A quality underlay can transform the look of your carpet – making it softer and more comfortable, preventing slipping, and even extending its life.
After reviewing dozens of carpets, interviewing four experts, and testing 15 models, Mohawk Home’s reversible carpet provides the best combination of cushioning and non-slip traction of any carpet we tested.
This felt rubber mat has the most cushioning of any mat we tested and is one of the best at holding carpet in place.
The durable Durahold backing has a unique ribbed surface that holds the carpet in place better than any other backing we’ve tried. The dense felt is also durable, making it a good choice for high-traffic areas.
This rug is thinner than most others we tested, so it’s versatile enough to use anywhere, and you can easily cut it to fit any size rug.
This felt rubber mat has the most cushioning of any mat we tested and is one of the best at holding carpet in place.
Most testers found the Mohawk Home ¼-inch double-sided mat to be the most comfortable and resilient. We also found that this mat provided better traction than most other mats we tested, keeping even the most active pets’ paws firmly underfoot. It comes in a variety of rectangular and round sizes and is backed by a one-year warranty.
The durable Durahold backing has a unique ribbed surface that holds the carpet in place better than any other backing we’ve tried. The dense felt is also durable, making it a good choice for high-traffic areas.
If you need extra traction or have high-quality carpet, consider the Durahold ⅓-inch felt and rubber pad, a favorite among our experts and testers. It grips carpet and hardwood better thanks to heat-pressed grooves on the top and solid rubber on the bottom. This design makes it especially good for high-traffic areas or if you have pets or kids who like to move the carpet around. The higher density of the felt also makes Durahold more durable than our top pick and won’t flatten over time. This pad comes in a variety of sizes and costs about twice as much as the Mohawk Home. No-Muv, the company that makes the Durahold pads, offers a 10-year warranty.
This rug is thinner than most others we tested, so it’s versatile enough to use anywhere, and you can easily cut it to fit any size rug.
While felt and rubber pads generally perform better than pure rubber mesh pads, the USA Super Lock Natural Rug Pad is a good choice if you have low doors and outdoor rugs, or if you simply prefer a thinner, non-felt pad. This rubber pad feels almost as soft as our felt pads, but is much thinner and still provides excellent traction. The Super Lock Natural has a tighter mesh than its competitors, so it does a better job of protecting your rugs and carpets and keeping them in place. However, for most living room, bedroom, or entryway rugs, we recommend choosing one of our Basic or Superior options, as both will extend the life of your rug.
This felt rubber mat has the most cushioning of any mat we tested and is one of the best at holding carpet in place.
Of all the rugs we reviewed, the Mohawk Home Reversible Rug provides the best cushioning, excellent traction, and the widest range of size combinations.
Provides excellent cushioning. We tested this ¼-inch thick mat under both plain weave and deep pile carpeting and found that it improved the tactile feel of all of them, providing the firmest underfoot cushioning of any mat we tested. Even though this mat provides springy cushioning, the dense felt retains its shape for years.
It has excellent traction. The Mohawk Home’s traction is among the best we’ve tested. No matter how our testers pushed, pulled, or stepped on it, it didn’t budge. In our home testing, the rug withstood a cat jumping back and forth without sliding or denting the carpet. Wirecutter contributor Michael Sullivan places the Mohawk under a huge kilim rug in his living room and says it adds just enough cushioning without feeling bulky under a thinner rug.
It comes in a variety of sizes and shapes. This rug is available in over 30 sizes, including rectangular, square, and round. Most people will find it easy to find the right size without the need for additional cutting.
The durable Durahold backing has a unique ribbed surface that holds the carpet in place better than any other backing we’ve tried. The dense felt is also durable, making it a good choice for high-traffic areas.
If you have high-quality carpet and want to protect it, Carpet Experts highly recommends using Durahold Plus Carpet Underlay.
It has a strong grip and doesn’t slip. In our tests, the patterned felt top provided better traction on carpet than our top pick. The rubber sole also grips wood and cork floors better than the Mowahk Home (no other carpet pad we tested felt as secure on the floor).
We tested this rug in our kitchen, replacing an old carpet area rug that was known for being slippery and wrinkling, and the Durahold didn’t budge at all in the high-traffic area. A Wirecutter editor noted that the pattern on the felt can be a good guide if you need to trim the rug yourself. Former staff writer Alex Arpaia has been using the Durahold since 2018 and considers it one of the best rugs she’s ever owned. “It rarely moves around on the floor and keeps my rugs firmly in place, even in high-traffic areas. Plus, the thick cushioning is nice to walk on,” she says.
Warranty is 10 years. Durahold is covered by a 10-year No-Muv limited manufacturer’s warranty against defects in workmanship or construction.
It comes in a variety of sizes and shapes. There are 20 sizes of Durahold available on Amazon, including round, half-round, square, oblong, and rectangular. If you don’t find the size you need or are looking for a custom rug, you can check out other stores that only carry Durahold, like this one.
This rug is thinner than most others we tested, so it’s versatile enough to use anywhere, and you can easily cut it to fit any size rug.
If you have a low door or are installing carpet outdoors or in a damp area, we recommend using Rug Pad USA Super Lock Natural Carpet Underlay.
Made from 100% natural rubber. Of the three mesh carpets we tested, this was the only one that clearly stated that it was made from 100% natural rubber, rather than some other rubber-like material like PVC. Like the Durahold rug, it comes with a 10-year warranty.
Provides decent cushioning for a thin mesh pad. The Super Lock Natural mat has a denser construction than other mesh mats we reviewed, which provides more surface area to grip the floor and better cushioning underfoot. The denser backing also protects the mat better from wear and tear.
