How To Care For Flatweave Rugs

Flatweave rugs are just that - flat without any thick pile to speak of and are either handmade or machine made. Since they contain less material than more traditional thicker rugs, flatweave rugs require specific care to prevent unnecessary wear and damage to the rugs.

Flatweave rugs such as needlepoint, kilim, soumac and aubusson, offer a very unique and distinct look - Unlike thicker rugs, flatweaves can almost look like a painting on the floor. This is due to their flatter nature, as well as their weave, particularly within finer handmade flatweave rugs. Since this type of rug has no pile to speak of, if not properly cared for, a flatweave rug can easily experience wear and damage. It is important to know what to do to assure the protection of the rug so that it lasts as long as it should and maintain its beautiful appearance for just as long.

Keep Rug as Flat as Possible on Floor

It is fairly common for flatweave rugs to wrinkle and buckle more than other rugs. Flatweave rugs are more flexible, or supple, than others because there is less material within the rug. If a rug wrinkles and then someone walks on the wrinkles, this leads to wear in those wrinkled sections. Keeping your flatweave rug as flat as possible will prevent wear to certain parts of the rug and this keeps the rug looking good and maintains its condition.

Since flatweave rugs tend to wrinkle as a result of them slipping, use of a quality non slip rug pad prevents slipping and can then prevent wrinkles within the rug. Non slip rug pad is used under flatweave rugs to keep them as flat as possible to prevent dangerous slipping, as well as unnecessary wrinkles. The rug pad should actually be able to prevent the rug from slipping on top of the pad, as well as prevent slipping directly on the floor. Be sure to choose an effective felt and rubber rug pad to protect any flatweave area rug.

Keep Rug Anchored by Furniture

When possible, place some furniture on your flatweave rug. This can add a decorative look to any room, as well as extra safety. Furniture will add the anchor necessary to prevent common slipping and keep flatweave rugs in place on the floor. While it is not necessary to place all furniture on the rug, placing partial pieces can be all the anchor that is needed to keep flatweave rug flat.

Prevent Unnecessary Traffic

There are rooms in which the rug is placed under heavy traffic, such as in a cut-through connecting two rooms. In this case, the rug is exposed to excessive traffic, which can be cause for wrinkles, slipping and soiling of your flatweave rug. It is smart to try to position the rug deeper into the room to avoid being in the main through traffic pattern. When foot traffic passes over the rug, it can place pressure on that part of that rug - Since the flatweave rug is flexible, it can actually wrinkle just from the pressure of foot traffic. Here, again, it is best to prevent excessive traffic by repositioning the rug so that it is not in a heavily used area.

Rotate Rug Annually

Whether or not part of your rug is exposed to a traffic area, it will most likely experience and show wear on some parts more than other parts. For this reason, it is smart to rotate your rug. Rug rotation can significantly reduce and possibly prevent uneven and premature wear to parts of the rug. Rotate your flatweave rug about once a year by removing any furniture from the rug and turning it in either direction so that the sections of the rug are not in the same area as before the rotation. Be sure to make a note of the direction of rotation, as this will be necessary to know for the next rotation.

Spot Clean Immediately

Rugs with a thick pile are somewhat more forgiving than flatweave rugs in terms of stains and spills. On that note, flatweave rugs can soil much faster than their thicker counterparts and should be cleaned as soon as a spot is noticed. The pile of most flatweave rugs contains the actual knots of the rugs and soil and dirt adhere to these knots much faster than on a regular pile, or thicker rug. For this reason, it is important to clean flatweave rugs when they become soiled or stained, as this will avoid permanent stains.

Depending on the actual material content of a flatweave rug, you may use a soap and water solution, or some other cleaning agent safe for use on the rug. Wool rugs are simply cleaned with mild soap and water, whereas nylon rugs need a different cleaning solution. While the soap and water solution is perhaps the safest method of cleaning, other cleaning agents may also be safe depending on what they are. To be sure of safety to your rug, it is best to first spot clean a very small area to make sure their is no negative reaction. After being cleaned, most flatweave rugs air dry and are then ready to be used again.

