Help for slippery carpeted stairs?

January 29, 2016 12:01 PM

Our landlord put in new carpet just before we moved in, and it's very thick and very slippery, especially the stairs! At least once a week, myself or my husband seems to slip down them. The carpet is soft enough really so we don't hurt ourselves, but we have a new baby coming and this CANNOT happen then. Any ideas for non-permanent solutions? Rubber soled slippers? Carpet treads? Help!
posted by heavenknows to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

I've found that my carpet cleaner removed that "slick" feeling from the new carpets my landlord put in, I think they're usually coated to make them stain-resistant or whatever and that stuff is gross! Since using a rented or purchased carpet cleaner on stairs with a baby on the way sounds like a nightmare in terms of labor, it might be worth it to get a professional come in and clean them and see if that helps. You may even be able to split the cost with your landlord (it's always been around $100 when I've had it professionally done, though I haven't ever had stairs so it may be more.)
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 12:07 PM on January 29, 2016

Once you find a solution here, if it's a non-trivial cost, have the landlord implement it. It is very much in their interest in light of your family falling on these stairs every week.
posted by zippy at 12:28 PM on January 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

I would look into a non slip runner for the stairs. Is there too much padding on them as well? My last rental had awkwardly carpeted stairs, and part of the problem seemed to be that the padding extended over the edge of the step. When my foot hit the edge of a stair, it would compress too much and down I went. It only happened when I was walking down them. If that's the case, I would ask the landlord to re-do them.
posted by checkitnice at 12:49 PM on January 29, 2016

Seconding using a carpet cleaner - the detergent should help wash away some of the stain repellant. I bet your landlord went for extra stain-repelling coating given it's a rental property, so extra slippery.

Shouldn't cost too much to rent, but I'd also suggest looking on Kijiji or other classifieds - my husband picked up one very cheap that way. They're not tough to use either, pish posh on the idea it'll be overly labor-intensive.
posted by lizbunny at 1:11 PM on January 29, 2016

This might work: Rubber soled slippers?

When I had a similar issue, we all just stopped wearing socks inside the house. We either wore shoes of some sort or went barefoot. This largely put a stop to the problem.
posted by Michele in California at 1:31 PM on January 29, 2016

Seconding Michele . . . socks were the culprit for me.

My carpet is OLD, so it's not some surface coating making them slippery. It's just slippery (and my stairs are steepish and narrowish. I now buy slippers with rubber soles. Those socks with the rubber nubbins on the bottom might work too, but I haven't tried them yet.
posted by bluesky78987 at 5:52 PM on January 29, 2016

Also have busted my ass in socks, don't even get me started on the fuzzy spa socks infused with aloe....
posted by rubster at 6:33 PM on January 29, 2016