Leaves no residue. Many reviews of competing pads have complained about the sticky residue they leave behind. In all our years of testing, we have never had this issue with Super Lock Natural.
It can be easily cut at home. If the rug you purchased is a little larger, the easiest way is to cut the mesh rubber mats to size yourself. If you prefer, you can also purchase custom sizes and shapes directly from Rug Pad USA.
A rug pad helps your rug stay in place, provides cushioning, protects your floor, and extends the life of your rug. If your rug already has a rubber non-slip backing, you may not need a rug pad. In this guide, we’ll focus on rug pads that can be used on wood, tile, and other hard floors; we won’t cover underlays or tape for wall-to-wall carpeting.
If your current carpeting isn’t holding up or you want to replace it with a rug with better cushioning, consider buying a new one. If you’ve been using cheap carpeting, like the thin felt you get at IKEA, you might be surprised to learn how much better carpeting can improve the feel of your carpet. Carpeting will reduce slipping and provide more cushioning underfoot. It’s also a small investment with potentially big returns: For as little as $1 to $2 per square foot, you can extend the life of your carpet.
According to carpet manufacturers and sellers, the padding should be 1 to 2 inches smaller than the rug all the way around. This ensures that the edge of the rug will lie flat on the floor and not become a tripping hazard; it also reduces wear and tear and hides the padding. If you have a good quality rug, you won’t need any additional adhesive to hold it in place.
A quality carpet pad should have firm but supportive cushioning and adhere securely to the carpet and floor; it should also fit the carpet and not damage the flooring over years of wear. Carpet pads can be made from a variety of materials, including PVC, rubber, felt, or memory foam. Typically, the best carpet pads combine a layer of synthetic felt with a natural rubber backing.
Felt vs. Rubber: Our experts agree that felt with a rubber backing is superior to other types of rugs because the felt provides cushioning for your feet, while the rubber backing provides good traction and prevents slipping. Paul Iskyan, a carpet cleaning expert at ABC Carpet & Home in New York City, says the density of the felt is more important than the thickness of the carpet, because higher-density pads won’t flatten out over time like lower-density pads.
Felt: If you have a large rug with heavy furniture on it, a felt-only backing may be sufficient, but this type of backing generally provides the weakest traction.
Rubber Mesh: Iskyan says he prefers to use felt and rubber mats in most cases, but admits that solid rubber mesh mats are sometimes necessary for areas with tight spaces between doors or where moisture is common, such as outdoors. Mesh pads don’t provide the same soft padding as felt, so the carpet will wear out faster. Many rubber mesh mats also contain fillers like clay and sand, which can leave a powdery residue on the floor underneath the carpet, so it’s best to look for a mat made of 100 percent rubber. Iskyan advises us to never buy a PVC mat, as it can stain or discolor the floor.
A good rug can (and should) last for many years. Some carpets have warranties of 10 or 20 years, and many rugs should last much less. Stephanie Waterman of Armadillo Carpet Co. tells us, “In many cases, rug pads can outlast the rug and can be easily cut up and used over and over again.” Since warranty coverage is not permanent, we think a good warranty is helpful, but not essential, to finding a quality rug pad.
Some of our experts argue that a good rug pad should be made of felt that is woven very tightly so that it is difficult to cut with household scissors. We generally agree with this advice, but have found that in emergency situations it is wiser to cut rugs (especially rubber mesh or thin felt rugs) to size.
With these criteria in mind, we searched Amazon, West Elm, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, IKEA, Home Depot, and Wayfair for the best two-ply felt and rubber area rugs. We didn’t set a thickness limit, but it turned out that all of the rugs we looked at were less than ⅓ inch thick—thicker than thicker ones. We also looked at non-slip pads, since most people buy rug pads to keep their rugs in place. After narrowing the selection down to 14 options (11 felt and rubber, 1 all-felt, and 3 rubber only), we set about testing them.
We quickly noticed that many of the rugs we brought in looked almost identical. We rejected rugs that were too slippery on cork floors or not soft enough for our feet. We tested each rug with carpet of varying thicknesses and piles, as well as on hardwood and cork floors. Once we narrowed it down to our top five, we invited a panel of testers to try them out.
We love the Crate and Barrel’s multi-functional thick rug, and there’s nothing technically wrong with it, but we prefer the feel of the Mohawk Home and Durahold designs.
The Crate and Barrel Multi-Surface Thin Area Rug Pad is too thin and not as comfortable for your feet as our options.
The Gorilla Grip and Epica mesh mats have a very loose weave with lots of space between the rubber parts of the mat. They provide noticeably less grip than our mesh mats, and the Epica’s grip makes the mat feel a little bumpy underfoot.
The IKEA Båring is thin, only comes in one size, and when opened, it has a sticky layer that seems to easily leave marks on the floor. We don’t want to keep it in our home.
We tested the Rug Pad USA Extra Thick Felt Carpet Pad to see how a solid felt pad would perform, but ultimately found that this pad simply didn’t hold the rug in place.
Felt and rubber pads from Gorilla Grip, Wayfair Basics, Birch Lane, American Slide Stop (Full Surface and Premium), and Rug Pad USA are very similar. In some cases, their felt is slightly different, but none are as soft as Mohawk Home or as grippy as Durahold.
We tested dozens of rugs and found several different styles to suit different price ranges and preferences.
For high-quality cleaning of carpets and rugs, you will need a well-equipped vacuum cleaner. SEBO Felix Premium and SEBO Airbelt K3 Premium are excellent choices.
Here are the most important things to consider when buying a dining table, along with some quality tables we’ve tested over the years.
In this guide, we’ll share some of our favorite sofas we’ve tested, as well as what to look for before buying.