small rug that slips around on floor

[dyno dan]

I have a small rug in the hallway behind my front door. The rubbery layer on the bottom has apparently all worn away. So it slides on the floor very easily, particularly when my 75-lb dog goes charging indoors or out.

I have some "Loctite Spray Adhesive" that I've used to join things together. It appears to be a type of rubber cement. The can says it contains acetone, pentane and heptane. I believe all of those evaporate away pretty quickly. If I use this on the bottom of the rug, and let it dry very thoroughly before using the rug (a couple of days), will it damage my hardwood floor's surface?

Interestingly, I have two more of these behind other doorways, and the backing on those two is just fine. All were purchased at the same time.

-dan z-

[Dean Hoffman]

A search for gripping material turned this up:

OR.

[hubops]

Try it and see - let us know how it works out. What's a bit of damage to your hardwood floors .. ... when you've saved $ 7. bucks for a new rug ! Duh. John T.

[hubops]

or

John T.

[invalid unparseable]

You should be able to get a roll of shelf-liner like this from a dollar-store (should be very cheap). Just glue one side to the bottom of your rug. The shelf-liner will grip the floor, and you can still relocate the rug at will.

Drawer Liner Non Adhesive Kitchen Shelf Liner 12 in. x 20 ft

[Retirednoguilt]

Very possibly. Even if you let those organic solvents evaporate to apparent dryness, they may continue to off-gas volatile organic compounds (VOCs). If the hardwood floors were coated with either shellac or varnish, there's a good chance that they will be either dulled or discolored by the VOCs. If it was finished with polyurethane, it may be more resistant to damage but even so, the expense and nuisance of ruining the finish of a hardwood floor is not worth the experiment.

[Wade Garrett]

Unless the missus has serious emotional attachment, just replace it :-)

[TimR]

It's great stuff, has a lot of uses besides shelf liner.

[invalid unparseable]

Shoe goo will be too thick. I think applying some water-based contact-cement to the bottom of the rug and then glue to shelf-liner to it.

I have never done that myself, but after I bought exactly that shelf-liner from a dollar-store to line my kitchen shelves and drawers, I found it impossible to glide the cans and cups on the liner because the shelf-liner is made of some kind of rubbery foam, but I imagine it will be ideal to use on the bottom of a rug to grip the floor. It might even be possible to use it to grip the rug to the floor without using glue, but I have not tried.

Water Based Contact Cement

[rbowman]

Have you tried plain old carpet tape?

[micky]

If gluing it to the rug doesn't work, or you think it won't work, you can sew it in a few places, just a stitch or two.

[dyno dan]

Thanks for your suggestions, folks. I think the shelf-liner idea will probably work best for me. Carpet tape is not practical on a rug that is moved once a week so the floor can be mopped.

Replacement, of course, is an option. Doubtful, however, that Lowes will have the exact same rug in stock these years later. I don't want to replace all three with something else.

With appreciation,

-dan z-

[TimR]

Replace it. And at the same time put lower wattage bulbs in the light fixtures. Your spouse will not tell the difference in the rugs.

[micky]

Not only that, with less light, you won't have to mop either.