I posted a message for a 3" pile true shag rug (apparently in the wrong place on gardenweb),it showed up as a 3' pile. I tried to correct it and it showed 3' again. The only post I received was someone hoping it was a typo! It all started with buying a stupid painting on Ebay, which turned into me buying hot pink and lime green towels for my bathroom(a great deal aaanddd my sister talked me into it), which in turn required me to change my entire bathroom, which brings me to the SHAG RUG. I have ebayed, googled, the WORKS. It's all about shag rag rugs. Someone, somewhere makes these things because THEY SELL THEM FOR A FORTUNE. HELP.....PLEASE.....HELP.

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!

My padding was very pricey but it didn’t have a name brand. Was sold by the foot by my rug importer. I also have cheapies for rugs by the bed. The pricey ones feel more comfortable (spongy). Neither has stuck to wood or tile flooring but the cheapies do get brittle so after a while they are as slippery as if you had no padding. I think it’s money well spent to by the pricier ones but again, no damage to flooring with either. Curiously the spongy shelf lining that looks similar to rug padding has been a DISASTER. Over time it sticks to shelving and it’s a mess to remove. Walmart stuff. Won’t use that again!

Thanks Jan, and points taken. The house is not an open concept barn, it's a 1958 home with doors to every room (even the kitchen), but hardwood floors throughout and large windows. Sound really seems to carry between the two floors. The rugs we've added so far have helped. We will just keep adding more as the budget allows. I would still appreciate any advice on whether it's feasible to lay down cork underlayment as an area rug. I really need a runner for a long upstairs hallway that's 15' x 4', with a couple of jogs. Decor isn't really important in that space, just sound absorption. Cutting pieces from a roll of cork would be much easier than piecing together area rugs to cover the 3 different sections. The hallway connects all of the bedrooms, and the stairwell funnels downstairs noise straight up to the hallway and bedrooms.