When a rug is on a hardwood or tile/stone floor, it is essential to have the right rug pad underneath. The floor may experience harm from rug scratches and furniture indentations and the dense pad will prevent this from happening. The best rug pads for hard floors are ones that are either a solid felt or a felt and natural rubber combination.

When a rug is walked on, there is pressure to push through the rug and hit the floor. A quality rug pad will act as a barrier amid the carpet and the floor to prevent any scratching from the back of the rug to the floor. Therefore, the carpet pad ought to be solid as opposed to one with holes in it. The more solid and dense the pad, the better the shelter to the hardwood floor.

For rugs that do not tend to slip, a 100% felt jute pad is excellent. This is dense sufficient to protect the floor from scratches and indentations. Make sure that the felt rug pad is a “40 ounce” type, referring to the amount of fiber there is per square yard of pad. The higher the ounce, the more dense the carpet pad. If the rug have a tendancy to slip, then a felt and natural rubber rug pad is ideal. Here, the key is to make sure it is natural rubber as opposed to the chemical sprays that look and feel like rubber but in truth could gravely hurt the floor.

I have a lot of customers tell me that their pad stuck to their floor and it cost them a lot of cash to re-finish the floor. The type of pad that does this is an open weave waffle looking pad. It may look and feel like rubber but it in truth is a plastic or nylon pad that has a chemical spray employed to it. This chemical is what transfers to the floor and leaves an imprint of the rug pad right on the floor. Hard wood, natural stone and glazed tiles all are at risk from the adhesives in these types of non slip pads. Real rubber does not injure the floor and a felt and natural rubber carpet pad will prevent slipping and protect the floor.

Felt pads or Nomuv non skid pads are available at most Santa Cruz flooring shops as well as Talisman and Artisan Rug Care

Potentially harmful type pad sample

another culprit..

This is what you want under your rugs..

NOMUV brand rug pad, the good stuff!

No threat to leave residues or damage glazes or finishes