Thanks for all the advice. I will make sure to wear a respirator when
I do the work. I have read some stuff online about using a heat gun to
help get the adhesive off easier, so hopefully that will not cause a
lot of dust. Really, I was concerned about the white felt like
material that was stuck on the adhesive. I am pretty sure that was
either from the carpet or padding that was on the stairs a while ago.
It almost looks like the felt like material was used to hold the
adhesive in place, but I am not sure. I just wanted to check and make
sure it was unlikely that either carpet or padding could have backing
or something that contained asbestos if in fact that is what the white,
felt like substance is.