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Carpet Cushion or "padding" is just as important as the carpet itself. There are various different types of materials used in carpet cushion. Many years ago, natural fibres (horse hair etc) were used to make a "felt" pad. Synthetic fibres are now used. Felt is used typically were there is commercial traffic and a greater need for sound/acoustic insulation. The large majority of carpet cushion sold/used today is made from rebonded urethane foam chip material. This rebonded (rebond) product combines both reclaimed urethane chips from recycling old mattress/upholstery foam and new (prime) urethane foam. This method is the most cost effective and is scalable in both density and thickness. A moisture barrier is attached to resist absorption of liquid spills penetrating through the carpet. This underlayment (underlay) does a good job providing support for all types of stretched installations. Many years ago a composite material of clay & rubber was used to make carpet cushion. This provided an extremely dense and low profile underlayment (underlay). Unfortunately, the bonding of the clay and rubber does not stay intact. Also, rubber tends to change its shape as a result of environmental changes (humidity/temperature) modern rubber underlayment (underlay) utilizes much more stable, closed cell SBR rubber. However, a "waffle" texture to the surface of the rubber padding can, add to the lack of a proper stretch if a power stretcher is not used on larger room sizes. A special webbed layer is attached to the top of rubber (and some rebond chip products) to allow a "double-stik" installation method. This allows the carpet to be glued directly to the surface of the underlayment (underlay) and the underlayment glued (typically with a release adhesive) directly to the substrate (concrete/plywood). There are now virgin foam padding products available that are made from natural oils and are closed cell construction (won't absorb moisture). These are premium products that provide the very best in support for all carpets; they also offer very good comfort. The principle density ratings of carpet cushion is expressed by either pounds per cubic foot or total weight of a square yard. the bare mininum density found in rebond is typically a 4lb density. Contractors use this quality as it offers a short term performance at minimal cost. The flooring industry considers a 6lb or more density a "High Density" product. Many manufacture's warranties are null & void without this minimal density being used. There is also 7lb, 8lb,9lb and 10 lb carpet cushions in rebond chip products. Again, because the raw material is taken from recycled foam, density can be inconsistant. Rubber underlayment (underlay) is generally very high 18lb to 35lb density. Rubber padding can also be made much thinner then rebond chip because of this higher density. When using carpet cushion in a stretched installation, the tack strips (smoothedge) that is nailed/glued around the base of the room walls is typically 5/16" high. The thickness of the underlayment (underlay) is almost completely comfort related. Manufactures quite often offer various thicknesses measured within 1/32" increments as this does effect costs but most consumers would never be able to feel the diffrerence between a 7/16" padding a 13/32" padding. Padding over 7/16" in thickness is not very installation-friendly as the smoothedge is only 5/16" high and the carpet can "pull back" away from the wall causing a loose fitted section. The same can be said about padding thinner then 3/8" as the carpet is literally getting "stretched" over the thickness of the padding "down" across the 5/16" smoothedge. Finally, there is another term of performance regarding underlayment (underlay), the compression/recovery factor. It simply means how resilent is the padding from onging traffic. Rebonded chip padding tends to "compress" down in high traffic areas; the lower the density the more this becomes apparent. SBR rubber and virgin/prime urethane foams have very little compression issues. The higher the density, the more "ridgid" the feel. The thinner the padding the less "compression" happens. It is simply a user-based decision. Carpet cleaning can cause the most problems if excessive moisture is used with a padding that is not closed cell.

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Q: What type of padding is best to put under Berber carpet?
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Companies that provide the best sales and care for Berber carpet are quite a few around the globe. The best ones that you can find easily are the ones present in yellow pages in your area.


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