What if I went to Home Depot and bought a sheet of rubber cut to just a bit less than 8' x 10' and then a piece of felt the same size - glue them together and pop the area rug on top?Would that work?
Try using some condense air, inside of your printer, especially where it pulls in the paper.
Just an idea, get safety gloves which have metal mesh on the outside. Those types of gloves used to prevent cuts, so I think they will work great for your application and it is a cheap solution.
