Sound is something that we enjoy in various forms – music, speech and more. There are however times when sound becomes noise. At such times, it becomes undesirable.
This can be because the sound pressure level has gotten to a decibel that is much louder than is enjoyable or even healthy to the ear. It could also be that you are in a situation where you need absolute quiet, in which case any kind of sound will be unwelcome.
There are different acoustic isolation and treatment methods that can be employed to cut off or at least reduce the sound pressure level of the sound we hear in whatever space we are in or want to control. These different methods will cost different amounts with the most effective of them costing way more than most folks will be able to afford. You can check out different acoustic treatment methods here.
In this article, we will be focusing on something a lot more affordable that can be used in various circumstances for reducing sound pressure levels and probably other applications. We are referring to sound absorbing blankets.
Factors to Consider when Choosing Your Blankets
There are a number of important factors that you need to consider when choosing a sound absorbing blanket. This is because there are variations and what you choose may or may not serve you. You therefore need to understand the factors to be considered to ensure the choice you end up with is exactly what you need.
Let’s quickly look at some of the very important factors.
Material
This is probably the very first thing you should consider when making your choice. Different materials have different sound absorptive, reflective and preventive capabilities. You need to know how much sound you want to keep out or keep in as well as what frequencies you are likely going to be dealing with.
For example, if you are looking to prevent low frequency sounds from getting in or out, then you should be looking at the quilted type blankets. If however you want to cut the SPL that gets in or out down to the very minimum, then you should go for the thicker materials. You will usually have options like fiberglass, polyester and a few others.
Thickness
Continuing from the point above, when going for a material you should also consider its thickness. This is important for two reasons. First, the thicker materials will likely provide you with more isolation than the lighter ones. However (and this brings us to the second reason), thicker materials are more difficult to manage. If you therefore want to choose thicker materials, be sure to also consider the next factor.
Ease of Use
Different types of blankets offer different levels of ease of use. Like we noted above, the thicker variations are more difficult to use because they present more difficulty when they are to be hung. For this reason, if you are choosing the really thick types, be sure they come with grommet for easy hanging. You should know exactly how you intend to put them up before making the purchase.
Price
Finally, you should obviously consider how much they cost and how much you are willing or able to spend. We have put this last because it should not be the first thing you consider. You should not be going for the cheapest product but the product that offers you the best value.
A Few Recommendations
The last thing we will do before ending this article will be to give you some of the top quality products that you can choose from. These top recommendations are courtesy of soundproofpros.com/best-soundproof-blankets.
Big Boxer Grommeted Industrial Blanket
This is a very affordable, multi-purpose product. It is made of polyester with a mix of polyester and cotton used for the filling. This product will effective dampen noise as well as vibrations. You can also easily put them up thanks to the metal grommets that are added for this purpose.
It is 78 inches in length and 72 inches in width. This is large enough for a small wall. You can however get more if required. After all, it is offered at a very affordable cost.
Cheap Cheap Moving Boxes Deluxe Moving Blankets
This is a product that you should consider if you want to cover the entire walls of a small room. This is a 4-piece pack that includes blankets sized 72 inches by 80 inches each. This will provide quite some substantial coverage.
It is made of non-woven fabric with a polyester binding. You can use it for different purposes other including for moving and of course as an acoustic treatment.
Audimute Absorption Sheets
For those with serious acoustic treatment needs such as in a home studio, this is a product you should seriously consider. Unlike many other products, this is specifically designed for use as an acoustic treatment material. It has a noise reduction coefficient (NRC) of 0.85.
This is a single sheet product that covers an area of 95 inches by 54 inches. While they will certainly not be ideal for acoustic isolation, they will be great for use as wall panels to cut down on flutter echoes.
Putting this up is easy because grommets are attached for this purpose.
Sure-Max Heavy Duty Moving and Packing Blankets
This is another product that is well suited for covering larger areas. This is a 4-piece pack that is also multi-functional in design. You can use it for moving, acoustic treatment, padding and protecting your stuff and more.
This is one of the thicker blankets that will provide a higher level of noise reduction. It is made of fabric that is double-lock stitched and also reinforced. The binding is polyesters and it is well-padded with virgin cotton batting.
This is a top quality material that promises durability. Wherever and however you choose to use it, you can rely on its quality.
It however does not come with grommets and it cannot be machine washed.
Conclusion
Carefully go through our recommendation and based on the factors we mentioned above, choose whichever product you think will offer you the exact features you require.