The sofa is back in place, the carpet looks fresher, and now there are four deep square dents where the legs used to stand. Sometimes there is a lighter rectangle too, the shape of the sofa itself. It can look as though the clean has made things worse.

It has not, but it has made them easier to see. This guide explains why, what we do on the day to protect your carpet, how to lift most dents yourself with an ice cube or a damp cloth, and why a few never fully come back.

It also covers the lines a clean can leave in the pile, and the one problem that is properly worth acting on quickly: rust or wood stain from a furniture leg that went back onto damp carpet.

Carpet pile is made of thousands of upright tufts. Under a sofa leg, a bed foot or a bookcase, those tufts have been pressed flat, often for years. Day to day you never see it, because the furniture is standing on it.

The rest of the carpet has been flattened too, just more gently and more evenly, by feet and by soil packed down into the pile. A proper clean lifts that soil out, and the groom at the end stands the pile back up. So the carpet around the dent rises, and the dent itself stays down. The contrast between the two is what makes it suddenly obvious.

There is often a second thing at work. The patch of carpet that sat under the sofa has not seen sunlight or footfall for as long as the sofa has been there. Once the rest of the room is clean, that rectangle can look brighter, or a slightly different shade. That is not a cleaning mark. It is closer to the colour the whole carpet was before years of light and wear, and it usually blends in over time as the room is used.

Castors and narrow metal feet leave the deepest dents, because all the weight sits on a small point. Wide, flat feet spread it out and leave shallower marks that recover faster.

It is the same on rugs and under beds. Anywhere weight has sat in one place, a clean shows the outline. In a strange way it is a good sign: the pile around it is now standing as it should, which is the point of a deep clean.

• Crushed pile: dents from legs, feet and castors
• Brighter rectangles: the carpet that sat under furniture
• Both show more once the room around them is clean

As standard, we move the everyday furniture that sits on the carpet: sofas, armchairs, coffee tables, dining chairs and, where access allows, beds. We lift where it is kinder to the floor rather than dragging. Very heavy or fitted pieces, full wardrobes, pianos and anything with electronics inside stay where they are, and we clean right up to them. Nothing that stays put can leave a new dent, because it has not moved.

If there is a piece you would rather we left alone, or one you would especially like moved, tell us when you book or when we arrive. We will say straight whether it is safe to move, and if it is not, we clean carefully around it.

When the clean is done, the carpet is damp, not wet. Furniture going back onto damp carpet needs something between the leg and the pile. We place protector pads under each leg, foil-backed pads or small blocks, so the wood or metal never sits directly on the damp fibre. It is a small step, and it is there for a reason we come to at the end of this guide.

Where we uncover a dent, we groom across it as part of the finish. The warmth and moisture of the clean sometimes lift a dent part of the way on the day, especially a fairly recent one. A deep dent from years under a heavy piece usually needs a little more help once the carpet is dry.

Leave the pads in place until it is dry

Please leave the pads where they are until the carpet is fully dry. That is usually six to twelve hours, sooner with warmth and airflow and longer without, much like washing on a line. Once it is dry, you can take them away and the furniture can sit straight on the carpet again. If you would like to move a piece to a slightly different spot so the dents can recover, this is the moment to do it.

Wait until the carpet is fully dry before you start. Then try the ice cube method first, because it is the gentlest and it works on most carpets.

The ice cube method

Place an ice cube in the dent, or a few for a larger one, and leave it to melt completely. This can take a couple of hours. The water soaks slowly into the crushed tufts and helps them swell back up. Once it has melted, blot up any water left on the surface with a clean, dry cloth. Then lift the pile gently with the edge of a spoon or your fingertips, working the tufts upright from the base. Leave it to dry.

The damp cloth and iron method

For a stubborn dent, lay a clean, damp cloth over it. Set an iron to a low steam setting and hold it a few centimetres above the cloth, moving it gently for half a minute or so. The iron must never touch the cloth or the carpet. Many carpets are made of polypropylene or nylon, and direct heat can melt them in seconds. The steam does the work, not the heat. Lift the cloth away, tease the pile up with your fingers, and let it dry.

Whichever method you use, finish by vacuuming across the area once it is dry. The vacuum lifts the tufts and blends the dent into the carpet around it. For a deep dent, it can take two or three rounds over a few days, so do not be put off if the first try only gets it part of the way.

On a rug, or if you are not sure what your carpet is made of, stick to the ice cube method. It carries no risk of heat damage and is usually enough on its own.

• Wait until the carpet is fully dry first
• Ice cube in the dent, let it melt, blot the surface
• Lift the pile with a spoon edge or your fingers
• Iron held above a damp cloth, never touching
• Vacuum across the area once it is dry

Under a very heavy piece, or after many years in the same spot, the weight crushes more than the tufts. The backing that holds them and the underlay beneath both flatten too. You can lift the tufts, but the base they stand on stays lower, so a faint hollow remains.

