Flooring Accessories 101: Adhesive, Tape, and Cleaner — What You Actually Need

Rubber flooring gets most of the attention in the buying process — the thickness, the format, the color. But the accessories you pair it with are what determine whether your installation stays put for 25 years or starts curling at the seams within a season. Here's what each accessory actually does and when you need it.

Do You Even Need Adhesive?

Not every rubber flooring installation requires glue. Interlocking tiles are specifically designed to click together and float over a subfloor without adhesive, which is part of why they're popular for DIY and temporary installations. Rolls, on the other hand, often benefit from — and sometimes require — adhesive, especially in high-traffic commercial settings or anywhere the flooring needs to stay perfectly flat and immovable.

The general rule: the more traffic, movement, or heavy equipment your space sees, the more adhesive matters. A home yoga studio can usually get away without it. A commercial gym with dropped weights and constant foot traffic almost always needs a properly glued-down installation to prevent shifting, bunching, or edge lifting over time.

RLX-100 vs. RLX-110: Choosing the Right Glue

Both adhesive options are built for rubber flooring, but they're sized and suited for different project scales:

• RLX-100 is the standard option for smaller to mid-sized installations — home gyms, single garage bays, small studio spaces. It's easier to manage for a first-time installer and covers a more modest square footage per container.
• RLX-110 (2 Gallons) is built for larger commercial jobs — full commercial gym floors, warehouse spaces, multi-room installations — where coverage area and adhesive volume matter more than fine control.

A simple way to decide: calculate your square footage first, then check the coverage rate per gallon. Buying the smaller option for a large commercial job usually means running short mid-installation — never a good position to be in with adhesive drying on one side of the room and no more on hand.

When Double-Sided Tape Is the Better Call

Premium double-sided tape isn't a downgrade from glue — it's a different tool for a different job. Tape works best for:

• Seam securing on interlocking tiles, where you want the seams to stay tight without fully bonding the tile to the subfloor
• Temporary or semi-permanent installations, like a rented space, a pop-up gym, or flooring that may need to be pulled up and reused elsewhere
• Perimeter securing, especially around doorways and high-traffic edges where a floating floor is most likely to shift, even if the rest of the room doesn't need full adhesion

Tape is faster to apply, easier to remove without damaging the subfloor, and a smart middle ground between a fully floating floor and a fully glued one.

Why the Cleaner Matters More Than People Expect

Rubber floor cleaner isn't just about appearance — it's about protecting the material itself. Standard household cleaners, especially anything with citrus-based solvents or high alcohol content, can break down rubber's surface over time, leading to dulling, cracking, or a tacky residue that actually attracts more dirt.

A cleaner formulated specifically for rubber flooring (like the CLX 1 Gallon option) is pH-balanced to lift dirt, oil, and grime without degrading the rubber compound. For commercial spaces especially — gyms, garages, industrial floors — using the right cleaner isn't a cosmetic choice, it's part of protecting the investment you already made in the flooring itself.

Putting It Together: A Simple Decision Framework

• Small home installation, low traffic → interlocking tiles, tape for seams, no glue needed
• Home gym with heavy equipment → RLX-100 adhesive for stability under dropped weights
• Commercial gym or large-format install → RLX-110 for full coverage and long-term hold
• Any installation, ongoing maintenance → rubber-specific cleaner, not a general household product

Bottom Line

The flooring is only half the equation. The right adhesive, tape, or cleaner isn't an upsell — it's what determines whether your installation performs the way it's supposed to for years, or starts showing problems within months. Matching the accessory to your actual traffic level and installation type is a five-minute decision that saves a lot of long-term frustration.