First of all people should keep in mind that they should wait at least 3 weeks better will be1 month after refinishing their hardwood floors to use a rug pad. Because if the polyurethane hasn't cured yet, it will be react with the pvc or rubber based pad, amusing it to mar the floor. What to expect from a high-quality hardwood floor rug pad With so many rug pad materials on the market, finding the best rug pad for hardwood floors to protect both your carpet and wooden floor can be quite a challenge. While quality rug pad for wood floors are designed to protect and offer stability, a low-quality padding may do more harm than good. As a rule of thumb, a good rug pad should keep your carpet in place, make cleaning easier, and protect the flooring underneath. But there are other characteristics to look for when buying rug pads for hardwood floors: a high-quality padding should not smell⦠it will not stick to your floor; those that do stick to your floors or stain them are made from low-quality PVC or are cured with various chemicals that can react with your sensitive hardwood floors. Always keep in mind that you should wait at least one month after refinishing your floors before laying any type of rug pad, otherwise the finishing may react with the padding. environmentally friendly rug pads minimize landfill waste and they do not contain harmful chemicals. Thicker rug pads for hardwood floors will help prolong your a carpets life. äRreduce slippage äMake vacuuming and cleaning so much easier äOffer a soft feeling under your feet äReduce carpet wear and wrinkling äProtect your wooden floors from stains äAdd cushion, warmth, and comfort äExtend the life of your hardwood floor.

My son currently works as a 3rd party engineer for one of the felt rug padding and carpet padding manufacturers Rug Pad USA, Mohawk, Shaw.... and I've actually asked him this same exact issue. I'm a designer down in Savannah GA and our summers are as humid and muggy as they come. I asked him specifically what pads would work to avoid the "Sweating" issue. My clients and I complain about this all the time - the pads get glued to the floor. One of my clients had to replace a portion of their hardwood to fix this issue. He has an engineer background does this for a living, thus most of what he said went over my head....but here's what I gathered... - A 100% felt rug pad is actually recycled polypropylene fibers but it won't ever stain, nor sweat, but the rug has to be large enough not to move. But with smaller rugs, you need to stick with a rubber or latex product to prevent "sweating" and sticking. - Felt and rubber rug pads are made with either synthetic latex (lower cost) or Natural rubber (more expensive), he thought that both should be dry enough that they shouldn't sweat between your floors. So this is what I have been recommending to my clients. I also asked him about the different materials - since I told him one of my clients floors needed to be replaced. Heres what he said "your flooring surface finishes are whats important, not whats underneath them, and to be especially careful with vinyl, acrylic, and laquered finishes. Some PVC padding, not all, can leave an imprint on this type of flooring if they don't get the formula correct, or if they use cheap fillers rather in place of proper materials, or if they haven't been tested on before. Pads that tend stick to floors, melt, sweat, are always made with pvc and essentially all come from low grade suppliers in China." Some food for thought :) - Hope this helps

Yes, I'd get a felt pad. In my case, the pattern of the seagrass rug pushed through the backing and basically created an imprint of the pattern on the hardwood floors. One of the felt pads I bought was from IKEA. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90132261/ It was by far the least expensive and performs as well as the more expensive (larger) felt pads. Search gardenweb for advice on where to buy felt pads if you don't want IKEA's

All felt if you have no concern about the rug slipping. (like when the rug is under furniture) A felt and rubber combo if you do. This site has a ton of explanation. https://www.rugpadusa.com/collections/for-hardwood-floors