How do keep mat from slipping off my hallway carpet?

[jgkgolf]

We've got carpet in our hallway and as it's quite large and we couldn't afford an expensive runner to protect it, we got some light, cheap mats which are about 5 feet by 2 feet. they look fine when put in place but after a day or two seem to migrate to the side of the hallway opposite the doorways and start crumpling up into a trip hazard. Is there some sort of double sided tape I could use which would would keep them in place but which won't damage the carpet undernearh?

[Dave]

In a nutshell, no.

The reason the mat moves is down to the pile of the carpet. What is happening is that the mats you have put over the carpet are being moved by them sitting on the pile of the carpet. Bend down and feel the pile of the carpet. You should feel a smooth pile when you rub your fingers one way, the rug will migrate that way. When you feel the carpet in the opposite direction and you feel that you are pulling the pile, then the carpet will migrate the other way.

Carpet pile always leans one way and this is the way that a rug will move. It's a bit like a ratchet.

Just inside our door, we have a sacrificial mat that migrates towards the wall and the front door.

Live with it and just put it back in place as you see fit.

Dave

[Anna]

Yes. There is spray on stuff. My mum swears by it and she's fussy. Sorry I dont know what it is called but she bought it from the local carpet dealer

Anna

[Dave Liquorice]

I doubt that will be effective for a rug on carpet, for the reasons already posted. Probably OK with a rug on a hard surface though.

[Jethro]

I can sympathise. Both our mats (front and back) go travelling at an incredible rate ! We did get this thin sheet of white fluffy stuff from a carpet dealer, which was supposed to stop this. To be fair it did - for a day. That was 11 quid well spent.

For now, we just live with it, but I know one day I will snap, and nail the ****er to the floor (in the porch with floorboards) and drill holes and fit rawlpugs and screw the other ****er down (back door - concrete floor).

In fact, that gives me an idea for a new thread ....

[sm_jamieson]

Would velcro hooks stick to the carpet underneath ? Some small spikes fixed under the rug might hold it down - they wouldn't really damage the carpet. Simon.

[Mogga]

I have considered nailing the mat in the porch to the floor also. It does seem to travel a couple of inches every day...

[fred]

In article , Dave writes

That's an excellent description, I had some large antistatic mats over short pile carpet and the walking rate was incredible, tying the near corners to the protected workbench just resulted in a wrinkled mess.

[Adrian Godwin]

I have a square of hall carpet placed on top of the fitted carpet, and underneath the doormat to catch the worst of the dirt and wear by the front door. This used to creep badly.

I put a piece of rug antislip material from John Lewis (own brand) in between, and it hasn't moved in about 5 years. Fantastic stuff.

It's a thin matting material, with a tacky feel to it. I thought the tack would come off quickly, but it hasn't (though it only gets taken up every few months). The carpet is a berber twist with hessian backing - other pile or backing types might not work as well.

-adrian

[Jethro]

This sounds like the stuff we bought ...

[Lobster]

We got some from Instore (aka Poundstretcher or something?) Helps a bit but not completely. Dunno if the JL stuff would have worked better in our application...

David

[Adrian Godwin]

It does. Except that in my case it worked, and worked very well, where for you it worked only for one day.

So either it works for some combinations of surfaces, or the JL version works better than some other makes.

-adrian

[Andrew Mawson]

Years ago we used to sew the rubber sealing rings from the lids of 'Kilner Jars' onto the back of rugs to stop them slipping arround.

What are Kliner Jars I hear you youngsters ask - they are glass jars with a special lid often used for preserving fruit back in the days before everyone expected fresh goods out of season.

AWEM

[Anne Jackson]

The John Lewis stuff (grey on one side, white on 't other?) works better than most, and it's easier to keep a rug/runner in place on a loop pile carpet than one with a cut pile. The longer the pile, the faster the movement...

[Lobster]

And FWIW, invented by John Kilner, great-great-great grandfather of one Jeremy Clarkson, as described at some length in the genealogy programme "Who Do You Think You Are" about a year or so back featuring JC, who was trying to find out what had happened to the family fortune thus generated.

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

"Andrew Mawson" typed

JL still sell glass preserving jars and spare rubber sealing rings.

[Sam Farrell]

If they are carpet rugs and not sponge underneath then there is a spray you can buy from your carpet warehouse. We have a big rug on the carpet in the front room which walked all over the place until we used the spray. The spray cost about £10:00 and left like a sticky latex on the rug, it stays still now but can be easily lifted and hasn't marked the carpet.

[dmc]

We use stuff like

rugs on our hard floors - works well and claims to be suitable for use on carpets as well.

That link is actually the person we ordered ours from - no connection other than a happy customer. They sell different types and sizes. Dunno what is best for carpet/rug - we found the rubbery hessian like stuff best on hard floors but YMMV :-)

Darren

[Anna]

No its meant for the rug over carpet situation and works well

Anna