Runners are usually used in hallways and hallways usually get a lot of traffic. Being one of the most used rugs in a home, runners need a quality rug pad to prolong their life as well as keep from slipping. Although there are several non slip pads that can stop the runner from moving, not all perform as best as they should.

Let us talk about the waffle looking rug pads available. There are three types. The first is usually a nylon or plastic that has a spray on it to create a non slip function. The major problem here is that the spray will eventually wear off onto the rug and/or the floor. The other type of thinner pad is an actual solid rubber pad. This is safe for many floors and rugs and has been known to last. It is important to make sure the product is an actual solid layer of rubber and not a sprayed latex rubber. Lastly, there is another thin non slip pad that is an organic polymer. This type of pad is safe for floors and rugs and usually lasts longer than we care about. (more…)

I am always looking at the effects of non slip rug pads on floors and rugs. A common issue among a certain quality of non slip rug pads is that the pad marks the floor with the actual design of the pad. This happens for a good reason, the reason being that this rug pad actually contains a spray, and is not real rubber or an organic material.

Although many non slip rug pads resemble each other, there are differences. By the way, this type of pad is also referred to as non skid, hold tight and grip it, just to name a few. Okay, the best non slip rug pad is either made with a natural rubber layer or is an organic polymer. These two types of carpet pad will not harm your floor and will last as long as they should. Real rubber is generally not harmful to wood and hardwood floors. If any marking does occur, it is usually due to the finish of the floor and not the fact that the rubber pad is defective. (more…)

It is not very easy to find a quality rug pad in retail stores. The reason is that the retailer does not want to tie up much money in inventory as well as the fact that the rug pad takes space. What many retailers now do is drop ship the pad to the customer from a separate warehouse, without even seeing the product. The problem here is that the warehouse usually stores the pads folded in packages and these could be sitting on a shelf for weeks and months until shipped. It is best to avoid rug padding, whether from a retail brick and mortar store or from an online store, that is pre-cut and prepackaged.

I recently received a phone call from a woman who wanted to buy a rug pad. She stated that she had just received one that she ordered online from one of the mass marketed stores. She told me that she placed the pad on her floor and noticed bumps every 18 inches. This is where the pad was folded. The type of pad she received was a jute and rubber combination pad. Apparently, wherever there were fold marks, the rubber was sticking to itself as if melted together. This, she claims, created bumps through her rug. The problem here is that these bumps cause a trip hazard for people walking on the rug. The bumps also create an awkward look to your rug and finally, the bumps will cause premature wear patterns on those parts of the rug. (more…)