The Basics of Carpet Binding

When you go into any of our stores, you’ll see walls of carpet remnants that have a variety of uses. One of the most common uses of smaller remnants of carpet is to make a custom area rug. To make an area rug, you’ll need to bind the edges to keep it from fraying and unraveling.

What is carpet binding?

Carpet binding is when you take a piece of carpet and apply stitching, fabric, or adhesive to the edges to keep it from wearing out and unraveling. Carpet remnants are not finished on the ends. This allows us to cut the remnant down to whatever size you need and then bind the edges to make the perfect area rug, runner, or mat for your needs and space.

There are three common methods of binding: binding, serging, and fringing. The process of binding consists of sewing a piece of binding tape to the edges of the carpet. Serging uses stitches to bind the edges. Fringing consists of attaching a fringe to both sides of the rug. This is mostly used for oriental rugs.

Do It Yourself Methods

There are many tutorials out there to do carpet binding yourself using either Instabind tape or staples. There are several things to keep in mind when looking at a DIY solution versus a professional solution:

1. Price

One of the main reasons to try a DIY solution is to save money, but as far as carpet binding goes, it may not be cheaper. Professional carpet binding can range from $1 to $4 per linear foot, so a 5×7 rug would cost between $24 to $96. Depending on the DIY method, you’re looking at buying tape or staples. Either of these methods will easily cost between $50 and $60.

2. Time

The DIY methods take a long time if you are making anything larger than a small doormat. The most time-consuming part is going to be gluing the binding in place. Professional carpet binding, on the other hand, is fairly quick and easy when it runs through a machine.

3. Durability

Long-term, glue or staples is not going to hold up as well as a machine carpet binding.

Carpet binding is a great way to make an unusually sized area rug, use up extra pieces of carpet, or save money on an area rug. Come check out our massive selection of carpet remnants, and get it cut and bound to the perfect size for your needs and space!