How to Stop a Rug Slipping on a Hard Floor

A rug slips because there is nothing between it and a smooth floor except its own weight, and a low-pile rug does not weigh much.

The options, worst to best

• Double-sided tape — works for a week, then lifts your floor finish. Avoid.
• Silicone dots or beads applied to the back — cheap, effective for a while, and they wear off.
• A separate anti-slip underlay — genuinely effective, adds cushioning, but it is another thing to buy, cut to size and replace when it degrades.
• A rug with a non-slip backing built in — nothing to buy, nothing to replace.

What a woven non-slip backing is

Ours is woven cotton with a non-slip finish worked into the weave. It is not a rubber sheet glued on — there is no separate layer to peel, crack or crumble, which is also what makes the rug washable. It grips wood, tile, vinyl and laminate directly.

The exception

On polished concrete or a very high-gloss porcelain, no backing grips perfectly. A few silicone dots at the corners solves it.

Rug on carpet

A rug over fitted carpet slips differently — it creeps rather than slides, because the carpet pile moves under it. That needs a carpet-to-rug gripper, which works by holding the carpet pile rather than by friction.