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Friday, January 9, 2015

Here's an Update



Do you use rugs on your hardwood flooring?
If so, chances are you use rug pads underneath them.





I shared here about these two new rugs for the great room and the rug pads I use.





I also shared that the rubber pad had etched a pattern into the sealer on my hardwood floors.  This is how the etched pattern looks.





You can really see it after spraying cleaner on the floor.



In January 2014 we had hardwoods installed in the great room and I was concerned about using rug pads on the new flooring so it was perfect timing when Will, with Rug Pad USA, contacted me to try their product.  I explained my previous problem with etching in the sealer and he assured me they have never received any feedback like this from their customers.  Will explained their pads are made of a plant based oil rather than the petrochemical oil used in most rubber rug pads, so I agreed to give their ECO-CUSHION a try.

Time for an update.
Unfortunately, after a few months this rug pad pattern was etched pattern in the sealer of our newly installed hardwoods.  I don't know why it happens on our floors?  The hardwood flooring we have is Brazilian Cherry, but the pattern is not etched into the wood.  The pattern is etched into the sealer and we have both oil and water based sealers on our hardwoods.  This happened with the previous rubber pads and now with the new Rug Pad USA natural oil rubber rug pad.

I contacted Will to let him know the etching was appearing again.  With the kitchen remodel we were already planning on having all the hardwoods in our home freshened up with a new coat of oil based sealer and we were not going to use another rubber rug pad,  He suggested their ECO-FIBER ~ 100% recycled felt pad, it is all felt with no rubber in it, so we are giving it a try.

We decided to tackle this late at night and it was cold outside so this is how we cut the felt pad:
(Sorry for these pictures, late night lighting is the worst!)

We measured our rugs and decided to cut the thick felt pad 1 1/2" smaller than the rug size so the rug edges would fall to rest on the floor.  We used a sharpie to mark the felt pad...



To keep the wood floor safe we used the rug as the foundation,
placed a thin section of plywood on top of the rug,
and using a box cutter blade cut the felt pad on top of the plywood.




The felt is much thicker than the rubber pad so it was tough to cut, but the extra padding feels really nice underfoot.  Since there is no rubber on this rug pad the small rugs at the doors want to slip a bit at times.  The larger rugs don't slip as much because there is some furniture on them.  Possibly if furniture placement was able to fall on all four corners of the rug there would be no slipping, which isn't possible in our setup.

I hope, hope, hope, that we are safe from any etching with this all felt rug pad.
The folks at Rug Pad USA have been quick to offer this replacement option.
You can view the original post HERE.

*The rug pad was provided by Rug Pad USA, thoughts and opinions are mine based on my experience.  I've only had this felt pad for a short time and will give an update if there are any changes.

12 comments:

  1. Oh, no! I hope this pad works for you, Cindy. It has to be so disheartening to see your pretty floors with the pad sevice etched in your floor! Hope you are having a great start to the new year.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  2. Cindy I only use the pads from them now...I love them!!

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  3. Thanks for the info on the pad! We're planning on putting hardwood throughout our upstairs, so this is timely information. Your living room looks gorgeous. I could move in. Got room? LOL

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  4. Oh, Cindy, I'm so glad to have read this before we move into our new house. We will have wood floors throughout (except baths) and this will be valuable info. We do have wood floors in the living area of our present home and I have some rubber like pads under some of them and nothing under some (they have backing that does allow for slipping). Nothing is easy anymore is it? Of course, Hubby says why in the world do you want to cover up beautiful wood floors with rugs. And, my reply is always that rugs just make the floors more beautiful and add warmth. He really agrees but doesn't want me to know he does. :o))

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  5. I've had this happen too Cindy. Some of the older rug pads contain things that we should breathe .. or so I've heard. Hope this one works out for you and it's good that you are sharing this. xxleslie

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  6. I have polished (waxed) stained concrete floors, and the same thing happened on them...very frustrating. I've just learned to always use the same size rug with the same exact placement to cover the damage. I need to try to add more wax and buff to see if it will come back to the original look. Thanks for sharing the info on the new pad...
    judy
    judypimperl.blogspot.com

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  7. First of all I just want to say that I LOVE your rooster rugs!! We are planning to get wood floors this spring and I definitely want area rugs...I love the warmth they bring and how they can anchor the furniture placement. I have bben wondering about the the issue of having padding under them. This is good to know as to what to look out for...sorry you had to find out the hard way though. Thanks for the information and keep us posted please!

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  8. I've had the same thing happen to my floors, but I just quickly put the rug back down so I didn't have to look at it!
    Hope this new pad works!

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  9. Hope this works out for you. It must be very disheartening to see those beautiful floors get messed up with something that is supposed to protect them.

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  10. Cindy,

    I did a review for Rug Pad USA too...several months ago. Your newest pad is the one I started out with, because we had had previous problems with "etching" into flooring too. This time though...we're in a different house...and this pad and new rug are on top of carpeting. I do have a smaller rug with the same rug pad under it, on our laminate flooring and all is well. Will was so pleasant to work with.

    When I ordered my Rug Pad, I had it factory cut 1 1/2" smaller than my rugs. So much easier than having to cut it myself.

    Hope you have better luck with this new pad! I love mine!

    Hugs,
    Jan

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  11. Cindy,
    Goodness, dear friend. . .so~o~o sorry you're having troubles with your rug pad.
    Your floors are gorgeous!!!
    Hoping this felt pad will solve all your issues!
    Fondly,
    Pat

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  12. Hi, I check your blog like every week. Your writing style
    is awesome, keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete

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