Flatweave rugs offer a very charming look on any floor, so it is important to care for them. Like with most items, if properly cared for, flatweave rugs can last for several years. It is simple to care for these types of rugs with simple cleaning, keeping them as flat as possible on the floor and using a quality rug pad. With proper knowledge of caring for flatweave rugs, their addition can prove to be timeless to any room and decor.

Easy DIY Holiday Throw Pillow

With the influx of holiday guests this season now is the time for quick spruce-ups that will get your home ready for the holiday! What better way to welcome overnight guests than with some lovely holiday throw pillows? These throw pillows are so easy to make and can easily be changed out depending on the season; it’s also a great way to give your old throw pillows a make-over. Check out our step-by-step instructions on how to DIY some festive holiday pillows!

Supplies:

• Throw Pillows
• Measuring Tape
• Scissors
• Fabric

Step One: Choose your Pillows and Prep Your Fabric

The first step is pretty easy. Simply choose the pillows you want to cover and measure out your fabric. I chose a standard throw pillow that was 15”x15” and only needed one square yard of fabric to cover the entire pillow. If you are trying to cover a pillow larger than 15 inches, I suggest increasing your fabric to 1.5- 2 square yards. For my fabric I chose a festive flannel that would fit the holiday theme and make my pillows extra soft and warm! Once you measure your fabric, cut it to the appropriate sizes. I ordered 2 yards of each type of fabric so I could cover four pillows total. I simply cut each fabric in half to get 4, square yard pieces.

Step Two: Cover Your Pillow

Take your fabric and lay it on a flat surface with the pattern facing down. I arranged my square fabric in a diamond shape to make it easier to fold. Next, place the pillow on top of the fabric in one of the corners. You want to place your pillow so it is in the corner of your fabric but will still be fully covered when you fold your fabric. Fold the corner of the fabric onto the top of your pillow and roll your pillow over. Make sure when you roll your pillow over, the corner of the fabric is tucked flat underneath the pillow and there are no creases. Next, take the opposite corner of the fabric and fold it over your pillow and fold any excess underneath. You want the fold right in the center of the pillow so when you tie off the fabric there are no visible seams. Next, take the fabric on either side and neatly pull it up to the center. For this step, I folded in the corners on the sides before pulling it up, almost like wrapping a present. Once both sides were pulled to the top of the pillow, you tie off the center. I used a double knot to make sure the fabric would be secured to the pillow. If you have excess fabric sticking out of your double knot you can leave it as is or tuck the excess fabric underneath the fold so it is no longer visible. Repeat all of step two for all of your throw pillows and you have a new set of holiday pillows!

Step Three: Enjoy!

Now that you have completed your throw pillows it is time to spread them out around the house! Place these festive pillows on couches, chairs, even guest beds. This craft seems complicated with all the folding, but it really takes no more than 30 minutes of your time. It is almost as easy as wrapping a present! These pillows are great for any part of your house and when the season’s over, simply untie and replace with a new fabric!

DIY Cork Hot Pads and Coasters

Homemade hot pads/trivets and coasters are the perfect housewarming gift or holiday gift. Reusing old wine corks is a great way to use something that would otherwise be considered trash and create the perfect gift for your favorite wine enthusiast. I chose to use our dura-grip furniture grippers to create a non-slip surface for the hot pads and coasters to rest on top of. The end result is a fun creation that anyone can enjoy for years to come!

Supplies

Hot Pad:

• One 7” Square DURA-GRIP Furniture Gripper
• 16 Wine Corks, cut in half lengthwise

Set of 4 Coasters:

• Four 3” Round DURA-GRIP Furniture Grippers
• 13 Wine Corks, Cut into 6 pieces widthwise

General:

• Hot Glue Gun
• Knife
• Cutting board

Wine Cork Hot Pad

Start by plugging in and warming up your hot glue gun. Next, take 16 of your favorite wine corks and cut them in half lengthwise. While most wine corks should be the same length I would just make sure before you begin that all of them are generally the same length. I had one cork out of my 16 that was slightly shorter than the rest and it threw off the spacing a little, so I had to find a new cork to replace it. Once you have finished cutting all your wine corks in half, arrange the corks on the square DURA-GRIP to ensure everything lines up properly. I chose to alternate vertical and horizontal placement of the corks to create a unique pattern, but you can arrange the corks any way you like.

