Wednesday, April 1, 2015

A is for Anti-Slip Throw Rugs

Hello, April! Hello, A to Z Challenge!

I entertained the idea of doing a Pinterest-based theme for the A to Z Challenge fairly early on and took some notes to that effect, writing the letters of the alphabet down the left side of a page in a spiral notebook and jotting down ideas from my own Pinterest boards next to each one. For someone who doesn't do a lot of planning, I was off to a pretty spectacular start!

(Something to be noted about doing 26 Pinterest challenges in a month is that writing down some ideas is not sufficient. Pinterest projects require things like ingredients and craft supplies and what are probably a number of very difficult-to-find items.)

'Twas the night before the first post is due, and I pick up my handy dandy notebook (shout out to Steve) to see what I had noted for "A" aaaaaand...

Nothing. I filled in ideas for about 16 letters, but "A" wasn't one of them.

I frantically started going through my Pinterest boards, looking for something that I have all the supplies for AND starts with the letter "A" AND isn't too hard, because, well, I'm lazy. Fortunately, I found something. It's even a DIY project that I have been thinking about doing for ages. 

Here's the Pinterest pin:






My house is big. And old. And has no carpeting in it. No. Carpeting. The floors are hardwood, except for the kitchen, entry hall and bathrooms. We have large area rugs on the floors, as well as runners in the entry hall and upstairs hall (which runs nearly the length of the house and is used by the cats for bowling, or at least, that's what it sounds like from downstairs). Area rugs on hardwood floors skid unless you put down a non-skid pad underneath the rug. The problem with THAT is the pads creep out from under the rugs, especially ones that are well-traveled by humans and cats, such as the one in the entry hall.

See? The padding is trying to make a getaway.
Look! I found a dime!
I didn't have the kind of caulk that uses a caulk gun;
I only had the squeezy kind. 
This kind of hurt my hands.
All done! Time to dry!
I let it dry overnight. As an aside, my husband plowed right across it in the dark early this morning, even though I left a path between the doors to the family room and the downstairs bathroom. 

The results:



Pinterest fail.

Now I get to spend the rest of the day picking silicone latex caulk off the back of my rug.....

31 comments:

  1. It sounded like such a good idea. We live in an older farm house and have the same issues with sliding rugs. Back to the drawing board I guess. I have so many "things" pinned that I need to work on, so I'll enjoy checking on your progress too!

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    1. I know, right?! I'm wondering if that clear kind of silicone caulk would be better. It's more rubbery and might hold better. Back to the drawing board!

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  2. We just go without rugs and wear socks. That are way fun to slide on, when you aren't getting snagged by the nails that are forever popping out of the wood. :)

    Nice job getting a post done!

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    1. Why am I not speaking English in the video?
      I do the sliding thing in my bedroom, because it has new hardwoods that are really shiny and smooth.
      One day at a time....

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  3. We have similar rugs on our hardwood floors. I have three runners going from the kitchen to the entryway and have been wondering how I could get them to stop moving all the time with the dog and us big people. I'm so glad you wrote this post as I'm going to give this a try myself. Thanks!!

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    1. Did you watch the video? Other than me not speaking English, which I can't figure out, since I don't know any other language THAN English, I demonstrate that it was a huge failure. Huge. Martha Stewart let me down!

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  4. I'll be curious to see the win/fail ratio at the end of the month. I'm sorry such a labor-intensive pin (at least un-doing it) was a fail.

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    1. This little household hint came from Martha Stewart. Remember that. Do you think I can make the peeling off of the caulk into a post?

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  5. oops just went back and watched the video. I think this would work on hardwood though no?

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    1. I guess I'd better try it on the hardwood floor before I totally throw in the towel, huh?

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  6. hey... so this is meticulous, well-planned, totally predictable 'Anti-Meridian April Blog Challenge!! (I consider myself in good company and Christine also engaged in a last minute.... do a whole new idea Post strategy.)
    ...so the idea is that stuff works better applied to under the rug rather than on the soles of ones feet/paws?

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    1. At this point, I would have to say it's better on your paws than under your rug. Would you try it, take pictures, then send them to me?

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  7. Awww, shit! I was so excited and about to go get out the caulk! I think I saw something about using hot glue once. Do you think that would work?

