Wrinkles, ripples, and bumps happen even when rugs are treated with the greatest of care. Often patience is the most effective tool you can use to achieve a perfectly flat, beautiful, and safe rug surface. Just as important as patience is caution. Be careful as you seek to remove distortions from your rug.

First, simply lay your new rug out flat and let it settle.  Often that’s all it takes--time. Leave it alone for a few days to a few weeks. Yes, it could take weeks for the rug to naturally relax and lose wrinkles and bumps. If you’re impatient and want to accelerate the process, flip it upside down and let it settle further.

If wrinkles remain, you may want to consider one (or a combination) of the following ways to tackle stubborn wrinkles or bumps:

ADITIONAL STEPS:

Pad It

A quality rug pad can help because it holds the rug in place while its fibers relax. Rug pads also add comfort underfoot.

Add Weight

While your patience is tested, it can help to stack heavy hardcover books on top of your rug to speed up natural flattening. Just be sure the book touching the rug will not discolor it. Sometimes a book cover may have a dark color that can transfer to your rug's fibers and discolor it. Also, you can overturn heavy pieces of furniture to weigh the rug down as it relaxes. When adding weight on top of your rug, be sure the wrinkles or bumps are flattened out underneath.

Backroll It

If you still are not satisfied with the way it looks, you can reverse roll your rug and let it stay for a few hours or a day or two. This may do the trick.

Heat It Up, Gently

Still not pleased? Carefully, use heat to help relax your rug. When heat is involved, always use caution. The easiest heat to use is natural sunlight. Place your rug on a clean, dry surface in the sun for a few hours. Alternatively, use a  blow dryer (low setting) on the back of the rug and hold five or six inches above the rug. You can also use a steam iron on the rug’s underside. If you use this heating method, do so cautiously because damage can occur and also protect the flooring underneath the rug. Set the steam iron to a medium setting (with steam on) and use a folded towel to create a barrier. Never place the iron directly on the rug’s surface and steam for a few seconds at a time only. Again, use caution or you may ruin your beautiful rug.

Better still, hire professionals to steam the rug. Be sure they test for colorfastness before steaming.