Natural Rubber and Felt Rug Pad: The Ultimate Guide

When shopping for the perfect rug pad, you’ll find many different materials: rubber, felt, latex, plastic, or a combination. Manufacturers use these materials on their own or combine them to get a mix of functions and choosing the right one can be a little daunting.

One of our favorite rug pad combinations? The natural rubber and felt rug pad.

While the rubber acts as a gripping agent to keep your rug in place, the felt offers cushioning that feels great and offers more protection.

Combine them together and you’ve got a fluffy, comfortable pad that will keep your rug in place even in high traffic areas or slippery floors.

In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know about a natural rug pad and felt rug pad and you might want a felt and rubber rug pad.

What Is a Natural Rubber and Felt Rug Pad?

Our natural rubber and felt rug liners combine real rubber material harvested from trees with recycled synthetic and natural felt from yarn and carpet materials.

The natural rubber material has a firm grip to hold area rugs or runners in place and prevent slippage so it’s ideal for places with a lot of foot traffic such as doorways, hallways, and the kitchen.

Additionally, rubber is safe with laminate, tile, vinyl, and hardwood floors so you can rest easy knowing the pad isn’t staining or damaging your flooring.

A felt rug pad, on the other hand, has a combination of fibers such as wool and synthetic fibers from unused yarn and carpet materials that are pressed together giving you a thick cozy underfoot feeling. Felt on its own is fantastic for large rugs that don’t need grip such as carpets in the lounge, living room, and bedroom.

So, mash these two materials together, and you get the ultimate rug pad that will thrive in just about every situation.

Why Use Natural Rubber and Felt Rug Pads?

Besides the fact that these rug pads are downright awesome, there are a lot of other reasons why a natural rubber and felt rug pad may be right for you.

Let’s explore more reasons a rug pad made of both natural rubber and felt is useful.

They Are Both Eco-Friendly Materials

These rug liners won’t off-gas or release harmful toxins like some plastic rug pads do so they won’t degrade your home’s air quality. We want to make sure you and your family breathe easy in your own home, so we ensure these pads have low VOCs and don’t have any bad odors.

Plus, the natural materials are nicer to the environment than other harmful chemicals or plasticizers. We make sure our natural rubber is sustainably sourced and get recycled fibers for the felt so we aren’t contributing more waste.

See our most eco friendly rug pads here.

They Won’t Discolor or Scratch Your Floors

You don’t want to lift up your rug pad and find a mess of discoloration, scratches, and disintegrated clay fillers. Half the reason for a rug pad is to protect your floors, so for it to do the opposite? Total nightmare!

That’s why we’ve put extra care into ensuring our pads don’t cause any harm to your floor.

Our natural rubber material grips the floor instead of sticking to it (as shown below) so it’s always quick and easy to move or lift and clean under it. Then, the recycled felt element is soft and breathable so it doesn’t scratch floors and keeps them nice and dry to avoid any discoloration.

It’ll Improve the Soundproofing Factor of Your Floors

Are you one of those people that hears every. Single. Noise? A thick rug pad and felt rug pad might help.

The felt material buffers noise by diffusing the reflection of the echo from the floor. Similarly, it prevents the passage of high-frequency sound waves through the floor. It’s not a perfect soundproofing solution, but soundproofing rug pads can definitely help soothe your ears.

To learn more about soundproofing floors in your home, check out this blog post.

How Are Natural Rubber and Felt Rug Pads Made?

Natural rubber and felt rug pads are made using a gentle heat-pressing method. That’s right. No harsh chemicals. No nasty-smelling adhesives. Just an all-natural rug pad heat-pressed together.

Here’s how the whole process goes down:

1. Natural rubber is harvested from plants, while our felt is sustainably sourced from recycled materials.
2. Manufacturers use a needle punching method to join the felt fibers to the desired pad thickness.
3. We create a thin layer of rubber for the non-slip backing.
4. The two components are heat-pressed to create a thick and long-lasting rug pad.

Note: The heat pressing process doesn’t use glue or adhesives.

Why do we opt for heat pressing over glues or adhesives? Here’s a few reasons:

1. While glue deteriorates with time and will stop holding the felt and rubber together, heat pressing forms a permanent bond between the felt and rubber.
2. It prevents the rubber and felt from shedding too much because the entire thing is one cohesive and bonded unit.
3. The rug pad doesn’t off-gas or smell.
4. The rug pad doesn’t stick to or stain the floor (which can happen from the glues and adhesives).

With this process, you get a pad that’s long lasting and safe for your floors.

Best Uses for Felt and Natural Rubber Rug Pads

Natural rubber and felt rug pads are some of the most versatile and safest rug pads on the market so there are very few situations where we’d say not to go with a felt and natural rubber rug pad.

They work on most floor types including laminate, tile, vinyl, and hardwood floors and they cover almost all the functions you’d want in a rug pad including cushion, grip, and floor protection.

However, there are a few situations where the felt and natural rubber combo is extra useful.

Living Room Area Rug

Most of our felt and natural rubber rug pads use a higher proportion of felt than rubber to give it that plush, cushioned feel.

The dense felt material makes the hard floor surface cushier so your family and friends can sit or lay on the floor comfortably.

Though it’s not as comfy as a couch, a thick rug pad significantly softens any floor surface.

The layer of rubber kicks in if the living room rug is on the smaller side or doesn’t have much to anchor it down (or if you have extremely rambunctious kids or dogs that always move the rug). The rubber will help grip your floor, while the felt grips the rug, so your living room area rug will stay exactly where you want it.

Don’t let this be your rug.

