Types of Padding

 Carpeting is not always best used on its own, most times it needs a cushion or pad placed beneath for extra support and comfort. There are countless amount of options for these, including various materials, sizes, thickness, and end use. Having carpet pads can help extend the life of broadloom carpets as well as carpet tiles or area rugs. 

Fibrous Cushions 

These are the oldest form of carpet padding on the market. These cushions are produced by needle punching new, or recycled, fibers into a felt structure. The recycled materials are then coated with resin to add more stability to the fibers. The two most common materials used are hair and jute, any hair that is used is cleaned, stiff cattle hairs. While the plus of these products is a low price, they do not stand up to the test of time well. These tend to shift, bunch, and clump when exposed to heavy traffic. In an attempt to avoid these problems, a loosely woven jute scrim backing may be added for extra support. Antimicrobial agents are recommended to be added to slow mildew, odor, and deterioration caused with  these materials. However, recently antimicrobial materials have been causing controversy, since these can actually make people sick as opposed to be a clean material. Allergies to animal hair and dander is also another reason these cushions are not as popular today.

 

Fibrous Carpet Cushion Shown Above

Rubber Cushions 

Rubber cushions have several different options offering different comfort and support levels. Cellular rubber cushions are referred to as "sponge rubber" and has two types below this category. The first is waffled rubber cushions, these are often made with chemicals, oils, and fillers to give more weight to the product. These are pulverized with heat in order to allow the expansion process to create the 3 dimensional foam. There is almost a diamond like pattern that appears, creating cells of the pads, as shown below. 

Being a more porous padding does come with several advantages such as;  buoyancy, softness, and, are less likely to retain odors. However, there are some disadvantages to these pads they cannot be used in areas of high traffic since they do not offer a uniform support. People are also hesitant to use these because the rubber smell can be overpowering. These pads come in 12' wide rolls and can weigh anywhere between 41-120 ounces per square yard. It also has various thicknesses, which range from 0.124 to 0.624 inches.

Flat rubber cushions are made by converting liquid latex and fillers into a flat, continuous sheet. These sheets can be as thin as 1/8" to 1/3". These pads have much smaller cells and are able to provide a more firm feeling, this also gives more uniform support across the carpeting. However, since they are less porous they will retain more odors, including the strong rubber scent. These are also available in 12' wide rolls but, range between 28 to 65 ounces per square yard. Something that is interesting about these pads is that if they are thin enough, they can be permanently bonded to the back of a carpet instead of being separate. 

Foam Cushions 

Foam cushions is a large category of varying types of cushions. The chemical composition for the different types is all basically the same, they are all made with polyurethane but have differing manufacturing processes. Grafted prime polyurethane cushions are manufactured by a chemical mixing reaction process, which creates a flexible cushion that provides reinforcements for increased load bearing. Densified prime polyurethane cushions has a modified chemical structure to create a product with specific properties. This type has a higher density than grafter prime cushions, which is done by having finer elongated cells. These pads also are said to be odorless, resilient, mildew resistant, and won't bottom out. Mechanically frothed polyurethane cushions combine polyurethane chemicals and reinforcing fillers that are frothed with air while in a liquid state. This creates a denser firmer foam that could be applied directly to the back of a carpet. These are one of the best cushions on the market currently due to how durable they are and the great support given. These pads also do not contain VOC  and are able to resist indentation from furniture which extends carpet life.