How to keep couch from sliding on a polished floor? There are a few methods that can help you without needing lots of spending. So, your couch keeps sliding backward on your hardwood floor. You can’t predict where you will land when you are sitting down on the couch because of this movement. Or maybe you know but you aren’t happy.
You want it to hold you without resisting and sliding back. You should be welcoming after all, no?
On top of that movement of it, it makes sure that everybody in the room notices its reluctance to host you. That screeching sound!
How to keep your couch from sliding! How to stop it from putting up the resistance every single time?!
And no, that’s not funny. You are wary of the movement, sound, and scratches your floor gets from this sliding.
Are you ready to preserve your newly-installed hardwood floor from scratches? This post will explain how and why you should do it.
Why Furniture Sliding on Floor Isn’t Good
But it’s only sliding a little. Why should I be concerned?
There are many reasons for you to stop this sliding. The most important and long-lasting of these reasons is scratch marks.
Hardwood floors only look good and well-taken care of when they have minimal scratch marks. The same holds for laminate and tiled floors.
As the number of these marks increases on your floor, it will look dated and overused.
Yes, there are other factors as well that tell the age of your floor. But if you can control the marks on it, you have won half the battle already.
The second issue is the sound effect of the sliding. Hardwood floors aren’t too noisy when it comes to sliding. But if you have sensitive ears, you will hear the screech. And you don’t need me to tell you that scratching sounds aren’t pleasing.
This sound issue becomes a distraction if you leave the couch more than a few times in a session.
And it can be so disturbing that you can use your movement as a tool for distraction if you want to disturb your spouse from their desk job.
Yeah, learn something from your kids when one of them is studying in the living room and the other wants his attention!
This sliding will gradually displace your couch from its place. If you don’t take action every time you sit on it or if you forget to bring it back to its place when getting up, it will keep sitting in the wrong place.
And when every inch of your living space is calculated, a displaced couch will look messy and unplanned.
This displacement will also cause accidents especially when you are following your kids to pick up their lego blocks.
Are these enough reasons for you to attend to this issue?
Let’s learn a few remedies below.
How to Keep Couch from Sliding?
Now, you know that you must prevent your furniture and couches from moving. Let’s move to the ways to do this.
How to keep your couch from sliding? Luckily, the answer is easy and doesn’t involve lots of work.
All you have to do to add the missing element of grip. You see, a piece of furniture only moves on a polished floor because it doesn’t have enough grip to maintain its place.
The surface is polished and the surface area of the furniture isn’t enough to create the necessary friction. Plus, the furniture material is smoother and offers only a small amount of traction.
We counter this issue by adding elements of friction either on the floor or in the furniture.
First, we shall cover the methods that involve adding friction to the furniture items. These methods will be followed by tips to make the floor less slippery.
Let’s start.
Use Rubber Pads
The easiest and most cost-effective method to deal with couch sliding is rubber pads. As you can imagine, these pads will add friction to the furniture legs.
You can find these pads from any hardware or home improvement store. Before you visit the store, however, you should take time to measure the legs.
Measure the area of its leg that touches the floor. You can also draw the area of the leg of your couch for comparison at the store.
In the store, you will find rubber pads of different sizes. You may also have the opportunity to select between different qualities.
If you don’t plan a trip to your nearest home improvement store anytime soon, you can also order these pads online if you know the size.
Furniture Grips
Rubber pads are cost-effective but they aren’t the most beautiful covering for your furniture items.
When you have spent thousands of dollars on decorating your living room, you want it to look flawlessly beautiful. But the pads may give a cheap look to your exquisite interior design.
How can you get the function of a rubber pad without the odd look that accompanies them? You get that with furniture grips. Before you proceed, celebrate. They are almost as cost-effective as rubber pads.
The best thing about these grips is that they are unnoticeable. You start by measuring the area of your couch’s leg or drawing it.
Then you get them from the store or buy them online. Some vendors allow you to choose from different textures depending on the floor and furniture material you have.
Beware, this – and the previous – option can discolor your hardwood floor because of the low-quality rubber used in them.
Use Felt Pad
This trick will not prevent your couch from sliding. But it will make sure that the sliding doesn’t leave scratch marks on your floors.
You can use these pads in combination with rubber pads and furniture grips to prevent sliding of your couch.
Crochet Booties for Couch
If you love crocheting, you can get creative in making your couch slide-proof. Do this with beautiful couch booties. Get the tutorial here.
Use Stop Blocks
Stop blocks are wooden blocks that stop your couch from moving backward. You will only use these blocks if your couch only moves backward and not sideways.
Still, a small variation will let you cover sideways sliding as well when you add small wings on the side of these blocks.
You can make these blocks at home. Start by measuring the distance between your couch’s back legs and the wall.
The width of the blocks will be equal to the width of the leg or a half-inch larger if the leg is too narrow.
The beauty of this tip is that the blocks only support the back legs and you can’t notice them when you are facing the couch.
But using this will not prevent scuff marks especially if your living room witnesses high traffic.
Use Rugs
It’s a no-brainer, right? Rugs are the best way to cover the polished floor with a high-friction surface.
Rugs will not only stop your couch from sliding but also prevent other furniture items as well. Before you shop for a rug for your living room, get an idea of how large it should be.
You don’t want it to cover the majority of the floor. But you also don’t want to leave any piece of furniture out of the rug.
Another factor that you shouldn’t forget while getting a rug is its non-slip padding. While most rugs come with this padding, some might exclude it. You have to double-check the rug and its description to ensure that you will get the right pad.
If you are stuck on the aesthetics of a rug that doesn’t include a non-slip pad, you still have to chance to get it and let it help you prevent couch sliding. You would do this by getting a separate non-slip pad that will go under this rug.
Place Your Couch against the Wall
If your couch only slides backward, you can prevent this sliding by putting it against the wall. By doing this, you will leave no room for its movement ensuring that it will remain in place.
This trick will work for you if the only item sliding in your living room is your couch. You can also get some help with sliding if it’s drawers and tables that can be put in a corner.
But if it’s a central table that needs slip prevention, you will have to look at other options I have mentioned in this article.
Additional Tip
The last tip doesn’t require you to reimagine your living room layout. Nor does it require you to buy accessories for your couch. Instead, it’s about your lifestyle and cleaning habits.
If your polished floor has accumulated dust, it will become slippery. With this dust, even rubber pads and rugs cannot prevent slipping.
So, if you want to ensure that all these accessories – that you have bought only to prevent your couch from slipping – work, make sure to dust your floor every day or at least twice a week.
Take Away
You are tired of the scuff marks your couch leaves on your hardwood floor. How to keep couch from sliding on the floor?
This question becomes your topmost concern as soon as you enter your living room.
Luckily, you have more than a few answers to consider. Some of these options require minimal spending from you and include rubber pads, furniture grippers, and stop blocks.
Others need you to work on the furniture layout in your living room. For example, you can place the couch against the wall to prevent it from sliding.
In the end, you can also use rugs to allow the surface to keep the furniture in place.
