How to Use Carpet Padding
Carpet padding serves several functions: noise insulation, overall surface smoothing, prevention of slippage and wear-protection for carpet backing. Whether you choose thick or thin padding will depend on your goals. In some situations, carpet padding is the wrong choice for your rug. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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How to use carpet padding
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Measure your rug or carpet before selecting padding. Rug padding should measure 1 inch less than the width and length of your rug so that it supports even wear without showing (therefore, do not include fringe when measuring your rug). Smaller padding creates ridges in rugs which will wear badly.
For wall-to-wall carpet, measure padding to the full dimensions of the room, excluding the furring strips that will hold carpet in place. -
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Choose thick padding if your goal is noise-insulation. Some apartment leases require that certain fractions of floor-space be covered with carpet for this reason; carpeting makes the apartment below you quieter--as well as the one above you. In a private house, padding can be particularly effective in upstairs children's bedrooms because it reduces noise.
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Choose padding for your rug or carpet if your floors are uneven. This will make carpet more comfortable to walk on and help prevent uneven wear.
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Select nonslip padding for free-standing rugs that may present a hazard. Even a rag-rug on kitchen linoleum or a tiled front-entry floor can be made much safer with padding that prevents slipping.
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Always plan padding for wall-to-wall carpet. Again, a smooth walk is a consideration, but padding also improves wear. Wall-to-wall carpet is firmly anchored at the edges and backing can be stressed to the point of tearing by heavy use. Further, wall-to-wall carpet is intended for long-term wear. Padding reduces the friction between carpet backing and the hard floor, thus extending wear-ability.
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Tips & Warnings
Oriental and other native rug makers generally caution against putting padding under these hand-crafted rugs. This is usually because the weaves of the rugs are looser than commercial carpet and the softness of padding means that shoes press harder on woven threads. Padding, others caution, can absorb moisture that damages rugs made of natural materials. The decisions about padding an oriental or native hand-woven rug need to be made on the basis of the individual rug.
