Care

How to Hang a Rug on the Wall Without Damaging It

By Storied Rugs9 min read

Warm gray living room, a small deep red Baluch rug hung from its short end on a wooden batten above a linen sofa

Hang a rug by a strip of fabric sewn across the back of its top edge, rather than by nails, staples or tape in the rug itself. Textile conservators use either a hook-and-loop strip that presses onto a wooden board on the wall, or a fabric sleeve with a rod slid through it. Both spread the weight across the whole width, and both come off without leaving a mark.

A small navy and rust Torkaman rug hung flat from one fringed end on a white plaster wall in a stone cottage hall — A Torkaman, 2 feet 1 inch by 2 feet 11 inches, hung from one fringed end. Held along its whole top edge, it lies flat against the wall with no sag.

Why nails, staples and tape damage a rug

A hand-knotted rug is built on a grid of threads, usually cotton. The warps run the length of the rug, the wefts run across it, and the wool is knotted around the warps. A nail or staple breaks some of those threads and pushes others apart. The rug then hangs from a handful of points. It sags between them, each hole stretches a little more every month, and metal left in wool can leave a rust mark.^[1]

Adhesive is worse, because you can’t undo it. Tape, adhesive strips and glue soak into the cotton foundation. Sooner or later they give way under the weight, and they leave a residue that is very hard to wash out. Clip rails bite into the edge at a few points. Draping a rug over a pole is fine for a few days, but over months the fold turns into a crease that wears.

Sewing works differently. A needle slips between the threads of the foundation without breaking them, and when the stitches come out, the rug is as it was. That is why both safe methods involve sewing.

Method one: a sewn hook-and-loop strip

Many conservators prefer this method.^[2] The strip lies flat, and you can adjust the rug until it hangs straight.

Make the strip. Take the soft, looped half of a sew-on hook-and-loop fastener, about 2 inches wide and a little shorter than the rug is wide. Machine-stitch it onto a slightly wider strip of cotton webbing or twill tape.^[3]
Sew it on by hand. Lay the rug face down. Sew the strip across the back, just below the narrow woven band at the top end, with a curved needle and strong thread close to the rug’s color. Take each stitch through the foundation between the knots, in two or three staggered rows, so many threads share the weight. Keep the tension even, because tight stitches make the top pucker.
Fix the other half to the wall. Staple the hook half along a wooden batten, a flat strip of wood about the same length. Seal the batten with paint or varnish first and let it dry, because raw wood can stain a textile over the years.^[4] Screw the batten to the wall and check that it is level.
Hang it. Press the rug onto the batten from the center outward. If it hangs crooked, peel back a section and press it on again.

The staples go into the wood, so every hole is in the batten and none is in the rug.

The back of a rug’s top end on a worktable, a cotton strip with fastener tape hand-sewn below the woven band — The back of the top end, with a cotton strip and soft fastener tape sewn on by hand just below the woven band. The other half of the fastener is stapled to the wooden batten.

Method two: a fabric sleeve and a rod

A sleeve is a flat tube of strong cotton fabric. Sew it across the back just below the top end, the same way as the strip. A wooden rod or a flat slat slides through it and rests on two brackets. Make the sleeve a little loose and a few inches shorter than the rug is wide. Cut the rod just longer than the sleeve, so its ends rest on brackets hidden behind the top corners.

A sleeve suits a heavier rug. A round pole can press a faint ridge along the top, and a flat slat avoids that. If you would rather not sew, a rug restorer can attach the strip or the sleeve for you. Our guide to rug repair has notes on finding one.

How to hang a small rug on the wall

A small rug can hang from a strip or a sleeve like a big one, but there is a neater option: stitch it to a covered board and hang it like a framed picture. Conservators mount rugs on a rigid support such as mat board, corrugated plastic board or sealed plywood.^[5] The board should be at least 3 cm, a little over an inch, larger than the rug all around.^[5] It is covered first with prewashed cotton or linen. The rug is then stitched to it around the edge and in a loose grid across the field, so the weight is shared evenly.^[5] The covered board hangs from two picture hooks, or stands on a shelf or ledge. Sewing a rug to a board takes patience, so a restorer or a framer used to textiles can do it for you.

