I have medium colored hardwood floors with a high gloss finish. I have a large (8 x 10) area rug and the backing is kind of rough (Maybe jute? It's definitely not the nice soft rubber).
I had the rug on the hardwood floor for a couple of years without any kind of rug gripper or anything to protect the floor. The rug is so big that there were no problems with it slipping, so I didn't think a gripper was needed.
Fast forward four years...After taking the rug out of that room, I noticed that the high traffic part of the rug left some very fine scratches on the glossy finish. It's not that noticeable unless you're really looking, but I figured before I put the rug down again, I should get a rug gripper to protect the floor (the rug is so big that slipping isn't a problem, so ).
My concern is whether the rug gripper is going to leave a waffle design on the floor. The material and pattern look very much like a shelf / drawer liner I used to have in my dresser drawers. When I took it out after several years, it left a really bad "waffle design" on the wood inside the drawers...it was like somehow the "oils" from the shelf liner "bled" into the bottoms of the drawers. If that happens to my hardwood floor, I'll be really upset, as it'll be way more noticeable than the minor scratches I'm trying to prevent.
Does anyone have any experience with these things? I got a rug gripper from Bed, Bath and Beyond. It's called "Secure It" (L & P Materials Manufacturing, Inc. Atlanta, GA) and it says it won't stain the floor, but I'm hesitant to take that as any kind of guarantee. Who knows if they tested it on every kind of floor, or if the company will still be around to hear my complaint if I find out in a few years that it did stain the floor, KWIM?
Hello! We have hardwood floors throughout our home and various rug grippers in different rooms. We've never had any problems with stains or scratches. We've gotten the grippers from Lowe's, Home Depot, Meijer, and Pottery Barn. They all work.
We have hardwood floors that we had refinished with a polyurethane finish. It isn't high gloss, but we have used the waffle style gripper with our area rugs in high traffic areas for 5 years... the floor still looks great!
I don't have exerience with this, but I would call the store that the floor came from or if you don't know, then a reputable store in your area that would carry the same thing and ask them.
i have had a rug gripper for 5 year and i dont think it has done any damage.
i have not had time to do a thorough inspection..
I have a 1 and 2 year old...
I rarely lift the rug.. just vacuum it..
We had a rug gripper under our bedroom rug on our hardwood floor and it stuck to the floor We had to scrape it off and it left that waffle mark all over the floor We took it all up and haven't used one since This was a yellow rubber like material maybe they have better ones now this was about 8 years ago and it was under the rug for about 4 years
When was the last time you waxed the hard wood floor? If you havent moved anything in the last 5 years teh wax could be a little scratched and a coat of wax would fix it. Then put the rug gripper over it.
I had a hard wood floor in my last home, and would wax it once every couple of months because of the dogs' nails and well I'm anal retentive about stuff like that.
Then put the rug gripper down, and you shouldn't have any problems with marks.
Chelle
I use a rug gripper with an area rug as well and haven't noticed any damage. Perhaps you can move the rug regularly and check it to make sure it's ok?
I remove the rug and gripper a couple times a week to clean the floors cause it's in my music studio..
