How To Keep Area Rug From Bunching Up On Carpets In 11 Ways

Apart from being placed on top of carpets, area rugs are also used in many places around the house, such as in the living room, under the dining table, in the kitchen, at entryways, and accent rooms, among others.

When a rug is placed on a carpet, you might notice that it forms folds or groups together, forming bumps and wrinkle like waves, a process called bunching.

Removing the bunches and ripples is very important for safety reasons. For instance, those folds can easily cause trip/slip and fall accidents for older adults, children, and pets.

Also, you have to keep an area rug from bunching up on carpets to maintain a good look and aesthetic beauty of your home décor. A rug with folds, creases, and wrinkles looks too ugly and am sure you do not want that.

Bunching or buckling is mostly caused by humidity. When the humidity is high, too much moisture is produced in the air. That much moisture penetrates on rugs and carpets, causing them to swell and bunch.

Additionally, the bunching is caused by texture differences. Most rugs are smoother than carpets. In such a case, the smooth surface of the rug will glide over the rough carpet surface, causing rug migration from one place to the next.

 

Pro Tip: Therefore, reducing humidity and eliminating the texture differences are the simplest ways you can use to keep a rug from bunching up on carpet.

 

 

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HOW TO KEEP AREA RUG FROM BUNCHING UP ON CARPETS BY ELIMINATING TEXTURE DIFFERENCES

1. Use a rug pad

Buy a non-skid rug pad, also known as non-slip rug pads, which will help to keep your rug in place on the carpet. Choosing the right rug pad size is the secret behind making this method work entirely to the problem at hand.

Apart from keeping your rug in place, a rug pad will offer other benefits, such as:

• A rug pad also adds extra protection to your carpet. For instance, it keeps your carpet from color damage. If the rug shed some color, a rug pad will keep that color from reaching the carpet. Also, if the area rug has stains, the rug pad will minimize their transfer into the carpet.
• A rug pad absorbs pressure, which would damage the carpet if it was applied directly. A rug pad also improves airflow between the carpet n rug. Insufficient airflow can cause the growth of bacteria and molds.

 

2. Apply Rug Tape

The rug tape is used to add extra security and hold on the rug pad. If you are using double-sided carpet tape, you will start by sticking one side of the tape at the back of your area rug then stick the rug pad on top of the tape. It is not advisable to put the tape directly on the carpet because it will leave a residue when you remove it later.

 

3. Anchor the rug with furniture

This is a tip mostly useful when you place area rugs on wall-to-wall carpets. For example, if you place an area rug below a dining table, you can make sure the legs of the dining table rest on the area rug to anchor it down. This is true for area rug placed in the living room next to the sofa sets. You can make sure the seat legs rest on the rug to keep it in position.

 

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HOW TO KEEP AREA RUG FROM BUNCHING UP ON CARPETS BY SOLVING HUMIDITY PROBLEMS

4. Buy a dehumidifier

A dehumidifier removes all excess moisture from the air. Excess moisture can cause too many problems in your home, such as molds, pungent mildew smells on rugs and carpets, and folding/buckling up of rugs.

 

5. Increase ventilation in your house

There are several things you can do to increase ventilation in your home:

• Open windows and doors during the day
• Turn on air conditioning during humid weather to help cool down rooms.
• Run fans to increase the circulation of air and remove excess moisture.
• Take shorter showers or replace hot showers with cold showers. A hot shower produces too much steam, which contributes to excess moisture in the room.
• Hang wet clothes outside
• Where possible, keep houseplants outside and do not overwater them.
• Cover up cooking pots and pans to keep the steam inside instead of realizing it into the air.

 

6. Shine on it

Take the rug outside in the sun to dry out any excess moisture, which might cause the bunching and buckling.

7. Use charcoal briquettes

Charcoal has high absorbent properties. It will absorb any moisture of bad odors in the air. This is a very economical method because the charcoal will last for 2-3 months which means it will serve you longer.  Charcoal with coconut shell is said to be the best because it has high absorption power and does not powder quickly.

Pro Tip: Rock salt has the same absorbing qualities. Therefore, you can use it to serve the same purpose as charcoal.

 

8. Clean the rug up

If your rug has collected too much moisture, washing it might be the most natural solution you have. You can decide to vacuum it, put it in the washing machine, wash it will your hands, or use a steam cleaner. The method you choose will largely depend on the rug material, as explained in this rug cleaning guide.

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HOW TO KEEP AREA RUG FROM BUNCHING UP ON CARPETS BY PROPER HANDLING

9. Practice proper handling of heavy furniture

Heavy furniture can easily cause bunching of area rugs when they are moved incorrectly. You can slide in pieces of aluminum foil or carpet sliders at the furniture legs to move it securely without damaging the carpet.

 

10. Avoid Improper installation of the carpet

You will be placing the area rug on to the carpet. Therefore, the carpet must be installed appropriately to avoid transferring any problems to the area rug. For example, insufficient carpet stretching during installation will cause bunching up of area rugs placed on it.

 

11. Look for underlying defects

The carpet or rug might have common defects, which might cause bunching. For example, pet claws/teeth or sharp objects might pull loops on the rug or carpet, causing it to fold, wrinkle or crease due to disturbance on the fiber flow. Also, sometimes the backing materials might detach, especially on rugs with latex adhesives causing a problem known as delamination.

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