The better quality carpet padding is made to have great resiliency properties. For a pad to be resilient it must accept the weight of the force applied and then expand back to its original shape after the force is removed. So finding a pad with good resiliency properties will result in a longer wear life. This same analogy can also be applied to area rugs. If you want your rug to last a long time, then make sure you use a pad with good resiliency properties. Pads with great resiliency properties include the Felt rug pads. These pad types are made with carpet fibers that are needle punched into a dense non-woven felt material. They are so well made that most come with extended year wear warranties.
Other reasons for needing a pad include keeping the rug from sliding on the floor along with protecting your floor from harm. There are many pad types that are effective at keeping rugs from sliding. They include the PVC open mesh products made in China and the felt products with natural rubber backing made in USA. Area rugs are made in many different ways. Some constructions can be very harsh on your floor. For instance, tufted area rugs that are machine tufted like the way carpet is made has a very scratchy carpet backing that feels like sand paper.
If this was placed on bare hardwood floors it would scratch the finish off of the wood. If this type of rug is placed over carpet it would break the yarn filaments and ruin the look of the carpet. Using a pad for these types of rugs is a necessity. Another great benefit for using a pad is to use as a sound buffer, especially if you live in an apartment style condition. We also recommend a pad for making the overall appearance of the rug look more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Most home decorating professionals will always use rug pads because it makes the rug look so much nicer and more expensive.