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What Is Rug Padding?

At our rug cleaning plant, we have professional rug technicians who specialize in all aspects of full immersion rug washing techniques. Our professional rug technicians gain a wealth of knowledge through training and experience. That knowledge covers a wide range of rug topics, not limited to just cleaning. Our master rug technician takes his time to train the rest of our team on all basic rug principals. When a technician arrives at your home for a pickup, he will perform a short in home inspection of your rug. The inspection will include measurements and a visual look over for any noticeable damage to the rug. Visual damage can be anything from a rip, missing pile, dye transfer or color bleeding issues to color fading or pet damage. The technician will also feel across the front and back of the rug for any noticeable abnormalities. Rough spots, low spots, knots or dye transfer issues can all be identified with a simple swipe of the hand. This will give you and us a good idea of what to expect before the rug is even in our facility.

The initial in home inspection, while a great first step, is not nearly as in depth as the initial inspection by our master rug technician in our rug plant. Prior to beginning the washing process, the rug is subjected to a thorough inspection. The master rug technician will be performing the same tests over again, but they will take a bit longer, be a bit more in depth and they will be done by an actual master rug technician. He will also be able to perform some test in our shop that can not be as easily carried out in your home. The rug technician will test the fibers to verify the materials used to craft the rug. A full dye transfer and color bleeding detection test will be performed as well. A technician can wipe his hand across the surface pile of the rug and can possibly pick up some dye in an extreme circumstance. But, The proper testing method that is carried out in our rug plant is a much more effective way of finding bleeding or transfer issues that are a bit more deeply seeded.

This pre cleaning rug inspection is an incredibly important step of the rug washing process. We went into a bit of detail to show how much is truly involved in simply the first step of the service. This in depth inspection process should only be carried out by a trained, experienced master rug technician. It takes a real understanding and expertise of how rugs are made, what they are made of and how to properly service them to complete a safe and thorough cleaning service. When a rug technician is able to properly perform even this first step of inspection, it shows that the technician has the skills needed to keep our customers happy and confident that they chose the right company for their rug washing needs.

 

Our amazing staff and master rug technician are well equipped and ready to service your rugs. Whether they are natural (Wool, Silk or Jute) or synthetic (Nylon, Polyester or Olefin), hand woven or machine woven, we have an expert technician  here who is ready to service your rug.

The knowledge our rug technicians have is not limited to inspections and cleaning services, it spans through all facets of rug servicing. The more you know about something, the better you can service it. That is the approach our rug technicians take. This approach of being a complete professional in our line of work extends to some topics that may go forgotten when speaking about rugs. One of these all too important rug topics that typically seems to not be discussed often enough is rug padding. The padding that you place under your fine oriental area rug can have much more of an effect on the rug than many people would think. The right rug padding can provide comfort, safety and can help your rug have a longer, healthier lifespan.

When it comes time to purchase a new rug or service your existing rug, it may also be time to invest in a new rug pad. There are a variety of benefits that rug pads provided, as well as a variety of types of rug padding. It is important to know a little bit about your rug, as well as knowing a little bit about types of padding and the benefits that come with it, before purchasing new rug padding. The main types of rug pads are Felt, Felt-Rubber and Non-Slip Rubber. These rug pads vary in cost and have different benefits to offer. A combination of your needs and expected budget will guide you towards the right rug pad for you.

There are a few main benefits that can be gained from proper rug padding. Having a good idea of what proper rug padding can do for you should help with your decision of whether or not to but a rug pad, as well as what type of rug pad to buy.

Here are some of those benefits mentioned:

Preventing Slip And Falls

It is common for area rugs to be the centerpieces of rooms throughout your home. Most of the time there will be furniture strategically placed on top of the carpet, leaving some of the edges exposed. Sometimes there will be furniture placed around the edges of the room tying rug. Either way, there will be exposed portions of the area rug that will be walked on. Whether you are walking across the center of the rug, or stepping on one of the edges, a rug placed on a hard surface has a real tendency to slip and/or bunch up. This creates a slipping or tripping hazard. Proper rug padding will prevent this from happening. The right kind of non-slip rug padding will keep your rug safely flat on your floor, preventing a hazardous situation.

Provides Added Cushioning

This is typically the first benefit that comes to mind when thinking of what rug padding can do for you. It is also the most noticeable. The cushioning provided will stand out most with any low pile (usually hand woven natural) rug that is laid out on hard surfaces such as tile, laminate or hardwood. The rug will look great on top of any of these hard surfaces, but it can feel flat and uncomfortable to walk, sit or lay on. If your large, beautiful area rug is laid out on top of hardwood flooring in your living room, you may want that rug to feel comfortable. A living room rug should be comfortable enough to sit on and a proper rug pad will make it so. A typically unthought of benefit of the added cushioning is noise reduction. If you live in a home that is mostly hard flooring, you know how much noise can actually come from just walking across it. Proper padding will give enough cushioning to essentially eliminate the hard floor sounds.

Protects Your Floors

The first thing you should know about how proper rug padding will protect your floor, involves the dyes within your rug. No matter the natural fiber used or method followed to craft your rug, colored fibers were dyed at some point. This dye can actually wear down over time and can transfer to other surfaces. If this happens to your rug that is laid out directly on your hardwood flooring, you can be left with permanent color dye damage on your floor. Proper rug padding will prevent this from happening by absorbing any dye that transfers off your rug. A more obvious way a proper rug pad can protect your floor is to help prevent spills from even reaching your floor. If you have a spill on your rug, a proper pad will create a barrier between the fluid and your floor. This gives you more time to clean the mess up, helping to prevent damage to your flooring. You do need to use the right type of padding to achieve this protective barrier and when you do, it can be quite effective.

Those are some of the benefits you will get from using a proper pad under your rug. We mentioned earlier that there are three main types of rug padding. Here is a little bit of information about these different types of padding:

Felt Padding

Felt padding is typically used to provide extra comfort to a large, heavy rug. This type of padding is a thicker padding that is made to be a cushiony layer between hard flooring and your rug. It is usually recommended for use under large, heavy rugs with a high pile. Felt padding does not help with preventing slipping or bunching, but it does help give you that protective laver discussed earlier. Being that this padding does not prevent slipping or bunching, it is recommended to place furniture on the rug that is on top of a felt pad.

Non-Slip Padding

This type of padding is essentially self explanatory. The sole purpose of this padding is to prevent your rug from slipping or bunching. It typically is very thin and looks like rubber mesh. there is not much thickness at all and it is quite airy, so it does not help to protect your floor in any way. It can actually damage your floor if your purchase an improper type of Non-Slip Padding. A proper Non-Slip Pad is made with natural rubber and contains no synthetic coatings or materials. If you use a Non-Slip Pad that contains synthetic materials, the pad can actually stick to your flooring and cause permanent damage.

Felt-Rubber Padding

A Felt-Rubber combination pad is considered to be the best of the bunch. This padding is a bit more costly than the other options, but it is because it gives you both the benefits of Felt padding and Non-Slip padding. It will have a thick top layer of felt, with a bottom layer of natural, non-slip rubber. A good Felt-Rubber Pad will be a great investment as it will provide all the benefits available, while also lasting a bit longer than other types of padding. Just make sure the rubber portion is all natural, no synthetics added!

Hopefully this advice helps answer your questions about rug padding. If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to our friendly staff who is here to help!

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