If your living room area rug is extra large, has furniture on top of it as an anchor, and you don’t have any rowdy dogs or kids, then we might not recommend a felt and rubber pad. Instead, you may want something that just hones in on comfort like our Eco Plush rug pad or Cloud Comfort memory foam rug pad.

Kitchen and Dining Room Area Rug

In any family unit, you’ll notice that people primarily gather in the kitchen and dining area (who doesn’t want to be where the food is?!). With a lot of movement, it can get chaotic with lots of feet and bodies. Plus, with potentially hot dishes, liquids, and breakables you really don’t want to have an accident from a rug slipping.

The solution? You guessed it! A natural rubber and felt non-slip rug pad.

Slap a natural rug pad under your rugs in these two spaces and you won’t have to worry about any more slippery rugs. Plus, it gives you a comfortable surface to stand on while you cook.

Hot and Humid Climates

Have you noticed molding or a funky smell coming from your carpets — especially during hot periods? Ick!

Well, you can solve this problem by investing in a natural rubber and felt rug pad. This type of non-slip rug pad is breathable to allow air circulation between the rug and the floor so it’s less likely to trap moisture that can cause mold and mildew.

Types of Felt and Natural Rubber Rug Pads

Now that you know the basics of felt and natural rubber rug pads, let’s help you find the perfect one for you. Natural rubber and felt rug pads come in different variations and the major difference in the various types is their thickness.

Thin and Grippy Rug Pad

If you’re looking for a thin and grippy natural rubber and felt rug pad, you want our RugPro pad.

This rug pad is 1/16-inch thick. So SUUUPER thin. Like pinch your fingers together and that’s how thin this pad is. This means it’s great for rugs where you want to essentially pretend there isn’t a rug pad under there.

It’s suitable in areas where you don’t want to raise the rug too high like in hallways and the kitchen. Similarly, they’re thin enough to fit well under low-profile doors.

Pros:

1. Versatile and compatible with wool, flatweaves, tufted, knotted, and hooked rugs.
2. Breathable — thanks to the needle-punching technique.

Cons:

1. Doesn’t provide a lot of padding for comfort.

Subtle Cushioned Rug Pad

A subtle cushioned rug pad would be a pad that’s around ⅛-inch thick.

It’s effective in areas of the house where you want a powerful grip with modest cushioning. You won’t feel like you’re walking on a cloud, but you’ll still notice a slight difference in cushion. Plus, this type of pad is still low profile enough that it won’t raise the rug too high and will allow for door clearance with most rugs.

Use this type of felt and natural rubber pad under smaller and runner rugs such as bedside rugs or bathroom rugs.

The Contour Lock rug pad is a top-selling subtle cushioned rug pad.

Pros:

1. Can withstand changing temperatures such as floor heating.
2. Works well with low pile rugs such as flat weaves.
3. Provides some cushion without posing a potential tripping hazard.
4. Compatible with wool, tufted, knotted, and hooked rugs.

Cons:

1. Doesn’t fit well under low-profile doors.

Full Cushioned Rug Pad

A full cushioned rug pad like the Superior Lock rug pad will be your most comfortable rug pad. Our Superior Lock pad comes in two thicknesses that are both still on the thicker side. The thin variant is ¼-inch and the thicker one is 7/16-inch.

These pads offer a thick layer of rug padding for maximum coziness with a thin natural rubber backing to keep the rug from moving or bunching up.

The full cushioned rug pad with rubber backing is best to use in open spaces that are prone to slippage like tile or wood floors. You can also use these pads if you want lots of cushion for a smaller rug such as a kitchen or bathroom rug.

Pros:

1. Can attach to uneven surfaces such as jute rugs.
2. Provides more cushion underfoot.
3. Provides non slip grip for larger rugs.
4. Can withstand changing temperatures such as floor heating.

Cons:

1. Can obstruct low-profile doors or pose a tripping hazard because of the lifted height.

• Superior Lock Rug Pad 1/4" Thick
• Superior Lock Rug Pad 7/16" Thick

FAQs About Natural Rubber and Felt Rug Pads

We’ve got all your questions answered in one place right here to make your rug pad journey simple.

Are Natural Rubber Rug Pads Safe for Hardwood Floors?

Yes. All of our natural rubber rug pads are completely safe with all hardwood floors and finishes.

What Can You Put Under a Rug to Make It Softer?

Using a rug pad with felt can provide extra cushion under your rug and end up in a softer feel.

If you have a smaller rug, you’ll want some gripping capacity in there as well, so a felt and natural rubber rug pad is an excellent choice. For larger rugs that don’t need non-slip, you can either go with a 100% felt rug pad or splurge on a memory foam rug pad which also adds support with softness.

What Should You Put Under a Thin Rug?

To add cushion to a thin rug and make it feel thicker, use a thick rubber and felt rug pad that’s at least 1/4 inch thick, like the Superior Lock rug pad.

The density of these rug pads adds both cushion and grip to your thin area rug.

Which Side of a Natural Rubber and Felt Rug Pad Goes Up?

The side with the coarse felt material attaches to the rug while the natural rubber side faces the floor.

Do Natural Rubber and Felt Rug Pads Help With Noise?

To an extent, yes.

Felt has solid soundproofing capacity so it can buffer noise. However, it’s most effective when it’s thick and covers most of the floor so large and dense rug pads help to dissolve sound waves, but smaller rug pads won’t do as much.

Are Felt And Natural Rubber Rug Pads Non-Toxic?

Yes, our felt and natural rubber rug pads are non-toxic.

We can’t vouch for other rug pad companies, but we ensure all our pads are free of any harmful chemicals or plasticizers.

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