Vinyl and luxury vinyl plank need more care than wood, because some rubber-backed pads react with the plasticisers in vinyl and leave a permanent yellow or brown mark. Ours do not, and we sell them for vinyl for that reason.
All-Purpose™ Pad
THIN · 0.10″For thin rugs: flatweaves, kilims, machine-woven.
- Cushion
- Grip
- Full
- Feel
- Barely there
from $43.31
Choose your sizeFree shipping · 30-day returns · cut to your rug
Full specs & materials
Superior Pad
MEDIUM · 0.160″Our best seller, and the one most rugs want.
- Cushion
- Grip
- Full
- Feel
- Soft underfoot, quiets the room
from $47.35
Choose your sizeFree shipping · 30-day returns · cut to your rug
Full specs & materials
Premium Pad
THICK · 0.25″For heavy, hand-knotted and wool-pile rugs.
- Cushion
- Grip
- Full
- Feel
- Plush, the most cushion we make
from $55.00
Choose your sizeFree shipping · 30-day returns · cut to your rug
Full specs & materials
Looking for our fourth pad? The Deluxe™ pad works indoors and out. It is an open-weave rubber pad, so it breathes, which makes it the one we reach for anywhere damp: basements, sunrooms, entryways, patios and decks. See the Deluxe pad.
Which one for your rug?
This is what we get asked most, and it is the part people usually get backwards.
If the pad has more body than the rug, the rug slides around on the pad. You have moved the problem, not solved it.
Once the staining question is settled, vinyl is like any other hard floor. The rug sets the thickness:
Flatweave, kilim, machine-woven
0.10″ · 19 oz
Most rugs, most homes
0.160″ · 30 oz
Hand-knotted, wool pile, shag
0.25″ · 38 oz
Want more cushion under a thin rug? Step up to Superior, not Premium. Medium is as far as a thin rug will tolerate before it starts to shift.
Need to keep the height down under a thick rug? All-Purpose is fine. A thick rug brings its own weight, so it lies flat and holds the pad in place.
How thick is each one, really
Measured from our spec sheet, not estimated. Each gridline is 0.05 inch off the floor.
Height is the total thickness of the pad. The darker band at the base is the rubber grip that meets your floor.
Oriental Rug & Carpet Clinic · Denver
Why we only sell four pads
We are a rug cleaning company first. Rugs come into our shop with the pad still stuck to the back of them: crumbling foam, adhesive gone to glue, cheap latex turned to orange powder that took the floor finish with it.
That is why we sell four pads and not forty. Felt and rubber, needled and bonded, nothing that breaks down into dust in five years. When a rug comes back to us for its next cleaning, we would rather the pad still be a pad.
Frequently asked
Tap a question to open it.
Do rug pads stain vinyl or LVP floors?
Some do. It is a real problem in the category: the plasticisers that keep vinyl flexible can migrate into certain rubber and foam backings, and the reaction leaves a yellow or brown shadow in the shape of the pad that does not come out.
It is worth checking what any pad is backed with before you put it on vinyl, including ones sold as 'safe for all floors'.
Which rug pad is best for vinyl plank?
The Superior Pad for most rugs. As with any floor, go thinner for a flatweave and thicker for a heavy rug.
Should I do anything before laying the pad?
Two things. Let a newly installed floor finish off-gassing and settling. Most manufacturers ask for a few days. And sweep first, because grit under a rug is what actually wears a vinyl wear layer through.
What size rug pad do I need?
Three inches smaller than your rug in each direction, so an inch and a half of clearance on every side. You do not need to work it out. Pick your rug size and we cut the pad before it ships.
Read the full size guide for how to measure a rug properly.
Newly laid floor, or not sure of the brand?
Call 1-833-RUG-PADS and you will get someone who cleans rugs for a living. If none of ours is right for your floor, we will tell you.