Once you have arranged the wine corks on your DURA-GRIP and are happy with the pattern and spacing of the corks, it is time to start gluing. Glue the flat side of each cork to the furniture gripper. Remember to glue your corks to the tan side of the furniture gripper that way if there are any gaps in the pattern the tan will blend in with the color of the corks. Once you are all done gluing each cork to the furniture gripper, simply set aside to dry and start on your wine cork coasters!

Wine Cork Coasters

First, select 13 wine corks of similar widths. I used craft store bought wine corks because I used all my collected wine corks making the hot pad. The craft store wine corks actually worked quite well because they were all one uniform shape. Once you have selected your 13 wine corks it is time to start cutting them into 6 pieces widthwise. I had initially cut them into thirds but I realized that this would make my coasters way too thick and impractical so I cut each third in half. In total I ended up needing 76 thin circles to make a total of 4 coasters.

Next, I arranged my coasters into the shape I wanted. I chose to create hexagonal shape because it was easier to create this shape and gave my coasters a unique design. To make one hexagon I glued together 1 row of 5 corks, 2 rows of 4 corks, and 2 rows of 3 corks. If you want to make your life easier, glue all the rows you need before gluing them all together. So for four coasters you would need 4 rows of 5 corks, 8 rows of 4 corks, and 8 rows of 3 corks. Once you have created all your rows you can start gluing each row together to form a hexagon. I started with the smallest row, the row of 3 corks, and worked my way in. The row of 5 corks should be your center row. For a more visual explanation of how to arrange each row, check out the D.I.Y video we’ve created for you!

Once you are done gluing together all four of your coasters you can attach them to your 3” round DURA-GRIP. I simply covered the tan side of the DURA-GRIP in hot glue and then placed it on the back of the cork coaster. Repeat this process with all four cork coasters and let dry. If you want to jazz up your coasters take ribbon and glue it around the perimeter of your DURA-GRIP. This covers up the edges of the DURA-GRIP and can be a fun, festive addition. Now you have two great cork items that can be used at home or given as gifts!

How To Preserve The Fringes of Your Rug

Fringes are those tassels at the end of many area rugs. While they can add a finishing look, fringes can often receive much wear and damage. There are a few simple steps to follow to preserve the look and condition of the fringes at the end of any area rug.

Most people who have fringes at the end of their rugs like the finishing touch look that they offer the rug. There are various reasons that area rugs have fringes. For handmade rugs, the fringes are an extension of the foundation of the rug; A grid of cotton on which the actual rug fibers are knotted to create the rug. Once a handmade rug is made, it is then “cut” off the loom at the fringes - This can leave a fringe length from one inch to four inches in length or longer, depending on where the cut was made. In machine made rugs, fringes are not a part of the foundation, as they are sewn on to the rug after it is made.

Avoid using a vacuum on the actual fringes of your rug, as this causes shredding as seen here.

Regardless of how a rug is produced, while the fringes can present a finished look, they do have a reputation of wearing out before any other part of the rug. This wear can be from constant walking on the end, or fringes, of the rug. Common fringe wear and damage can also happen with a vacuum - It is customary to vacuum a rug and have the fringe be sucked up into the vacuum. This constant suction weakens the fringe fibers and causes them to wear. Lastly, many people want their fringe to be as clean and white as possible, so they may apply bleach or some other cleaning agent to it. This can be another cause of wear and damage.

Rotate Your Area Rug

We have previously referred to the fact that rotating your area rugs can add years of life and prevent premature and uneven wear. This is very true and can also be applied to the fringes of your rug. Since we inevitably see common traffic patterns through rooms of the home, the fringe of your rugs can be in some sort of traffic pattern as well. If this happens, that part of the fringe exposed to the traffic will actually wear before other parts, creating a less than desirable look. By rotating your area rug once a year, you will prevent premature or unnecessary wear to the fringe. This will maintain even wear so that no part of your fringe looks more used than another part.

