron
  • Cotton Cloth
  • Iron Stand
Image Explaining To use an Iron to Remove a rug's Wrinkles
Using Iron to Remove Rug’s Wrinkles

Performing the Action:

Step 1: Take the weight off the rug.
Step 2: Put a cotton cloth on the rug.
Step 3: Iron the rug gently with mild heat.
Step 4: Keep the procedure until the wrinkles are gone.
Step 5: Lay the rug on the floor.

Step 4: Use Rug Pads

Rug pads help rugs stay stable on the floor without crumpling. This the the last step of flattening the rugs on the floor. Even after doing the above three steps, the chances of rug rumpling are still there.

Because as one walks on a rug, it may slip sometimes with friction. Hence, causing the rug to twist its fabric. When this happens on a daily basis, the rug can accumulate creases overtime. Which is why rug pads become an essential part of keep the rug flatten on the floor.

Rug pads stick the rug to the floor, preventing the rug from slipping from foot traffic. Even if there’s a heavy foot traffic, like area rugs, there is no possibility of slipping.

Type of Rugs Pads Required:

The rug pads must be between 5mm-7mm thick. Any more thickness would lead to a tiny bump on the corners of a rug which looks odd. Also, the more the thickness, the more chances of tripping while walking.

Image showing the ideal corners of a rug to stick rug pads
Ideal Locations to Put Pads on a Rug

Rug Pads’ Location on a Rug:

  • Four pads on the corners
  • One in the middle of the rug

The poor management of the rugs in the store causes them to their shape. Sometimes, their condition is fine, but when an individual buys them, they have poor management skills. They put them in the back of their car without folding them adequately.

Rugs are undoubtedly durable, however, their fabrics have the tendency to change their shape when they’re not sufficiently treated. When a rug is properly laid on the floor, it won’t change its shape, no matter how long it’s there.

As soon as you start misplacing them, squeezing them unnecessary, and not using rug pads on area rugs, they start loosing their flatten shape.

Preventing rugs from creasing in the future can be a bit challenging. However, it’s possible if you avoid some bad habits that people usually do.

  • Put rug pads beneath the rug to avoid slipping.
  • Never wring the rug after washing. Instead, let the water drain for a while or pat dry. Then Put in sunlight.
  • Always iron the rug after drying before laying on the floor.
  • Vacuum the rug regularly to avoid deep cleaning.
  • Don’t let your kids or pets mess with rugs.

Flattening rugs can be overwhelming sometimes. But the right and safe techniques always help setting the things instantaneously. Avoid buying crumpled rugs. But if you buy a flatten one, make sure you escort it like clockwork.


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