Sharing the best rug pads for hardwood floors, what keeps runners in place and about felt rug pads for rooms with heavy furniture pieces.
My love affair with vintage rugs runs deep and has for many years. Over that time, because I’ve purchased many different sizes of vintage rugs, I’ve also purchased a few different rug pads as well.
Finding a good non-slip rug pad can be challenging and then you have to think about what type of rug pad to buy. Which one’s are better when we are talking about a felt vs. rubber rug pad?
I don’t claim to know everything, but through lots of trial and error, I’m sharing what I think are the best rug pads and also, what types of rugs pads to use for hardwood floors, vinyl flooring and more!
The first thing I do when I’m deciding what type of rug pad to buy is to think about where it’s going and how it’s being used.
If the rug pad is going on wood flooring, then you’ll need to buy a rug pad for hardwood floors. If the rug pad is going on LVP, then again, you’ll need to buy a rug pad specifically meant for luxury vinyl planking.
I actually didn’t know that LVP couldn’t accept most rug pads until recently. After researching it, I found that a gorilla grip rug pad seems to be the best option for LVP. I don’t have this rug pad myself, but it seems to be a good option.
Rug Pads for Hardwood Floors
Most of the time, I prefer a non-skid rug pad. In my opinion, this is the best rug pad that stays in place.
A non-skid rug pad is great for areas that aren’t going to be weighed down heavily with furniture. I tend to use non-skid rug pads for runners, kitchen rugs, and any room that doesn’t have heavy furniture weighing down the rug.
I tend to like to save money and buy felt rug pads for the living room and bedrooms. These rooms just need a rug pad to make the rug softer and don’t need a rug pad that has non-skid additives because these rooms have large pieces of furniture sitting on the rug pad.
Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve bought a few types of rug pads and I’ll share a few of the photos below so you can see.
For our bedroom and our living room, where we have heavy furniture, I have felt rug pads. Here’s a close-up of what a felt rug pad looks like.
The felt rug pad is soft on both sides and just adds a bit of softness to your rug. I feel like a rug just sits on the floor better with a rug pad underneath.
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For any runner rug pads and smaller rugs around the house, I always buy a dual surface non-slip rug pad. You can see in the picture below, but the rug pad top is a felt-like surface with some sort of adhesive added to it so the rug itself doesn’t slip off the pad. Then, the back of the rug pad that sits on the floor, is rubberized.
This is, by far, the best rug pad I’ve bought and, once I found it, I continue to buy this one.
Shop Rug Pads
A few other questions…
Can you cut an area rug pad?
Yes! To cut an area rug pad, use a pair of sharp scissors. I tend to use sewing scissors. Mark out how much you want to cut and then start cutting. It’s really simple.
I showed how to cut a rug pad in a quick video that you can see on Pinterest if you’d like to check it out.
Rug Pad vs. Rug Size
I like my rug pad to be about 2″ shorter than the rug on all sides. That allows the rug to lay flat over the rug pad and touch the floor.
Different rugs are different though, so if you want more off of your rug pad, just grab your scissors and trim the rug pad.
Do I need a Rug Pad?
Yes, I think so! It allows the rug to lay correct and I believe gives you more mileage out of the rug and the flooring.
I hope this post was helpful to you! I know I always prefer to get someone’s honest recommendations on what they truly love to use in their house. I was asked a few weeks ago if I had ever used rug tape. I haven’t used it myself, but was curious… have you used rug tape?
Hi! Thanks for this intel! Question… have you ever used a pad under a rug that is on top of a carpet? We recently had our basement refinished and put in a section of wall-to-wall carpet. Since the children play down there I bought a fun (and heavy) shag rug to protect the new carpet and to add additional warmth. But even though it’s partly under the couch I’ve noticed it always moves a bit and bunches slightly. Any suggestions for keeping a rug to lay flat over carpet? Thank you!!
Hi Emily,
I haven’t had this issue but have heard good things about “carpet lock” rug pads. You might check those out.