Craigslist finds are what I live for. And this cowhide was one heck of a bargain. Except that the smaller ends keep curling up and I trip over them. I tried taping them down to the floor, I tried rearranging the cowhide so that the curling bits were under the sofa. Until I found out the easiest way to tame a curling cowhide.
What You Need
Materials:
Cowhide
2 rags (for absorbing water)
pile of heavy books
spray bottle
water
Instructions
1. Lightly spray the top and underneath of the cowhide with water. You don't need to saturate, but just dampen. I used about 5 good sprays on each side of mine.
2. Place a dishrag or old towel underneath the hide so that your floor doesn't get wet. And place one one top of the curling piece.
3. Set a pile of heavy books on top of the curling piece and leave it there for a couple of hours, or overnight.
4. Voila. The cowhide is now laying flat and will no longer cause you tiny moments of torment.
Additional Notes:
This method is basically a way to re-stretch the hide so you can do it over and over, as needed. Big thanks to Morgan at the brick house for introducing me to this technique.
Images: Laure Joliet
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mine has yet to curl, but thanks to you i will be armed if he ever tries it!
What a great idea! We have this issue all the time, thanks!
Thank you!!! I recently resorted to staple gunning mine into the floor! This is much, much better.
This also works for area rugs of all sorts.
I'll be sure to use this technique on the one in my dining room. Thanks!
Or you take your iron, and iron it flat. Put a thin towel over the hide, iron carefully and voila, it is flat. Steamer for clothing works fine too, (they use it at the ABC Carpet and Home in NYC).
too clever (=
Sorry to say, but I really can't wait until this cowhide fad dies.
did it last night and can't believe how well it worked.
To keep it down, super glue (no stitch marks) a washer to the bottom where it is curling.
Now if I could only get my human hide rug to lay flat. Darned thing. Just kidding! My human hide rug doesn't have that problem at all.
Off to spritz my rug...have had this problem for the past 3 years and tried everything! Well, I hadn't stapled it down yet :) Thank you!
Thanks for this great tip. I've never owned a cowhide rug and am about to invest in a bright green (!) one for our contemporary living room from http://www.rawhidecompany.com/ and appreciate the tip on how to care for it.