# The Physics of Rugs **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 11, 2021, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667 "2021-03-11T01:42:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/21 "2021-03-11T18:28:08Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > Maybe your rugs are migrating… If they are, then they’re going in the wrong direction for half the year. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/22 "2021-03-11T18:45:03Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > These are machine made The rugs are almost certainly made from an artificial fabric and there may not be much friction between them and the likely artificial fabric of your fitted carpet. Perhaps turn one of your rugs around to see if it still moves in the same direction. If it does (most likely) then it must some property of the fitted carpet that seems to create more friction in one particular direction. My other WAG: somebody in your house is screwing with you. Claim to each house member that you are turning one of the rugs around (pick a different rug for each person) but don’t actually do it. Whoever it is may be tempted to move it in the opposite direction - then you will know. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/23 "2021-03-11T18:50:08Z")
I still think it’s ghosts. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/24 "2021-03-11T18:50:55Z")
I’m wondering if the floor in here is not quite level - not enough to actually see/feel, but juuuust enough for this stuff to migrate in the same direction. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/25 "2021-03-11T21:15:31Z")
Might there be someone other than you who is walking upon the carpets? ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/26 "2021-03-11T21:24:27Z")
Not really. My husband will come in occasionally but that’s a couple times a week, while I am in there almost every day, and go in and out multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/27 "2021-03-12T14:36:18Z")
Obvious question - do you have pets? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/28 "2021-03-12T15:05:40Z")
Did anyone ever die in that room? ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/29 "2021-03-12T17:00:16Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Obvious question - do you have pets? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/30 "2021-03-13T04:39:17Z")
The rugs are trying to get to the closet to hang out with the extra wire coat hangers. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/31 "2021-03-13T05:39:04Z")
Consider affixing (somehow) Velcro to the carpet and the underside of the rugs. Seeing as how even nails were not strong enough to hold these carpets in place, I would expect you would need large areas of Velcro (like, the entire underside of the rugs) and not just little patches. If all else fails, there’s Gorilla Glue. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/32 "2021-03-13T14:56:28Z")
I tried the self-adhesive Velcro. Didn’t work very well. > [@GaryM](#): > > The rugs are trying to get to the closet to hang out with the extra wire coat hangers. Maybe I should check underneath for missing socks. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/33 "2021-03-13T16:24:23Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I suspect the carpet pile is tending to lie in the direction the rug moves. I’ve come to this conclusion independently while trying to figure out the runner in the upstairs hallway. The underlying carpet has approximately vertical yarns that I think were probably folded over in a zigzag during manufacturing but then mown off just under the bends, or something like that. The yarns look like grass. But they’re not vertical on average, they have a bit of a lean. Perhaps they were stitched in by a process moving that direction in the first place, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/34 "2021-03-13T17:34:16Z")
Was your house built over any kind of ancient burial ground? I don’t want to belabor the point, but all of the conventional explanations have failed, not one of them addresses the round rug moving on it’s own, so I do believe we have to examine other-worldly explanations also. Plus, it’s easy to just blame ghosts and stop wondering about it. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2021, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/35 "2021-03-14T01:25:10Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > During the long, cold winter nights, small patches of ice form under the rugs. Later, when the sun comes out, the ice melts and forms a lubricating layer that the rugs can easily slide over. Ambient wind and other forces displace the rugs before the water evaporates, leaving only a dusty trail on the cracked playa. Hmm, might be thinking of something else here. A racetrack??? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2021, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/36 "2021-03-14T04:20:33Z")
Shouldn’t have bought a magic carpet from that genie. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/37 "2021-03-15T03:37:16Z")
Mimics. They’re positioning themselves so that when they attack you’ll be in the most advantageous position for themselves and the least for you. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/38 "2021-03-15T14:28:42Z")
I use heavy stiffer backed rugs and they tend not to move. I also try to place rugs where furniture wil be sitting on at least part of it. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/39 "2021-03-15T14:44:31Z")
NO KILL I ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667/40 "2021-03-16T02:10:32Z")
Well, it likes you more than me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-rugs/937667.md?page=3)