HOW TO REMOVE RUG PAD RESIDUE

Sharing what product at the grocery store removed the rug pad residue.

When I pulled up the rug pad in our family room I was shocked by what I found under the sisal rug.

It reminded me of when my kids hunkered down to watch Sponge Bob in the family room. They would eat an after-school, nutrient-packed Costco-size snack pack of Teddy Grahams. And, in full disclosure, they chased their itty bitty snacks down with a Capri Sun.

So imagine my surprise when I pulled the rug back I found DOZENS of empty snack pack size bags under the rug.

Ten years later and a pending rug purchase I had a similar reaction when I pulled up the rug I bought after the Teddy Graham snack era.

I was so excited to haul out the old tired, soiled rug, wash the floors and wait for this 8×10 rug I found on Overstock.

Sidenote: I have no photos of the Lego My Ego waffle pattern imprinted on our recently refinished hardwood floors.

I was freaking out when I realized it was baked onto the floor much like a frozen waffle that gets stuck to the toaster plates.

I panicked a bit. It was like chicken pox on the hardwood floors. Nothing like a little elbow grease, right? The sticky residue was not budging.

I did not want to scratch the recently refinished wood floors so I tried every non-abrasive, wood floor-safe cleaning product in my closet. So I do what I always do when confronted with a problem.

I called my sister in Tennessee.

HOW TO REMOVE RUG PAD RESIDUE

And that convo with my sister saved my floors. She suggested her go-to cleaning product for makeup for my floors.

Dawn dish soap to the rescue. If it can tackle oil spills on wildlife she assured me it would work on my hardwood floors without removing the finish.

And it did.

SUPPLIES TO REMOVE RUG PAD RESIDUE

Spray bottle of warm water
Dawn dish soap
Rags
Scrub-sided sponge-like this peach-scented Made in USA sponge!
This is my go-to floor mop. I like it because I can add my own floor cleaner.

STEPS TO REMOVE RUG PAD RESIDUE

Add enough water to the floor to create a little “give” between the rug pad residue and the dish soap. Like a little creek or stream of water (not a river runs through it amount of water).

Let it sit for a bit to soften the residue from the rug pad.

The hardest part is waiting for it to soften. If you are like me you are thinking three steps ahead to what if this does not work?

Don’t go there!

Just wait. Go load the dishwasher and grab a scrub-sided sponge and soft cleaning cloth.

Next, after is has soaked start in a small section.

This is a slow process so pack your patience. Maybe listen to this true-crime podcast instead of whistling while you scrub.

Repeat this process of adding water and Dawn dish soap and waiting.

And slowly, the residue starts to cling to the sponge or soft cloth and you see the waffle pattern-free hardwood floors.

And I breathed a sigh of relief and joy!

I texted my sister and told her it worked! And now my floors were clean! I used a clean soft cloth to remove and dish soap residue.

This is the rug I ordered. And I ordered this Made in the USA rug pad!

Look for a new Made in the USA video on my youtube channel once I get it!

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