Vacuum Your Rug Carefully

One of the most common reasons of fringes shredding is due to the vacuuming of the rug. Most often, when we vacuum our area rug, the fringe can find its way into the suction and get pulled and worn. A one-time event of vacuum suction on the fringe will not necessarily cause wear and shredding. The problem lies in the fact that it is not just a one-time event and the vacuum can pull on the rug fringes as often as we vacuum the rug. For this reason, it is best to pay extra attention when vacuuming your area rugs to be sure you avoid the ends, or fringes, of the rug. This may mean vacuuming in a different direction at the ends of the rug, or another process that you discover - The point is that you should use all efforts to avoid vacuuming the fringes.

Avoid Using Harsh Cleaners

Since they are the every end of the rug, fringes are most exposed to dirt and soil and can easily become and look dirty much sooner than the rest of your rug. If you find the need to spot clean your fringe, you should only use a safe method, such as mild liquid detergent and water. Combine the two, swirl them around and use the suds from this solution to scrub onto the soiled fringe. What you do not want to do is to use bleach or any harsh cleaners, as these will weaken the fringe and cause it to fray, shred or disintegrate.

Trim Fringes for an Even Look

Most often, parts of your fringe will wear sooner than other parts and this causes various lengths within the fringe. Using scissors to trim the fringe is an acceptable form of maintaining a consistent appearance and does not harm the fringe. It is important to be sure not to cut below the base of the fringe knot - If you look closely, you will see a knot at the bottom of your fringe from which the actual loose fringe extends. This knot keeps the fringe intact and should not be compromised. If your fringe is in various lengths, feel free to trim it just enough to make it even across the end of your rug without going down to the base knot of the fringe.

No Rug Pad Under the Fringe

Many customers wonder about the placement of a rug pad under their area rug and where the fringe fits in with all of this. Our answer is that the rug pad should not impair the fringe - It should stop just short of the actual body of your rug without reaching the fringe. When the fringe is on top of a rug pad, it does not lay as flat and straight as possible. Fringe should really be placed directly against the floor, so be sure that when you measure your rug for a pad, that you do not include the fringe in that measurement.

For the most part, the fringes at the end of area rugs are meant to add the finishing touch to the appearance of the rug. We do understand that the fringes can become a frustration if they are compromised and end up in wear, uneven lengths and possible shredding. For these reasons, we offer these simple steps to follow to maintain healthy and clean looking fringe for the life of your area rug.

DIY Floral Wreath

4 Steps to A Festive Fall Floral Wreath

Fall is the perfect season to give fresh updates to the house. Where better to start than with your front door? With the change in season, spruce up your front door with a gorgeous fall wreath!

Supplies

• Straw or foam wreath
• Fresh flowers
• Greening pins
• Burlap
• Pruning Shears and Scissors
• Picture wire or ribbon
• Optional: Accents (ex: festive bows, ribbons, mini pumpkins/gourds or ornamental corn)

Step One: Acquire flowers

If you have flowers at home, capitalize on them by using them in your fall wreath! Mums, hydrangeas, and even sunflowers can make beautiful additions to any wreath. If you are feeling festive, try adding a couple mini pumpkins or ornamental corn to your wreath. In my garden we have a huge hydrangea bush and mums so I chose to use those. I also purchased a bouquet of sunflowers from a local grocery store to make two festive wreaths. One was made up of primarily hydrangeas; this wreath will dry over time but the flowers will not shrivel up or fall off. The other was a combination of sunflowers and mums, this wreath is more temporary and great for a housewarming gift or as a temporary decoration for your home. To make your sunflowers and mums last longer, use a spray bottle to spray them with water daily. This will help prevent the flowers from wilting or falling off.

Step Two: Prune Flowers and Prep the Wreath

Once you have chosen your flowers it is time to trim the stems. I left about 5 inches on every stem while I was figuring out placement and then cut any stems that stuck out later. Remove any excess leaves from your flower stems and trim all the flowers to relatively equal length.

