Although placing a rug in a room can help to give the area a pop of color, when the rug starts to move around, it not only looks unsightly but is also dangerous.
A rug that moves around is very dangerous because an unexpected slide underfoot could send you tumbling to the floor, resulting to injury.
There are a lot of ways to prevent this from happening, and if you want to how to keep a rug in place on carpet, we’ve got you covered.
Read: Are polypropylene rugs safe on vinyl floors
How To Keep A Rug From Sliding On Carpet
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If you have a hard, shiny, and smooth floor, it won’t be any surprise why your rug is sliding, but if you have carpeted floors, you would expect the carpet to be able to hold onto the rug and hold it in place due to its roughness.
However, that is not always the case because rugs tend to move in the same direction as the pile underneath them, and the pile of a carpet is moved whenever it is walked upon.
So as you walk over your rug, your weight is transferred through the rug unto the carpet pile beneath, which will also be pushed in a certain direction.
The rug will then have no choice but to move along with the carpet pile, causing a slow but gradual movement of the rug over time. The longer and plusher your carpet pile, the more your rug tends to slide around.
So here are some easy ways to stop your rug from moving around.
Using A Non-Slip Rug Pad
A non-slip rug pad is one of the easiest ways to secure your rugs and mats and keep it in one place. They vary in thickness and can be cut to be the perfect fit beneath your rug so that your rug can sit neatly and securely on top of your carpet.
Rug pads not only help to keep your rug in place; it also helps to reduce noise and absorb shock.
The thickness of the rug pad you should opt for depends on the amount of traffic the area is subjected to. Choose a thin rubber rug pad for light traffic areas and a thick rubber rug pad for higher traffic areas.
Read: Best Rug Pads for Hardwood Floor
Opt For Rugs With Non-Slip Backing
If you are yet to get or rug, or you plan on replacing an old one. Try getting a rug with non-slip backing. This saves you a whole lot of stress, trying to stop the rug from sliding. This type of rug is very common and easy to find, and they usually have grippy latex gel backing.
The latex gel adds an extra grip on hard floors and carpet through the rubber backing, and this helps to prevent the rug from slipping on carpet.
However, the effectiveness of rubber backed rugs totally depends on the type and thickness of the carpet it is placed on.
If your carpet has a low pile and isn’t plushy, you can make use of just a rubber backed rug, but if you have a high pile plushy rug, you will need to add a non-slip rug pad underneath the rugs even though they are rubber-backed.
Place Furniture On It
Although this basically takes away the usefulness of the rug, if it was meant to cushion the effects of foot traffic directly on the carpet but placing any heavy pieces of furniture, like couches, coffee tables, beds and dressers can help to hold down the rug and prevent it from slipping.
To not totally cover the entire rug, you can allow some furniture to overlap; this allows the rug to serve its purpose and still be held in place.
Read: How to tackle heavy furniture on wood floor
Using Caulk
If you have an inexpensive rug, caulking it will help to hold it in place. This is a very simple and inexpensive way to stop your rug from sliding. Simply run a bead of silicone caulk on the back of the rug, and also apply the caulk along the edges of the rug.
Also, add a few more caulk lines to the middle of the rug. Then use a putty knife to flatten the bead head before the caulk dries to ensure good adhesion between the caulk and the rug. When the caulk gets dry, put the rug over your carpet.
The dried silicon caulk will help to grip the carpet and prevent the rug from sliding. If you have an expensive or antique rug, it is not recommended that you apply caulk on it, but this method works well for cheap rugs.
Sticky Tape
This is also a quick and inexpensive fix; applying a simple roll of double-sided tape on your rug gives it an extra grip and stops it from sliding around on your carpet.
Apply the sticky tape around the perimeter of the rug, about 2 inches from the edge; also, place a few strips of tape along the center for an extra grip.
The sticky tape holds both the rug carpet together to prevent slipping. However, when the sticky tape begins to collect dirt, dust, and debris, it will eventually lose its adhesive qualities. You will need to promptly replace the tape when this happens.
Make sure to only use tape designed to be used on rugs or tapes with a light adhesive. Using tapes with strong adhesive can leave behind adhesive residue when they are removed, and this can stain your carpet or the rug.
Like with the caulking fix, it’s best to avoid tape if you have an antique or expensive carpet or rug.
Related: How to get wrinkles out of carpet without a carpet stretcher
Conclusion
Knowing how to keep a rug in place on carpet or how to keep a rug from sliding on carpet will help to prevent any unwanted accident that can occur with a slippery rug. All this fix should be put in place till you get the one that works best for you.