The fibre makes a difference as well. Wool is naturally springy and tends to recover well. Many synthetic carpets, polypropylene especially, are less resilient, and tufts that have been bent flat for years can stay partly bent however carefully they are treated.

So the honest answer is that most dents improve a great deal, many disappear, and a few will always leave a trace. A deep dent that is still visible after the ice cube method and a few weeks of normal use is unlikely to go much further. At that point, putting the furniture back in the same spot is often the simplest answer. In future, shifting heavy pieces a few centimetres now and then means no single patch takes all the weight.

When it is worth checking the underlay

If a dent is very deep, or the carpet feels noticeably different underfoot in that spot, the underlay beneath may have broken down. That is a fitting matter rather than a cleaning one. A carpet fitter can lift the edge and check, and we are happy to tell you what we noticed on the day.

If you are not sure whether what you are looking at is an old dent or something we should look at, send us a photo. We would rather have a look than leave you guessing, and if it is anything to do with the clean, the Golden Guarantee covers it.

At the end of a clean, we groom the pile so it dries standing up and lying evenly. On some carpets, especially plush cut piles, that leaves visible lines, either from the groom or from the passes of the cleaning wand. It can look like stripes across the room.

These are not marks in the carpet. Each tuft catches the light differently depending on which way it leans, so a tuft brushed towards you looks darker than one brushed away. Once the carpet is dry, a normal vacuum and a few days of everyday use settle the pile, and the lines fade.

Footprints on a damp carpet work the same way. If someone crosses the room before it is dry, the pile can dry in the shape of the footstep. A vacuum once it is dry lifts them out. It is one reason we ask for the room to be left alone until it has dried.

Shading that was there before

Some carpets show patches that look permanently darker or lighter, often in walkways or in front of a sofa. This is known as shading, where areas of pile have settled in a different direction over time. It is a feature of some carpets rather than dirt, and a clean can make it more noticeable because the colour is brighter overall. It is not something cleaning causes, and not something cleaning can cure.

Upholstery can do the same on a smaller scale. A velvet or chenille sofa can show light and dark patches where the pile has been brushed different ways. Once it is dry, a soft brush or a light pass with the upholstery tool on your vacuum lays it back down evenly.

• Groom and wand lines: settle with a vacuum once dry
• Footprints on damp carpet: vacuum out once dry
• Long-term shading: a feature of some piles, not dirt

Metal glides and castors can rust when they sit on damp carpet, and the rust transfers into the fibre as an orange or brown ring. Dark wooden legs can do something similar. Wood holds natural tannins and many legs carry a stain or a coloured finish, and moisture can draw either one out into the carpet. That is the whole reason we put protector pads down.

If you find a mark like this, do not rub it, and do not reach for bleach or a general stain spray. Rust in particular reacts badly to the wrong product and can spread or set. Blot gently with a clean, dry cloth if it is still damp, move the furniture off it, and tell us. Rust and wood stain usually respond well to the right treatment while they are fresh, and less well the longer they sit.

If it happened because we set a leg back without a pad, or a pad we placed slipped out, that is our mistake. We will come back and treat it free of charge under the Golden Guarantee. If the furniture went back before the carpet was dry, tell us anyway. We would much rather see it early than hear about it in a month, and we will tell you honestly what can be done.

If you move furniture back yourself

If you need a piece back in place before the carpet is fully dry, put something under each leg first. A square of kitchen foil folded over a few times, a plastic lid or a small block all work. Avoid anything coloured, such as cardboard or a magazine, because the dye can transfer into damp fibre in just the same way.

The same goes for anything else left on a damp carpet: a metal plant stand, a cardboard box, or a coloured bag. Keep the floor clear until it is dry, and the risk disappears.

• Orange or brown ring under a metal glide: likely rust
• Brown halo under a dark wooden leg: likely wood stain
• Do not rub, bleach or spray it
• Move the furniture off and tell us quickly

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Quick Answers

Will the dents from my sofa come back out?

Most will, either on their own over a few weeks of normal use or with the ice cube method and a vacuum once the carpet is dry. Dents from very heavy furniture that has stood in one place for years may leave a faint trace, because the backing and underlay have been crushed as well as the pile.

Why is the patch where the sofa stood a different colour?

That patch has been shielded from sunlight and footfall for as long as the sofa has been there. Once the rest of the room is clean, the difference can stand out. It is closer to the carpet’s original colour than a cleaning mark, and it usually blends in over time as the room is used.

When can I take the protector pads away?

Once the carpet is fully dry, which is usually six to twelve hours, sooner with warmth and airflow and longer without, much like washing on a line. If you are unsure, press a dry tissue into the pile next to the leg. If it comes up dry, the pads can go.

There is a brown mark under a chair leg after the clean. What should I do?

Move the chair, blot gently with a dry cloth if the mark is still damp, and do not use bleach or a stain spray. Then send us a photo. Rust and wood stain are usually treatable when fresh, and if it happened because a pad was missing, we come back and put it right free of charge.