Piano carpets: Top reasons to use a rug under your piano

Piano carpet/rug protects the floor, improves aesthetics, and can also provide underfloor heating protection for your piano.

Why Use a Piano Rug / Carpet?

There are several reasons why you may want to use a rug under a piano:

Floor Protection: An important reason for placing a rug under a piano is that it helps protect the floor from scratches, scrapes, and damage caused by the movement of the piano over time.

On slippery floors, a rug under the piano can also make it easier to slide the piano, in case you want to change its position.

Related: Use a Piano dolly to move your piano.

Aesthetics: A rug can also be used for decorative purposes. You may want to use a piano rug to add a touch of elegance and style to the space where the piano is placed.

Sound Dampening: A rug can also help dampen the sound produced by the piano, reducing the echo and reverberation produced by the piano in the room.

Regulating Underfloor Heat

Underfloor heating is one of the several factors that can have an affect on the tuning of a piano. Many homes nowadays use Underfloor heating, and although they are quite effective at doing their job, they can create issues with pianos, especially with the tuning of Pianos.

Every time the central heating goes on and off, the humidity levels in the house increases and reduces. In general, Pianos don’t like temperature fluctuations as they are made of many wooden parts. Too much fluctuations can have an impact on the tuning, the soundboard and movement of hammers – particularly when the heat source is directly under the floor.

Its usually recommended that you keep your piano away from heat sources (including windows), but if your room has underfloor heating, your piano will still be exposed to temperature fluctuations.

One solution is to use a special piano carpet, or mat (that acts as a heat shield).

• These are designed to protect the piano from the fluctuations in the underfloor heating.
• Because the piano doesn’t come in direct contact with the floor, these carpets also provide extra sound proofing and resistance to damp.
• These are easy to setup and suitable for most floor surfaces.
• You get under-floor heating mats for both upright as well as grand pianos.

Watch: Piano + Underfloor heating = disaster
“Underfloor heating is a concern if temperature and humidity are not correctly regulated. As with all heating sources, care must be taken to ensure that the ambient temperature is kept as close to 20°C as possible. Specialist carpet is available to place under the piano,” says one Piano technician.

Related: Piano care, cleaning, polishing & maintenance tips