How To Keep Rugs In Place On Carpet

Rugs, such as those available from Southwestern Rugs Depot, are a great way to add a warm and friendly feel to any room. When properly used on wood floors, rugs can really tie a room together and fill space that would feel empty otherwise. However, putting rugs on your floor can introduce a myriad of new problems.

One of these is the fact that rugs often move around on the floor. This can be annoying at best and dangerous at worst, so it’s imperative to find a way to keep them in place. This is true even if you’re placing your rugs on top of a carpet.

Keep reading to find tips on how to keep rugs in place on your carpet, as well as different solutions to affix rugs in general. Many of these approaches will also work for hardwood floors or laminate floors as well.

What Makes Rugs Move?

Rugs move for a variety of reasons, but the most common is due to foot impact. The force of the impact follows the direction of the carpet pile beneath the rug and ends up shifting the area rug one way or another.

Typically, carpeted floors are installed with the pile of the rug’s fibers facing toward the door. This is done to make the colors in the carpet appear more vibrant. However, this often causes rugs to move toward the door with repeated foot traffic.

This problem is exacerbated by thicker carpet fibers, but can still be a problem regardless of the type of carpet you have installed. To combat this, it is necessary to use some kind of tool or process to keep the rug(s) from shifting on your carpet.

Why Keeping Rugs in Place Is Important

Rugs shifting around the room can be annoying and unsightly since you have to repeatedly replace them. However, the most important reason that you should aim to keep rugs from slipping is due to safety.

A rug that is not properly fastened to its position may shift as somebody tries to walk on it. This can lead to that person losing their balance, potentially falling into and colliding with furniture. This is an extreme safety hazard and should be avoided at all costs.

How To Keep Rugs In Place Using Double-Sided Tape

One of the best ways to keep rugs in place is with carpet tape. Regular tape will often have trouble adhering to carpeted surfaces due to the fibrous and sparse nature of carpeting. However, rug tape should do a good job of clinging to the area rug and holding it in place.

Double Sided Rug Tape or Double-Sided Carpet Tape

Since you will be affixing the rug to another carpeted surface, it’s important to use double-sided rug tape. If you only have single-sided carpet tape, you can make due by rolling the tape into rolls, but this can still cause the rug to shift if you are not careful.

How To Use a Rug Pad

Another way to deal with area rugs slipping on carpets is by using non-slip rug pads. A non-slip rug pad can hold area rugs in place even on carpeted surfaces and is specifically designed to keep rugs from slipping between natural rubber and felt surfaces.

Using a rug pad is fairly straightforward. You simply place the pad beneath the rug and on top of the carpet. The only thing you have to worry about is making sure the rug pad is small enough to fit underneath the rug without poking out the edges, while still keeping it in place.

You can find premium, all-purpose rug pads here.

Anchoring Rugs With Furniture

One of the simplest solutions for affixing a rug to a carpet is to use your furniture. If the room is small enough and your furniture is heavy enough, you should be able to place corners or edges of the rug underneath the feet of your chairs or couches in order to hold it still.

Things to Avoid

You want to avoid using furniture that is heavy enough or sharp enough to damage the rug or the carpet. It’s also important to make sure that the corners and edges of the rug are evenly held down to avoid curling or lifting of the rug.

Caulking Inexpensive Rugs

Using silicone caulk or hot glue to hold rugs in place on the carpet is an effective approach, but it can ultimately damage your rugs and carpeting. For this reason, this solution is generally only recommended for inexpensive rugs that can be easily replaced.

How To Use Caulk To Hold Rugs In Place

Simply apply the silicone caulk to the edges of the rug, along with a few lines over the center. It’s recommended to flatten some of these lines with a putty knife to avoid the feeling of hard caulk underfoot when the process is finished.

Leave the caulk to dry overnight, and then place the rug on top of the rug wherever you like. The rubbery caulk should keep the rug in place as people walk over it. Make sure the caulk is completely dry before placement to avoid damaging the carpeting underneath.