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Knocked out 12 seams on a shag carpet yesterday with zero visible lines
I finally tried that scotch tape trick I saw on a forum years ago - you tape the backing down before cutting the seam. Cut down on fraying like crazy and the seams are basically invisible. Has anyone else used this for high-pile carpets?
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claire_gibson11d ago
Oh man, the tape residue nightmare. I've been there and it's like the carpet equivalent of stepping on a LEGO. But here's the thing, I actually use the cheapo dollar store packing tape for this, not the fancy stuff. It seems to have just the right amount of stick that it holds the backing down without turning into a goopy mess when you peel it off later. The trick is you gotta press it down firm but not like you're trying to fuse it to the carpet forever. And for the really thick shag, I actually cut the tape so it's only an inch wide instead of using the whole roll width. That way it doesn't grab onto too many of the long fibers and pull them out when you're done.
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alexk6011d agoMost Upvoted
Aw man, I gotta respectfully disagree with you there @young.kim. In my experience, painter's tape is actually worse for this job because the adhesive is designed to be just weak enough to let go cleanly, which means it gives up on holding the carpet backing down when you're trying to cut. Regular old scotch tape works fine for me but you gotta put it on in short strips, like 4 or 5 inches long, and overlap them a little. The key is making sure the carpet backing is totally clean and dry before you tape it, otherwise nothing sticks and you're fighting it the whole time. I think people get frustrated because they lay one long strip and expect it to do the work of ten smaller pieces, but for me, taking the extra minute to do it in sections saves me from redoing the whole thing later.
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young.kim12d ago
Gotta ask - did you use the regular scotch tape or the blue painter's tape? I tried this once with just regular tape and it left a sticky residue that collected every piece of lint in the room. Ended up having to redo that whole seam. Painter's tape worked way better for me but still had some issues with the backing not staying put on really thick shag. What's your secret for getting it to hold without peeling up mid-cut?
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