Carpet padding is a key ingredient when selecting new carpet. Carpet padding not only provides underfoot comfort but it also absorbs some of the impact from foot traffic helping to maximize the life of your carpet. Other pad benefits include reducing of sound and acting as an insulator thus making a room quieter and warmer.??
Carpet padding is made primarily from either polyurethane foam, fiber, or rubber and is available in a variety of thicknesses and densities. Pad thickness is the overall thickness of the product for example a 1/2" pad is 1/2" thick. The density is measured by what one cubic foot of that pad weighs -so a 6 pound pad means that one cubic foot of that pad weighs 6 pounds. Some consumers request heavier density pads thinking that will increase the underfoot cushion. In reality the more you increase density the harder the pad becomes. Striking that balance between underfoot comfort and maximization of the carpet's life puts the density of padding in the 6 to 8 pound range for optimal performance. The right thickness is also a balancing act because too thick causes excess wear to the backing of the carpet while too thin takes away underfoot comfort. The right balance in thickness is typically 1/2". Right along with the selection of the right carpet for your home you should be equally selective when picking out the pad that goes under your carpet.
At Carpet Direct we recommend a polyurethane foam pad that has been cut into pieces and then glued back together. That type of pad is commonly referred to as re-bond pad. Our recommendation comes from years of experience in the flooring industry and watching how different pads perform in real life scenarios.
Not all re-bond pads are of equal value. Many pad manufactures purchase used carpet padding as a component in making their new padding. This helps lower their costs but from a consumer?s perspective now matter what processes is employ in cleaning the old pad there is still dirt content that cannot be cleaned out. The dirt content adds to the weight of the pad thus altering the density. Even though a pad might be listed as a 6 pound pad there is less foam in the pad because of the dirt content.
At Carpet Direct we recommend a virgin polyurethane foam pad made from ?scrap? foam leftover from the manufacture of mattresses, furniture, and vehicle seats. This virgin foam costs more to purchase on the market than used foam from old carpet padding. However it increases the overall quality of the pad we offer.?
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