How to Recycle Carpet for Making an Area Rug

Old carpet easily transforms to a new rug.

In the spirit of "reduce, reuse and recycle," you should avoid throwing anything out unnecessarily. Carpet is a perfect example of something that can be transformed into treasure with a small amount of effort. By simply adding a rug binding to the edge of any piece of carpet, you can recycle your carpet into an area rug. Save yourself some money and do the environment a favor at the same time.

Things You'll Need

• Upholstery cleaner
• Towels
• Binding tape
• Carpet knife
• Yardstick
• Heavy duty shears
• Straight pins
• Seam ripper
• Upholstery needle
• Thread
• Iron

Instructions

1. Vacuum the carpet completely. Check for any stains or discoloration. Clean up stains with upholstery cleaner. Dip a rag into the cleaner and dab at stains until they begin to lift. Continue blotting the spot until the stain is gone. Rinse the rag with clean water. Dab at the stain to remove the upholstery cleaner from the rug fibers.

2. Measure and decide on the size of your area rug. Hold a yardstick along one edge of the area rug and cut the carpet with a carpet knife. Repeat this step for all four sides of the rug.

3. Lay binding tape along one edge of the carpet. Extend the binding tape 2 inches beyond the top and bottom edge of the rug and cut with shears.

4. Fold the binding tape in half and iron to create a sharp crease in the middle of the tape. Set the tape in its place along the edge of the area rug. Pin it in place with straight pins.

5. Attach the binding to the rug with an upholstery needle and thread. You can also opt to use self-adhesive binding tape. Peel off the tape backing and apply the tape to the underside of the rug so that the binding sits flush with the edge of the carpet. Trim the binding with a utility knife so the edges are clean.

6. Repeat these steps for the other three sides of the rug.

Tips & Warnings

• If you do not already own carpet remnants, you can create a custom rug by following these steps using plain indoor/outdoor carpet. Indoor/outdoor carpet is inexpensive and readily available at most home goods retailers.

• For an attractive finish, miter the corners of the binding tape.

References

• Fixit Club: Interior Rug Repair
• Installer Store: Instabind Instructions