This rug laid down perfectly after I followed your directions. Unroll the rug, roll up with the opposite side out. I left it that way for 24 hours. After I laid it down there were a few wrinkles that I pulled out with an upright vacuum cleaner. (Perfectly flat now) The colors are beautiful with my taupe/gray leather furniture. My Husband and I are elderly and fall easily so we didn’t put a pad underneath so it isn’t to high to trip us. (8x 10 is the size we have) Our shark robot vacuum cleaner works well with the edges of the rug with no fraying.