Depending on the car and the lift point, I use either nothing, a hockey puck, a piece of vinyl flooring, or a rag/cloth. For the CRV front point I use a hockey puck.
As for stability, I think that depends on many factors. You want the car wheels chocked so that the car can’t roll. You want to be on flat, hard ground so that the car can’t roll and the jack can’t sink. You want to be on smooth ground so that the floor jack can do its normal roll while it is lifting. You want jack stands.
You tube has nice examples of people skipping safety steps, such as not using wheel chocks or lifting on soft ground or not using jack stands…
As for stability, I think that depends on many factors. You want the car wheels chocked so that the car can’t roll. You want to be on flat, hard ground so that the car can’t roll and the jack can’t sink. You want to be on smooth ground so that the floor jack can do its normal roll while it is lifting. You want jack stands.
You tube has nice examples of people skipping safety steps, such as not using wheel chocks or lifting on soft ground or not using jack stands…