Now prep your wreath. If you purchased a straw wreath, like the one in the picture, you will not have to do much prep to the wreath form before you begin. If you purchased a floral foam wreath form, you will want to saturate the form with water before sticking the stems into the foam. A floral foam wreath is great for flowers that do not dry well and can help your floral wreath last longer. If you plan on having any exposed areas of the form we suggest wrapping your form in burlap before you begin. This will make the form look more stylish and as flowers die off you don’t have to be worried about the foam being exposed.

Step Three: Attach the Flowers

I chose to lay out my flowers before pinning them into place just to make sure that they were evenly placed around the wreath. You want to fill in as much surface area as you can so the form is not exposed at all.

Start with your largest flowers first and place those evenly around the wreath form. For the hydrangea wreath, I had four large hydrangea flowers, so I placed a large flower on the top, bottom, left, and right sides. For the sunflower wreath, I had ten large sunflowers to work with so I tried to space them out evenly. Once I established those focal points, I started to pin the large flowers into place. Once the large flowers are secure start adding the smaller flowers to fill the rest of the form. Try to vary the colors between sections, spreading the different colored flowers apart. Be sure to securely pin each flower in place.

If you are running low on flowers, try adding a festive burlap bow to the bottom or top of your wreath. This will take up space, and create a unique focal point.

Step Four: Add Accents and Display

Once a majority of the wreath is full you can start adding accents to the wreath. In the hydrangea wreath I used sedum to fill an bare looking spaces. Sedum is a hardy fall flower that comes in pink or sometime purple tones. These accents will add a punch of color to your wreath and help your wreath to look more full. If you want something a little more festive, try tying ornamental corn to the bottom of your wreath or attaching miniature pumpkins to the wreath for a beautiful fall look!

Now you’re ready to display your new fall wreath on your door or anywhere in your home! Hang it using a nail and/or picture wire. You can also attach a strip of burlap or festive ribbon to the back and hang it on your door for an extra pop of color!

How To Prepare Your Floors for the Winter

Our floors can experience much use and abuse and should be properly maintained for best performance and appearance. We offer some useful ways to prepare your floors for the coming winter season.

When we refer to your floors, we refer to all types of floors - Hardwood, tile and other hard surfaces, as well as carpets and area rugs. These floors and their coverings should be maintained and cared for in order to preserve their condition and appearance for years of life and performance. Often times, we find ourselves walking inside only to rub the soles of our shoes on our rugs, carpets and floors. While these are meant to withstand this traffic and use, the better attention we give to our floors, the better they will look and last.

Check and Clear Your Floors for Sand and Salt

Winter months in some parts of the world are accompanied by snow, salt and sand. It is inevitable that some of this will be transferred onto your floors from the outdoors, so take care to notice any of this before it leads to significant buildup. Depending on the weather conditions of where you live, try to make a habit to routinely check your floors for any loose salt or sand. These particles can easily be pushed into your floors to cause irreversible damage, such as light or deep scratches.

How to Clean Your Floor

Since some vacuum cleaners can actually use a beater brush that can rub the sand against your floor finish, try to use a suction only vacuum to pull any of this from the floor. Even the use of a broom can cause scratches if small particles are caught in-between the bristles. Here, again, is where the use of a suction controlled vacuum is useful and can prove to be one of the safest methods of pulling debris off of your floors. Once you are confident that the sand and/or salt is removed from the floor, it may be a good idea to damp mop the affected area to prevent any film from forming on the floor.

Clean Any Prepare Area Rugs or Carpeting

Many times, sand and salt go unnoticed in our rugs and carpet. The pile can hide this from our sight, yet this debris can cause plenty of wear, damage and soiling. That said, it is always best to perform a routine vacuuming of any area rugs or carpeting you may have in your home. Here, a vacuum with a beater brush is acceptable, since there is nothing that can be scratched. It is very important that the vacuum be powerful enough to be able to extract any fine dust, dirt or sand from the base or foundation of the rugs or carpets.

