A few years ago, Ruggable developed quite the ruckus among the consumers by launching ‘washable’ rugs in the market. Many loved them outright & many disapproved of them too. But the expensive rugs have proven their worth nonetheless over the years. They are low-maintenance, easy to wash, and keep almost all types of floors and decks in great condition.
But are Ruggables safe for hardwood floors?
Market research shows that Ruggables are more than safe for even the sturdiest hardwood floors. The Ruggable rugs are manufactured from non-toxic polyurethane and recycled polyester with thermoplastic rubbers. Without the influence of superficial catalysts like heat and humidity, the materials of the rug itself can’t damage the hardwood floors.
Why Do Rugs Damage Hardwood Floors?
Rugs can cause substantial damage to the hardwood floors for the following reasons –
Cheap Materials
Cheap rugs are manufactured from low-quality materials consisting of below-average shelf life. With time, the materials or chemicals can corrode and damage the floor.
Rough Materials
With cheap rugs, you’ll also often not receive a good finish. Hence if your hardwood floor also has a raw coating, the rough rug pads can easily leave scratches all over the ground.
What Makes Ruggables Safe For Hardwood Floors?
Ruggables are safe for hardwood floors because they –
- wash easily so there’s hardly any dirt accumulation
- come with ultra-soft rubber pads
- have non-toxic i.e. non-damaging covers
- don’t stick to the hardwood floors
- don’t slip easily and leave several tiny scratches
- consist of strong thread count i.e. the rugs don’t fray
The Line Between Cheap & Expensive Rugs
While expensive doesn’t always mean better, Ruggables have managed to prove their worth over time.
Take a look for yourself –
| Criteria | Ruggables | Normal Rugs |
| Material | Thermoplastic rubber pads, recycled polyester covers | Cheap cotton fabric, wool, synthetic rubber pads, etc. |
| Price | Expensive than usual | Considerably affordable |
| Washability | Great for quick machine washes! | Frays uncontrollably after washes |
| Durability | Lasts for a long time even with heavy traffic usage | Doesn’t last long once the covers start to fray |
| Comfortability | Pretty comfortable | Fragile comfortability |
| Overall Quality | Worth the money | Not worth the damage control |
How To Make Ruggables Safe For Hardwood Floors?
Ruggables are safe enough for hardwood floors without the presence of outward casualties.
However, you can follow the given instructions to make Ruggables even safer for your lovely floors –
Heavy Pads
Ruggables are notorious for being extremely thin. And thin mats can leave inconsistent scratches on wooden floors.
So, for hardwood floors, you should go for the thicker pads. You can find high-pile Ruggables nowadays.
They’re considerably heavier and perfect for hardwood floors. In addition to keeping the rugs in place strictly, they also provide extra cushion for impact damage control.
In Time Vacuuming
Don’t let the bottom part of the rugs accumulate debris or similar scrap materials. Vacuum over and under the rugs to get rid of all the dust particles and such.
Because over time, the accumulated litter will either cause discoloration of the floor covers or leave miniature scratches. Again, any sharp scrap metal can cause significant damage to the floors via the constant friction between the surfaces.
Are Ruggables Safe For Pets?
Yes, Ruggables are safe for pets as the brand uses non-toxic environment-friendly materials for all their rugs and carpets.
The answer to ‘are ruggables safe for hardwood floors?’ can easily go from yes to no just by using the wrong rubber pads. Because – the usage of synthetic i.e. cheap rubber in most pads is why wooden floors take damage in the first place.
Now, with Ruggables, you don’t have to worry about the quality of the rubber at all. They use only the best quality materials for both the rug covers and pads.
Hence, neither humans nor the cutest pets should encounter any sort of problems with the Ruggable washable floor mats.
Will Washing Ruggables Make Them Unsafe For Floors?
No, washing your prized Ruggables will not magically make them unsafe for hardwood or any other type of floors.
To wash the Ruggables, you only have to take off the covers and put them in the washer like a blanket. To clean the pads, you can simply give them a few good smacks outside and dust off the dirt particles from everywhere.
After washing, tuck in the clean and dry covers over the pads again like before, and voilà. Other than the edges, the covers will never actually touch the hardwood floors. So, you don’t have to worry about the chemicals in the liquid soaps or detergents damaging the floors or decks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you machine wash Ruggables?
Ruggable is famous for being skinnier than traditional rugs. Normally, the rugs will come with two alternating and lightweight layers with recycled thermoplastic surfaces.
Hence, you can definitely machine wash most of the Ruggable rug pads with ease. However, make sure to read the attached instructions and guidelines within the packages to double-check the machine washability features.
Are Ruggables latex-free?
Yes, Ruggable manufactures latex-free synthetic rug pads with 100% recycled materials for universal usage.
Are Ruggables prone to curling?
Ruggables can curl if you don’t straighten the edges properly before laying them down and the rug sits crooked like that for several days or weeks.
Ruggables can also curl due to heat imbalances. Let’s say that you instantaneously moved the rugs after a cold machine wash to directly set them down near the fireplace. The sudden temperature change, in this specific case, can lead to significant curling around the edges.
How to prevent premature curling in Ruggables?
You can prevent curling by making sure the edges don’t get bent while sliding them under a cupboard, sofa, etc.
And after every wash, give the rugs time to cool and come down to room temperature. Don’t dry them outside under the direct heat of the scorching sun though. You can use a steam roller to slowly evaporate the water from the Ruggable layers.
What to do if the rug pads are bigger than the rug covers?
All Ruggable pads are systematically engineered to be smaller than the covers they come with, for proper fitting. So, you shouldn’t face sizing issues with the Ruggable rugs at all.
If the rug pads seem bigger, you should first lay them down to check the measurements. If the overhang is more than four inches, contact the manufacturers to let them know of the discrepancies and possible compensation.
And if you’re combining different materials from separate set packages, you can try rounding down the diameter of the rubber pads to make them fit the covers appropriately.
Final Verdict
So, are Ruggables safe for hardwood floors at all? Turns out, they’re more than safe for pretty much all types of floors including the traditional wooden floors.
Ruggables use completely safe and recycled materials such as thermoplastic rubbers, non-toxic polyurethane, etc. to make their rug pads and covers. So far, the materials don’t seem to react negatively with any kind of finish on the wooden floors. But to stay on the safe side, you should always keep your rugs squeaky clean and wash them periodically. Exercising precautions like – keeping the rugs away from direct heat, chemical substances, etc. can also ensure floor safety for all.