Shag Carpet Do It Yourself Repair

Shag carpet easily hides repairs.

Inexpensive household items and easy to attain skills like cutting yarn fibers and making small templates can be used to make repairs to shag carpeting.

Patch a Hole

1. Place a piece of paper into and underneath the opening. Draw the hole's outline onto the paper by tracing the opening's shape with a pencil. Remove the paper and cut around the shape to create a template.

2. Cut a carpet patch using the template. Use a scrap of the original carpet or cut a piece from the existing carpet by finding an inconspicuous corner to cut from. Closets and areas hidden by drapes or furniture are good places to cut away a small portion. Place the template onto the backside of a loose scrap, attach it with duct tape and cut around the shape of the template.

3. Check the size of the patch by placing it into the hole. Trim it as necessary, it is OK for it to be slightly smaller than the hole in the shag carpet as shag yarn will cover any discrepancy.

4. Attach the patch to the carpet. Cut a piece of duct tape in the general shape of the hole but increase the overall size by an inch. Place the tape on a hard surface with the sticky side up. Center the carpet patch yarn side up on to the tape and press the tape and patch together. Carefully angle the tape and patch through the hole, slipping the tape under the carpet and centering the patch over the hole (the tape is now under the installed carpet and cannot be seen.) Push down on the patch and the surrounding area to attach the tape to the back of the shag carpet.

5. Brush over the repaired area to rearrange the shag fibers. Gently glide your hand back-and-forth over the repaired area until the edges of the repair can not be seen.

Remove Damaged Fibers

1. Push undamaged fibers away from the damaged area. Place a lightweight object like a magazine or book on top to hold them down and out of the way.

2. Use a sharp pair of scissors and carefully snip away the damaged tops of the fibers. This process works well for burns or stubborn food, wax or other particles that have become attached to the carpet.

3. Place the cut away fibers on one of the magazines as you work so you can dispose of it after you finish trimming.

4. Remove the lightweight object used to protect the surrounding fibers and gently brush the hands over the yarn fibers to return the shag carpet to a normal appearance.

5. Vacuum the area to remove any cut fibers that have fallen into the bed of the carpet.

Tip

Small holes of a half-inch or less can be hidden by simply brushing the surrounding shag fibers over the opening. When cutting shag carpet, cut the carpet backing and avoid cutting the yarn fibers by pulling the fibers away from the scissors until you can see the backing material. Holes that are larger than the width of duct tape will require several strips of duct tape to complete the repair.