If you have the idea of building your own scratching post but have never done it before, you may have many questions. A lot of these questions probably revolve around what kind of materials you should be using.
This article will give you tips for choosing and buying the right type of rug to use to cover the base, posts and shelves of your cat tree.
Where do you get carpet
One of the best ways to get rugs is to buy them straight off the roll. You can buy rugs this way at all rug stores and most hardware stores. However, you may be limited to only buying it in certain foot increments (often 12′).
If you have too much surplus when buying from the roll, you can try buying leftovers. Most carpet stores have carpet scraps that they sell at a discounted price.
These are often brand new and are simply scrap parts left over from new installations in houses, apartments, office buildings etc. If you spend a little more time browsing around, you can land some amazing rug deals.
What type of carpet is best?
If you are building your own scratching post and are ready to carpet it, there are a few things to consider. First, what color do you want? This is really a personal decision, so I’ll leave that between you and your cat.
Second, you need to decide what pile, texture, and weight you want to use. If you are unfamiliar with carpet terms, pile simply refers to the length of the carpet fibers and weight to the thickness of the carpet. In terms of texture, it is best to opt for rugs without loops. This will prevent your kitty from getting hurt by making sure his claws don’t get caught.
If you want to make a scratching post with the most eye appeal and the least frustration during the building process, then stick with medium pile (3/8″ to 1/2″ long fibers) and medium weight carpet.
If the carpet fibers are too long or the carpet is too thick, it will be difficult to bend and staple around the edges and corners of shelves. If it’s too short or too thin, the backing will show through when folded over edges and around corners.
How much carpet is needed?
Of course, when building your own scratching post, the amount of carpet needed will depend on how extravagant your design is going to be. In most cases, you can create a nice, medium-sized scratching post of around 50 square meters.
