Best Carpets for Stairs

The carpet treads from Shape28 is where comfort meets safety. Providing extra traction, the company's carpets will prevent you from slipping on steps. They're quite soft as well though, cushioning feet with comfort despite the thin construction and looking good while doing so.

While most carpet treads rely upon hardware or sticky tapes damaging the stairs, these mats set into place using slip-resistant backing. Made from rubber, the backing provides a secure hold, with the reusable construction letting you relocate the mats when necessary. The backing also smells though, with this noticeable rubbery "aroma" that goes away with time but a little unpleasant initially. There's nothing unpleasant about the microfibers that the product's made from though. Besides making the treads durable, the microfiber construction also makes them resistant against stains and fading. Finally, you can choose between 6 colors and 4 pattern options.

To conclude, as beautiful as hardwood stairs are, they're also dangerous. With these mats from Shape28, you can make them much less dangerous. Plus, you'll also be spoiling the entire family's feet with luxurious cushioning and be able to install them without using sticky stapes.

TreadSafe Carpet Treads come adopting pre-applied adhesive on the back. Serving as non-slip backing, the adhesive enables easy installation but without leaving residue behind, something that you cannot quite say about most mats that rely upon adhesive elements. In fact, the adhesive backing here is even reusable and does not require re-aligning once installed. You can easily remove the mats when you want and install them back without worrying about damaging the stairs or wasting the backing.

Most carpets for stairs nowadays are made from polypropylene, which makes sense since the material is affordable and, for the most part, not terrible for the environment. This one's made from a soft wool blend though, offering ample cushioning and feeling much more pleasant on bare feet than its PP competition.

These runners will fray with time, so we would recommend treading lightly (apologies). On the bright side, they're resistant to stains and machine washable, so you don't have to worry about them shrinking and deforming.

Last but not quite least, the treads measure 30 x 8 inches each, making them an excellent fit not just for regular stairs but also for larger houses with extra-wide stairs.

Ottomanson Glamour Stair Treads are not quite as glamorous as the name would suggest but, from where we're standing, they're pretty mats, pretty enough at least. What's more important though is that the treads are stain-resistant as well as shed-free, accommodating high-traffic areas and homes with pets and kids better than most carpet treads. Employing non-slip rubber backing, the mats promote safe stepping so, chances are, even pets and little children will not be slipping and falling on these runners from Ottomanson.

We can appreciate the geometric trellis pattern that the treads are adopting, making them look more expensive than they actually are. We can also appreciate the low-profile surface pile and the hemmed edges that lend the mats a clean, tidy look. But the stitching here does not quite inspire appreciation, not surprising considering that the treads are pretty cheap but a little disappointing anyway. What's not disappointing is these mats being almost impervious to fading and the easy upkeep that the combined nylon and polypropylene construction is offering.

In other words, what we have here are affordable and good-looking carpet treads that last, meaning that most houses with stairs can benefit from these little rug strips.

Natural Area Rugs Carpet Stair Treads are not necessarily the most luxurious-looking treads we've seen yet but they're offering multiple advantages that even premium mats can seldom provide.

To name one, constructed from high-strength sisal, the treads are not just wear-resistant but also easy to upkeep. To name two, they lend more traction to hardwood floors than mats made from PP and nylon. Plus, they're better at dampening sound, making them a perfect fit for households with unruly kids running amok. The mats resist stains and soil and do not harbor allergens as much as fluffy rugs usually do.

Sure, they're not perfect. Unlike PP mats, these treads catch more debris, so you'll have to clean them a little more frequently.

The bright side here is that the folk at Natural Area Rugs are selling these treads as 4-packs, so you don't have to overpay for 14-15 treads if you don't need as many. Lastly, the mats come equipped with a non-slip natural latex backing, preventing them from slipping and skidding without using any adhesive solutions.

Long story short, Natural Area Rugs Carpet Stair Treads are great replacement treads. They're also a pretty good option for parents with overly energetic children who like running up and down the stairs, stomping like elephants.

Antdle Stair Treads are thorough, that's the word we'll go with, because why not? For starters, the treads come fitted with skid-resistant PVC backing, which means that they don't just protect you from slipping on the stairs but also minimize denting and scratching that occurs to the stairs in the long run.

Having said that, sometimes, even the most effective anti-slip PVC backing is not enough. That's fine though. Besides the backing, these treads come with two double-sided tape rolls that will ensure the treads do not move even if their lives are dependant on it.

Talking logistics, what the kit includes here, aside from the above-mentioned tape rolls, is 14 stair treads. The treads add up to 30 x 8 inches each, meaning that they will also fit pretty wide stairs and not just regular ones.

From the upkeep perspective, you can clean these mats using a vacuum cleaner or a washing machine, so they shouldn't present considerable maintenance challenges. The mats will not shrink nor deform from being washed in a washing machine.

A little upsetting is that the colors will sometimes look different from advertised but, even taking that into account, we cannot say that the people at Antdle are not making a fairly compelling case with these carpet treads for stairs.