Many homeowners don’t understand the real importance of quality cushion underneath their new carpeting.  Some retailers will use lower quality cushions to reduce their overall installed price to shoppers who are doing comparison shopping. This can be a costly mistake in the long run for homeowners buying carpet.

A good quality, dense cushion acts as a shock absorber when someone walks across a carpet. Instead of the carpet taking the stress and force exerted by foot traffic, the cushion absorbs the bulk of it and then pushes the carpet’s nap back up.  Without a good dense carpet cushion the cushion looses its resiliency and then then carpet begins to show signs of traffic patterns. The traffic patterns will continue to get worse as the carpet yarn mats and stays crushed down.  Plus, the cushion underneath has collapsed and has lost its bounce.

Avoiding Traffic Patterns

All of this can be avoided with a good, dense carpet cushion. Even a less expensive carpet will last longer and feel better on top of a good quality, dense carpet cushion. Carpet cushion is one place you don’t want to skimp on. The best you can afford for the given traffic area and type of carpet. For example: carpet manufacturers make specific carpet cushion  recommendations to not void their warranties. Be sure to ask the retailers for a copy of the warranty and follow the manufacturer’s cushion recommendations.

Types of Carpet Cushion

Rebond Carpet Cushion

The common types of carpet cushion are prime foam, rebond foam, runner and fiber. The most often used are the polyurethane foam cushions.  Rebonded foam is actually scrapes and small chunks of polyurethane foam left over from manufacturing of upholstered furniture, mattresses, and automobile seats.  Cushion thickness vary from 1/4″ to 9/16″ in thickness. A 6lb to 8lb. density rebond carpet cushion in 3/8″ to 1/2″ thickness can be a great choice for underneath any new carpet.  For berber carpets most carpet manufacturers recommend no more than a 3/8″ thickness cushion in a high density, such as 8lb. density. Also, dense carpet cushion may eliminate some of the re-stretch issues that can occur with some carpet installations.

Tags: carpet