Which end goes at the top, and what to do with the fringe

Hang a rug from one of its ends, the edges with the fringe. That way the warps run from top to bottom and carry the weight along their length.^[3] Hung from a side, the weight pulls across the rug and can pull it out of shape over time. On most rugs the fringe is on the short ends. On the odd rug that is wider than it is long, it is on the long sides.

A pictorial rug has an obvious top. Most rugs look right either way up, but the pile leans toward one end, so the colors look slightly deeper from one direction.^[6] Hold the rug up both ways before you sew. Tuck the top fringe behind and let the lower one hang free.

Don’t trim the fringe to tidy it. The fringe is the ends of the warps, and cutting it can loosen the knots at the end, as our post on rug fringe explains.

Small navy Kashan rug with a vase of flowers hung by its long edge above a walnut console with a lamp and stoneware jug — A Kashan, 2 feet 7 inches by 1 foot 10 inches, with a vase of flowers on a navy field. Its fringe is on the long sides, so it hangs from a long edge with the vase the right way up.

Weight, wall fixings and light

A hand-knotted wool rug is heavier than it looks, because it is packed with knots. Weigh it first. Step on a bathroom scale holding the rolled rug, then step on again without it. Choose screws and wall anchors rated for well over that weight. Go into studs where you can, and use fixings made for plaster or masonry if that is your wall.

Keep the rug out of direct sun.^[5] On a wall it gets the same light at the same angle every day, and it fades in a band. Also avoid a cold outside wall that collects condensation, a bathroom, and the space above a radiator or heating vent. Protecting a rug from sun, pets and spills has more on light.

Moths like wool that is left alone. Every few months, vacuum the face on low suction with the upholstery brush, and once a year look at the back. Moths in wool rugs shows what to look for.

Can you hang a rug without nails?

Yes, if you mean no nails in the rug: both methods above keep every nail, staple and screw out of the wool. No holes in the wall is harder, because a hand-knotted rug weighs more than most pictures. If the room has a picture rail, hang the batten or rod from it on picture hooks and cords. A small rug on a covered board can also stand on a shelf, a mantel or a ledge, leaning against the wall. We would not trust adhesive hooks or strips with a wool rug, and never stick anything to the rug itself.

View across a farmhouse sitting room to a small blue and red Songhor rug hung on a white wall above an oak bench — A Songhor, 2 feet by 3 feet 6 inches, with three linked medallions in red and ivory on a dark blue field. Hung from a short end, the column of medallions runs up the wall and reads from across the room.

Which rugs look best on a wall

Small, light rugs are the easiest. Anything from a 2 by 3 to a 4 by 6 is easy to handle and sew, and light enough for an ordinary wall. A room-size rug needs a strong wall, a long batten and several people. Our mini and accent rugs and small rugs are in that range, and nearly all of them cost under $500.

Choose a rug for its drawing. A clear medallion, a bold repeat or a pictorial design looks good on a wall, and fine detail can be enjoyed up close. A narrow runner hung from one end suits a stairwell.

Don’t hang a rug with a weak or brittle foundation, because hanging puts a constant pull on it.^[1] If the back crackles when you bend a corner, ask a restorer first. Then hang the rug the way you would hang a painting, centered on the wall or on the furniture below. Leave a hand’s width or more between its lower edge and the top of a sofa.

Cream Nain rug with navy corners and fine burgundy florals hung on a sage green wall above an oak writing desk — A Nain, 2 feet 10 inches by 4 feet 3 inches, with a cream field, navy corners and fine floral drawing in burgundy and navy. Detail this fine is easy to miss underfoot and easy to enjoy at eye level.

A quick checklist before you start

Weigh the rug and buy fixings rated well above that weight.
Hang it from a fringed end, sewn on rather than nailed or taped.
Seal the wooden batten before the fastener goes on.
Pick a dry inside wall out of direct sun.
Vacuum it gently every few months and check the back once a year.

If the rug comes down again, how to store a rug covers rolling and wrapping it, and our rug care page has the everyday care. If you would rather see a small rug on the floor, where to put a small rug has ideas.