throw rug: backing dried up and crumbled; any way to rehab the rug?
The only thing you can do is buy that non-slip stuff they sell to keep rugs from moving on the floor, and lay the rug down on that. But when you go to wash the rug, all that stuff will still crumble and fall off into your washing machine.
I've got a rug right now that the same thing has happened to. I had it in our yard storage building over two summers, and went to get it out to bring it back into use and the backing has crumbled. If I am thinking of the same thing, what you mean by backing is that rubbery, or gluey stuff they treat the back of the rug with to keep the pile from shifting.. I haven't done this yet, and it's going to be a bit of a chore, but I'm going to a fabric store to look for some kind of fairly heavy fabric, kind of like they actually use on those better quality rugs. It's attached only round the edges of the rug, but it would sure cover up the yukky look of the dried, crumbled sealant on the back. You'd need a heavy duty upholstery type needle to do it with, and then just turn the edges of the fabric under, and hand-stitch it to the back of the rug.