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    1. I really think that clear, rubbery caulk would work better. We used it under glass stuff on shelves when we lived in LA to keep them from falling off in an earthquake. Kind of worked.

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  8. Lots of my Pinterest projects fail. We have an area rug on top of our rug in the family room, because of the high traffic from kitchen to garage, right through the room. It is tough to stick down. It keeps slipping. I tried that tape stuff, the backing, nothing worked. When my husband nailed the rug in place, it still slipped, raising the corner of the wall-to-wall. I just keep moving it where it belongs.

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    1. I would take the rug out of that entry hall altogether, but the floor gets so stinking cold with that ceramic tile! The large area rugs fare much better with the padding, but the runners, well, run....

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  9. A pinterest based theme, that is brilliant!! I love that, and the helpful rug hints.

    Good luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
    A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
    http://pensuasion.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you! I was hoping to have a win right out of the blocks, but Pinterest is a fickle mistress :)

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  10. Oh my, what a project! Maybe I'll learn something more about Pinterest this month from your posts. I'm on there and have created a couple of boards but don't do much with it.

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    1. It took me the longest time to get the hang of Pinterest. I use it a lot for preschool projects, which will probably become evident over the next month.

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  11. Yeahhhhh silicone caulk, like the stuff around the edge of the bath. That'd do it.

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  12. oh man I was so hoping it would work for you - maybe a thicker type would work - can't wait for more looking forward to the next 25.

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    1. My husband has had the rug slip out from under him three times already this evening. He keeps yelling that the rug is going to kill him.. Do you think I should send Martha Stewart the bill for the funeral?

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  13. Thank you for visiting my blog (ramblinwitham.blogspot.com) - I've already slipped and fallen on throw rugs with an "anti-slip" pad. Sad to see your "fix" didn't work. (Perhaps that is why I try so little of what I see on Pinterest - ah well). At my age (62) falling can be dangerous - and I know it is only going to get worse.

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    1. Yeah, I'm a little skeptical about a lot of what is pinned. Especially the hair style stuff. Lots of photoshop and lies there.
      I hear you about the falling thing. I'm on Fosamax for bone density loss caused by chemo drugs. One of the side effects is brittle bones, which makes no sense to me at all.

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  14. I have a non-slip pad that slips... I am often skeptical to say the least of Martha and Pintrest... I cant wait to see what else you dig up... thanks for the laugh!!!! Hey Ms. Daisy has a cameo in C... just a heads up!

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    1. I lost a lot of faith in Martha when I saw her "rolling" pie crust into a perfect circle. Either witchcraft or the miracle of tv.
      Woot! Woot! Daisy has a cameo!

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  15. While your idea of Pinterest Fixes is an interesting Theme, I can't help but wonder if the 'Type of Caulk' might be what is at fault in this gone wrong slippery slope. I noticed on the tube it says 'Windows Doors Molding' and is a different color tube than what is shown on the Pinterest photo. Hmmmm...Martha's slip proof instructions may have slipped a bit.

    Keep up the Pinterest DIY Theme...there's lots of letters left for Successes!
    Sue at CollectInTexas Gal
    AtoZ 2015 Challenge
    Minion for AJ's wHooligans

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  16. Well that's a bummer. But I do have a feeling that this will be an entertaining blog challenge from you.

    I watched your video at least four times trying to figure out what you said. No dice.

    I am nearly certain at the end of last year's challenge, you said you wouldn't be back. And then you said you would with it pre-written. Glad to see you are back, even if not in the ideal fashion. I do enjoy when you are whimsical and impromptu posts though.

    We will get through another A to Z together. :)

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  17. Hmm when I did a quick scan of your post, curious about anti-slip throw rugs, I shouldn't have been as "WTF" surprised when I saw a picture of caulking lol At least it wasn't to the extent I thought it was going to be...

    I should probably know your husbands name, but I can't recall that I do. Nor could I tell if you were referencing him and shouting out to him, or if he is dandy, or both, or if Steve is another blogger you are figuratively fist-bumping, or if he is dandy, or both, or ALL the above! I'm so confused...

    But, that definitely was a failed DIY project. They can't all be winners, right?

    Hopefully B will produce "B"etter results! Heeeeeyo...

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