This weeks Tuesday Tip is how to make ANY rug non-slip. I saw this clever idea on Pinterest. Unfortunately I can’t link back to the original because the pin was marked as spam. But, the picture showed me what to do. I just had to try it out.
I have a rug in the kitchen that is very slippery and I’m always afraid someone is going to fall and break their neck as they run by.
Plus is always looks like this. Never straight! It annoys me. 🙂
I’ve tried the carpet tape.
But, I like to take my rugs and give them a shake outside. Carpet tape is more permanent. If I take the rug off too many times to shake it out, the tape eventually just sticks to my floor and not the rug. And now I have nasty tape stuck to my tile. Gross.
I’ve tried the non-slip pad things (that look like cabinet liners)
But they get bunched up under the rug and I felt like I was constantly straightening the whole situation.
Yay! This really works. Genius!
The caulk lines make it non-slip, but you can still pick it up and shake it out.
1. Get some silicone caulk and a caulk gun.
I went outside because caulk is stinky.
It smells like weird vinegar to me for some reason.
2. Make lines of caulk down the length of the rug.
I think I should have cut the hole bigger because it was HARD to squeeze.
(Maybe I’m just a weakling. )
3. Wait for it to dry. I left it alone overnight.
4. Above is a dried bit that didn’t stick. I got lazy with the caulk. Those parts pull right off.
Make sure you press the gun into the rug a little bit as you are making the bead of caulk.
5. Above is a good line. It’s all dried and you can see the difference. It’s more “in” the rug not just laying on top.
6. And…IT WORKS!!!! It really works.
I’m going to make all my bathroom rugs non-slip next.
Next time I will try to make the lines more even.
I left a few big blobs and I can feel them when I walk on the rug. But I don’t really mind.
At lease no one is falling.
🙂
Terrific idea! I wish my grandma had known about that. I remember that she had stucco walls and slick wood floors which she kept polished. EVERY time I visited her, I would run into the house and slip and fall because of a rug that did not stick to the floor. And every time I came away with a skinned elbow because of the stucco walls. Thinking back on it, I wonder if those booby traps were intentional. LOL
okay this is a FANTASTIC idea!! Thanks for sharing…going to try it as soon as possible on the two rugs in my front hall that are constantly slipping around!
And yes, I agree, silicone smells like vinegar- very weird vinegar!
Can you use this on your rugs you wash in a machine ?
Don’t become a foot model. ?
The best way to apply this – so you’re not standing on a rug that feels like it has pebbles stuck to the bottom- apply 2 beads of caulk side by side every 5 inches or so and take an old plastic gift card and use it like a squegee(sp?) and flatten the lines of caulk and assuring it has contact with the bottom of the rug. Try to smoothe out any high ridges of caulk. I would also make sure the tube of caulk isn’t cold. It will be easier to apply if it’s not. Put it on a sunny windowsill for a couple minutes.
I’m looking for a solution that makes the rug non-slip, but still machine washable. Anyone tried washing this yet?
I haven’t washed mine. Just spot cleaned and vacuumed. It’s a hard rug.
I have washed mine many times. The most important thing is to make sure you are using 100% silicone. It’ll say it right on the tube. The silicone I used dried clear and first 2 times I washed it, when I pulled it from the washer, the silicone was milky looking. I air dried it. But if you squeegeed it onto the rug backing and it’s got complete contact, you can safely dry it. I have tried being watchful and take it out before it’s totally dry but I have forgotten too many times to count and it has held up perfectly to this day- it was a rug I made with fleece sewn onto canvas. It still looks practically brand new and the silicone remains intact.
Love the silicone non slip deal. Years ago, we put a ring of silicone on the bottom of our unbreakable glasses for use on our sailboat, worked like a charm. Now I use them on the patio around the pool. Good stuff.
Oh those are great ideas!! Thank you!
Thank you for this little tidbit. I got a nice 5’x8′ rug on sale from Overstock.com for a very low price recently and its very slippery even with the standard cheapo rug pad from Walmart. Looked online for a rugpad that actually works and found one at RugPads USA or something like that and the thing was $95 not including shipping. For a 5’x8′ rug. That’s more than I paid FOR THE RUG. NOT. GONNA. HAPPEN. Can we say “GREED” here? The caulk thing looks doable and not another way for these greedy parasites to take my hard earned slave money. Thanks!
Meant to type “for a 5’x8′ RUG PAD. Not rug. Sorry.