On Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:02:32 +0000, Jon Fairbairn wrote:

Jules writes:
Yep, that's what we have here - 1-1/2" wide strips of about 3/4" deep (I
think the modern stuff's a bit wider, typically). Very hard-wearing,
although some types of spills can damage the finish and of course it's
vital to put pads on the bottom of the furniture so it doesn't scratch (we
used felt ones, but rubber would probably be better).

You have to be careful about the type of rubber. I used
some black rubber under furniture on a maple floor and was
dismayed to find that after five years or so some of the
black had migrated into the floor (very hard to get out). I
was planning on using felt next time!

Hmm, point taken. Felt does work well, but reduces friction a little too
much - I'm forever making little adjustments to the sofas, coffee table
etc. because they've been bumped out of line :-) OTOH it's handy being
able to just drag stuff around sometimes (e.g. completely moving a sofa to
sweep under it)

Actually the other plus with felt is that it's porous (IYSWIM) - so can
absorb little bits of dirt. When we first moved in we thought that the
underside of the sofa legs were so smooth that they wouldn't cause a
problem - but of course little bits of grit seem to work their way under
there somehow, and it's *those* which can then scratch the floor. The felt
does a nice job of preventing this (whilst attracting insane amounts of
pet hair :-)

cheers

Jules