If you have area rugs covering your floors, be sure to protect them and you floors with proper rug pads. A rug pad is a material that is placed under an area rug to serve a few purposes, such as to prevent slipping, protect rug and floor from damage and add comfort. In this case, we refer to the protection to rug and floor. Since the rug pad is between both surfaces, it acts as a protective barrier that can actually prevent fine dust and salt from penetrating through to the floor. This means that the rug pad should be occasionally revealed and checked for loose particles that should be removed by vacuum before placing the rug on top of the pad again. By using a solid rug pad, we prevent pressure pushing into the rug, that can push fine dirt and rub it against the floor.

Rotate Area Rugs for Best Wear

Area rugs can often develop a distinct traffic pattern based on walking habits. Before you place holiday decorations on your rugs, it is a good idea to rotate the rugs. By rotating them, you prevent one part of the rugs from receiving the same traffic and wear pattern and this will be more evenly spread with rotation. Believe it or not, when a rug experiences a significant wear pattern, this not only takes away from its appearance, it also significantly decreases its value. It is always best to make sure your area rugs wear as evenly as possible.

Each season has it’s changes and in some parts of the world, winter can mean a harsh change. Your floors normally experienced much wear and traffic and are subjected to even more in the winter, For this reason, it is always best to be prepared to care for your rugs, carpets and floors with extra effort and thought to maintain their resilience and condition. Some simple steps to take as outlined in this article can help preserve your floors and floor coverings in order for you to enjoy them for many years.

How To Prevent Rugs From Sticking To Your Floor

The backs of many area rugs are sprayed with a latex that normally transfer to the floor that can cause serious damage. Use of the proper rug pad under your rug prevents the rug from sticking to the floor.

There are all types of area rugs manufactured in different ways. The traditional old world weaving of area rugs by hand has been replaced more and more with a machine weaving process to cut down on costs. Unfortunately, this also compromises the quality and endurance of the rug. In hand tied area rugs, the back of the rug consists of hand tied knots that keep the rug together. In today’s machine process with lack of these knots, a latex can be found sprayed on the back fibers of the rug to keep the rug together. Unfortunately, this is a common cause of floor damage.

Latex Sprayed to the Back of Rugs

A common method of manufacturing area rugs is to tuft the fibers to a mesh screen. Once all of the fibers are tufted through the screen, the pile, or face, of the rug, is created. The other side, or back, of the mesh screen contains the lose fibers. In a handmade area rug, these fibers would wrap back around the screen, or foundation and are then tied into knots that keep the rug intact. In this machine tufted rug, the back of the fibers are sprayed with a latex. The latex serves two functions- it holds the fibers together to prevent shedding of them and since latex carries a non slip function, it serves to prevent the rug slipping on the floor. The end result of this is an area rug that has a plush face pile and a latex backing that is placed on the floor.

Latex Spray Sticks to the Floor

While the result of using latex on the back of an area rug offers a finished rug product, there is a negative outcome - mainly that the latex damages the floor. Unfortunately, since the spray is not a solid layer of rubber, it is not as stable as solid rubber. Within a short period of time of use on hardwood or any hard floor, the latex on the back of the rug starts to transfer to the floor. The reason for this is due to the fact that the spray method does not provide a strong bond with the rug fibers. After use of the rug, particularly with sunlight shining onto the rug, the latex takes on a melting form and transfers to the floor in the form of a sticky gummy texture. To make matters worse, most people do not know this it is happening and continue to use the rug. With more use and pressure to the floor, the latex is pushed harder and almost becomes impossible to remove from the floor.

How to Remove Latex Stuck to Floor

There are a few ways to remove, or try to remove, latex that stuck to the floor from the back of a rug. Depending on the amount and strength of the damage, methods such using paint thinner or WD-40 on the affected area to actually scraping the latex from the floor are common methods of repair. Again, the way to remove the latex damage depends on the strength of the damage and in the worst case, it will be necessary to refinish the floor, it it is hardwood or some sort of wood.

