I just blithely did a little search for you sue, thinking I would come up with all sorts of options, & I'm really dismayed to discover that the felt pads of yore are....well, just that....yore :( I have several pads made of felt & horsehair that I've had for many, many years - I had a huge horsehair pad that I just keep cutting to fit smaller rugs. And I expect them to last for many more years. Which is why I haven't had to shop for one for a long time. Everything now is synthetic, but the good news is that you can still find synthetic felt pads - hopefully they are no less damaging to your floors than the felt pads are. Still, check out your local rug dealers - the ones who sell area rugs, & see what they have. The problem with most synthetics is that they bond to your flooring & create damage that can be very hard to repair w/o resurfacing. And/or the pad is too thick & the carpet gets dents that turn into worn fiber. And/or the pad does nothing but keep the carpet from slipping & ruin the floor underneath at the same time. BTW, if your carpet is a thick one, you're probably better off w/o a pad. HTH, & good luck!

There was a thread recently on the lattice type pads damaging hardwood floors. I use pads that look like gray felt with a rubber backing. The pads are cut 1" smaller than the rug on each side, so the rug lays down over the edge of the pad. There is no tripping issue. All rugs need pads under them to protect the rug and to protect the floor. A rug will wear much more if it doesn't have a pad under it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the pad also prevents dirt and grit from sifting through the rug onto the floor. I found that having my local carpet store (not big box) cut a pad for me was considerably less expensive than purchasing the same thing online.

A valuable rug might benefit from a pad--pads can reduce wear somewhat. Some people like a squishier feel underfoot, too. I prefer a lower profile, especially for flat weave or really low-pile rugs, and don't have pads for rugs that don't slip. My rugs are definitely not valuable.

The slab rubber underlayment would RUIN your hardwoods. And the makers of the rubber know that. So they prevent law suits by being proactive about their products. Wall to wall carpet is GOING to cover the entire floor. If you ruin an old wood floor, who cares...that's what carpet does...it hides old ugly stuff. But if you ruin a 10'x12' patch of hardwood in a home that has 1200sf of continuous hardwood, then that's different. Area rugs are meant to be moved from one 'area' to another. It is guaranteed to happen sometime in the next 25 years. In fact it will probably happen 2-3 times over the next 25 years. And what would you say if you found a big patch of gooey, sticky, smelly melted floor finish THE FIRST TIME you tried to move that rug? You would be UP IN ARMS about it. And who would you blame? The rug pad producer and the store that sold it to you for "Not informing you" of the issues. And because they didn't inform you, you know have to spend $$$$$ refinishing all the hardwoods because they are continuous...there is no way to do a 'patch and blend' in your home. That type of work comes in at $5-$7/sf. You can imagine how much 1000sf of hardwood costs to have it sanded and refinished because of a small patch of RUINED wood finish. Easiest way to stop a law suit is to prevent people from misusing your product in the first place. Therefore slab rubber underpad for area rugs is not an easy product to find. For this very reason.