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How to Use Double Sided Carpet Tape

"Carpet tape" is a bit of a misnomer. While there are carpet-laying systems that rely partly on specialized adhesive strips, what people mostly mean when they talk about carpet tape is two-sided tape that keeps area rugs from sliding around on wood, ceramic or other smooth floors. If you've got a rug with mesh or other relatively solid material as a backing, and a hard floor underneath, then carpet tape is what you need.

Things You'll Need

  • Floor cleaning supplies
  • Area rug
  • Measuring tape
  • Roll of double-sided carpet tape
  • Scissors
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Instructions

    • 1

      Clean the floor thoroughly where you're going to lay the rug. Make sure the floor is dry. Put the rug in place.

    • 2

      Fold back one side of the rug by about 6 inches, so the underside is facing up. Peel off a section of tape big enough to span the side, minus about 6 inches on each end. Press the sticky side of the tape to the back of the rug, about 1 inch inside the edge.

    • 3

      Peel off the waxy paper from the top of the tape, exposing the sticky surface under it. Immediately fold the edge of the rug back down and press it into place on the floor.

    • 4

      Move to each side of the rug and repeat the process. When you fold back the edge of the rug, take care not to pull up the tape you've already laid. Tape each side of the rug.