Common Carpet Tape Questions: Answered!

Choosing the perfect carpet for your floor is an overwhelming task. After purchasing your dream carpet, you realize that you need a carpet adhesive tape to keep it from moving or sliding.

And that’s where the rabbit hole takes you further. You need to know how to choose the best carpet tape to squeeze more years out of your purchase.

We made a comprehensive checklist of common questions, so you don’t have to go elsewhere for your research.

How to Use Carpet Tape?

Using a Carpet Tape is easy as long as you follow the steps carefully and test out the surface for compatibility. Follow the steps below in installing a double-sided carpet tape:

1. Clean both surfaces where the carpet tape should bond. Dust, dirt, and grime reduce the bonding strength of all adhesive types, so it is best to clean the surface thoroughly. You can use a standard water-soap solution to clean the surface. Don’t forget to dry the surface after cleaning and before proceeding to the next step.
2. Test a short strip on a small corner of the surface where the carpet and carpet tape is to be installed. The XFasten Carpet Rug Tape is specially formulated for wooden laminate floors, wood tiles, wool, rug, and other delicate surfaces. 
3. Peel the Carpet Tape from the roll. Don’t peel the adhesive liner at this point. Install the carpet tape strips underneath the carpet and on the surface where the rug is to be installed.
4. Maximize the surface area of application by applying as many strips as possible. Please follow the application pattern in the video brief above.
5. Peel off the adhesive liner. To peel the adhesive liner off easily, start by creating a small gap between the adhesive and the liner. You can create a gap by using the edge of a cutter, a knife, your nails, or any flat-tipped surface.
6. Install the carpet on the surface. Press the mat against the surface. Our carpet binding tape comes with a pressure-sensitive adhesive that goes stronger the more you apply pressure to it. Press it against the surface to make the bond stronger.
7. Let the adhesive set for at least 12 hours to maximize the overall bonding strength.

How secure is a carpet tape?

Make sure to choose a double stick carpet tape that has a high shear stress resistance and tensile strength. Our XFasten Extra Sticky Carpet Tape for concrete has double the tensile strength compared to our typical Carpet Tapes. It has a tensile strength of 50 pounds per square inch. 

Our standard Carpet Tape has a tensile strength of 25 pounds per square inch. Both of these are enough to prevent carpets and rugs from moving, sliding, curling, or slipping. 

Our rug tapes work well, even on homes where there are kids or large pets that are always running around. They will also resist slipping due to the shear stress that is caused by vacuum machines or other heavy-duty equipment. This makes our residue-free carpet tapes ideal for locations that are regularly cleaned with a vacuum cleaner. It is also great for industrial set-ups where heavy-duty equipment is used.

How to use carpet tape on a rug?

Our Carpet Tape is designed for concrete, wood, and textiles such as rugs and wall-to-wall carpets. However, for rugs and wall-to-wall carpets, it is recommended to apply more strips of carpet tape. 

Concrete and wood are flat and even. Hence, carpet tapes can have more coverage over the surface. Wool, textile, and coarse fibers, on the other hand, have a lesser surface area where the adhesive can hold on. This often results in a lower adhesive strength.

You can increase the number of strips applied to make up for the lesser surface area.

Will double-sided tape damage carpet?

Not all double-sided tapes are created equally. Many use a rubber adhesive, which, while reliable, can make the removal process more difficult. Rubber adhesive would usually peel off some of the carpet fibers upon removal. 

Fortunately, the XFasten Carpet Tape uses a silicone adhesive. Silicone is more durable compared to rubber and it does not leave a sticky residue nor damage the surface upon removal.

To prevent damage on area rugs or your floor surface, choose the carpet tape that uses a silicone or silicone rubber composite adhesive.

Will carpet tape ruin hardwood floors?

The same rule applies to hardwood floors. Choose a carpet seaming tape that uses a silicone or silicone-rubber adhesive to prevent ruining hardwood floors. Our products are strong but we also designed them to not damage delicate hardwood floors.

Remember to choose the XFasten brand, especially on delicate hardwood or laminate floorings. We considered delicate flooring materials while we were developing our double stick carpet tape. After all, we do not want your delicate hardwood floor ruined just because of a carpet accessory.

How to remove carpet tape?

To remove the XFasten Carpet Tile Tape, slowly and carefully pull the carpet from the surface. Our carpet tape should remove cleanly without any sticky residue or damage on the surface.

To make sure that no residue is left, then you can partially heat the adhesive before removing the carpet tape. You can heat the installation site by using the warm air exhaust of a hairdryer or a heat gun. This process would partially melt and soften the adhesive, thus preventing the adhesive from pulling off the hardwood finish or paint.

How to remove carpet tape residue from the wood floor?

Using a commercial goo gone solution is the best way to remove adhesive residue. You can also use lighter fluid or kerosene for this. Soaking the residue on lighter fluid, kerosene, or goo gone solution for at least five minutes will soften it.

After soaking it, simply wipe off the surface with a microfiber or cloth rug.

What is the best carpet tape?

Choosing a rug tape for carpet can be difficult given the myriad of choices on the market. The best Carpet Tape is the one that is made from a silicone adhesive, is residue-free, and removable. It needs to have a high shear stress resistance and high tensile strength.

These factors are the ones that XFasten strives hard to achieve. It offers optimal performance and adhesive strength while being removable, surface-safe, wood-safe, and residue-free.

Where to buy double-sided carpet tape?

You can check out our 2-sided Carpet Tapes on our Shopify store here. You can also purchase XFasten Carpet Tapes and other adhesive tapes here which are fulfilled by Amazon.