How do you choose underlay?

Everyone talks about Underlay when you are buying a carpet. The majority of carpets require it when they are installed. What is it? What does it do? Putting it simply, it makes the carpet feel more comfortable to walk upon. You may not need it if you are replacing carpet, unless it stinks of pet smells, or someone has foolishly glued the carpet down to it, causing it to come up along with the old carpet.

The main kind of underlay is a waffle rubber base and is supplied by the majority of retailers. There are really only a handful of variations on this basic product. The main differences between the different variations is weight. The weight of the underlay is related to the “feel underfoot”. So the heavier the weight, then the softer and thicker it will feel when walking on it.

So if you buy an underlay with a 65lb weight, it will not feel quite as nice as an underlay with a 130lb weight. However, the 150lb weight happens to feel harder than the 130lb. So if you want a lovely comfortable luxurious feel underfoot, possibly for a bedroom, then you will want a 130lb weight underlay. If you are looking especially for warmth and thermal properties, then the cloud 9 range has the highest tog ratings and is excellent at heat insulation.

If your floor underneath the underlay is concrete, then unless you have under floor heating, a high tog underlay would be best as it will offer good insulation. If you are looking for underlay that helps with noise reduction, then try Cloud 9 cumulus underlay, as it has good noise reduction properties. However this sort of sound reduction is based on impact sound, not airborne sound. So if you require underlay that lessens airborne sound reduction, then have a look at combination underlays.

If you do happen to have under floor heating then its best to check with your heating installer as to which underlay is best, but usually you are limited to having a combined tog rating of around 2.5, so you are a bit limited to the types and styles of underlay available.

So what is underlay made from? It’s nice to know exactly what you are laying your carpet on. Well, crumb rubber underlay is made from recycled car tyres that have been crumbed then bonded together. It’s very hard wearing and usually used in more setting where comfort is not so critical. However blown rubber underlay is a rubber material that is similar to foam, but made from rubber based type material.

If you’re looking for Cloud 9 Underlay, you can find a wide selection at www.simplyunderlay.co.uk.