How to Prevent Rugs From Sticking to Floor

Since the latex back of the rug rests directly on the floor, we need to consider a barrier to use between rug and floor - This is in the form of a rug pad. Since we want to prevent any latex from reaching the floor, we need to be sure to use a solid, as opposed to open weave, rug pad. Common non slip rug pads with a mesh design will not be effective, as they allow passing through to the floor. Felt rug pads are one of the few rug pads to offer a solid protective barrier to prevent any latex from affecting any floor under the area rug. Since the object is to use the rug pad to prevent sticking and other damage to the floor, it is important to choose a natural rug pad. Too many pads contain an adhesive that transfers to the floor and this defeats the purpose of protecting the floor against damage from latex backed rugs.

If you are on a budget and need to choose an area rug backed with latex, or if the only style you like happens to be this type of area rug, be sure to protect your floors with the use of a solid rug pad under the rug. With a rug pad, even if the latex starts to fall off of the rug sooner rather than later, the pad will trap the latex and prevent it from damaging the floor. Based on the fact that the rug pad will trap the latex, it is an excellent idea to periodically check and clean the pad from any latex.

Ultra Premium and Superior felt rug pads are excellent barriers against the damage caused by latex backed area rugs.

How To Prevent Echoes In Room

Many homes containing hardwood or hard floor surfaces can echo from sound such as talking or walking through the room. This is a common issue that can actually be prevented by dampening the cause of the echoes, such as through the use of floor coverings.

One of our customers explains that while living in his Brooklyn, NY residence, he would notice echoes in each room. Through some online research, he discovered that placing floor coverings, such as carpets or area rugs, on the floor would help dampen the noise. So, he measured each room full of hardwood floors and purchased several area rugs that did not fill the entire rooms, yet filled a major portion of each room. These area rugs definitely helped with the echoes, as they seemed to absorb much of the sound. While the rugs seemed to have helped insulate the room against this noise, he did still encounter times of echoes, so he pursued the issue even more.

With more online searches, the customer found some articles on our Superior felt rug pad. He learned that Superior is rated as one of the most effective noise reduction rug pads, so he thought that if it can prevent floor noise, Superior must also be able to help reduce and prevent any echoes in a room. He called us and explained his problem, to which we confirmed the fact that Superior will definitely help with the echo problem. He proceeded to order the sizes to fit his area rugs, received them and placed them under all of his rugs. After the rug pads were placed under the rugs, the actions that caused the echoes no longer did!

How Superior Felt Rug Pad Prevents Echoes

Superior is an all felt rug pad made of natural fibers in the USA. What separates it from other felt rug pads is the fact that we use a true 40 ounce compression rate when we pack the felt together. This means that pure felt is compressed to the level we demand, in this case 40 ounces. Since it is so dense, Superior does not contain any air in place of some felt - Allowing it to absorb the impact that causes sound and echoes, as well as insulate the floor and room. When less dense rug padding is used, while this can reduce echoes, it does not completely prevent them. The air between the felt fibers allows for the escape of sound and this causes the echo. Superior is as solid a felt rug pad as can be and acts as the most effective method of absorbing the sound that causes echoes. It is often rated as the most effective noise reduction rug pad.

How To Install Superior Rug Pad

Since it is imperative to use as much of the rug pad as possible on your floor, Superior should be placed under most of the area of the rug. That said, it is best to use the actual rug size as a measure of the size of the rug pad. With the rug size, we cut Superior to be approximately 1.5 inches smaller on all sides - This allows for the edges of the rug to relax to the floor while still being enough pad to effectively cover as much floor as possible. Once Superior is properly installed under area rugs, it will not be seen and can be felt when walked on as a very comfortable barrier between rug and floor.

Many homeowners can spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to insulate rooms against sound and echoes. In rooms with hard floor surfaces, it is helpful to first start by insulating the floor against the sound, such as with an area rug or carpet along with the proper rug pad. In 90 percent of residences, this method is enough to turn a once echoing room into a quiet, insulated room. As the rug pad prevents echoes, Superior also offers the benefits of protecting rugs and floors against damage and wear, as well as adding an extra layer of comfort to an otherwise hard and uncomfortable floor.