Soundproofing your room or home doesn’t need to be expensive, and it doesn’t need to be difficult. You can do a lot of the work with some simple items you may already have in the home.
With a bit of ingenuity and imagination, you can turn your home office, studio, or baby’s room into the quiet space you need. Let’s take a closer look at some cheap soundproofing materials that really work.
Foam Panels
You can find foam panels anywhere, and they are not expensive. They are likely the most commonly used item for soundproofing and for a good reason. They work. Available in a variety of colors and styles, you can buy enough to cover all the walls and doors in the room you need to be soundproofed.
These are used in professional sound and recording studios and are very reasonably priced. Great for basements, for the baby’s room, for your home office, or your garage where you do your podcast.
These are easy to apply and can be hung temporarily until you know they are in the best place. The foam makes it easy to handle, and you can shape them to fit any nook or slanted ceiling, wall, or doorframe.
Moving Blankets
You’ve seen the large blankets used to wrap up furniture, and they work great for soundproofing. Think, soft, and easy to use; they will help contain the sound in the room and keep it from getting out.
Durable, washable, and easy to store, there is no reason for them to be up permanently if you don’t need them to be. Install a few hooks or track around the room to hang them on. If they are sliding hooks, you can move them across the space like curtains. They are very versatile and can be used in almost any place you need soundproofing.
Carpeting
Carpeting is a great way to absorb sound, stop echoes, and keep background noise down. It can be a wall-to-wall carpet, a few throw rugs, or an area rug. If it’s for a workspace, you can find these items used online, at your local thrift store or at a neighborhood yard sale.
These carpet tiles are great for easy and fast installment. The peel and stick carpet tiles are the perfect solution to a noisy room. They come in a wide variety of colors, thickness, and design. You can cut them to fit, and they are very reasonably priced — ideal for the basement, garage, or backroom studio or home office.
Not only do these carpets help with the noise, but they also make the space more comfortable. It makes it warmer and quieter, and people will feel more relaxed. Carpeting, even the tile carpet, will cut down on the unwanted noise level in the room. Footsteps, couching, echoes, anything getting dropped, and even idle chatter.
Add Furniture
By adding a few soft chairs or couches, depending on the size of the room, they will soften any noises in the room. It also gives people a place to sit, which also works so deaden the sound.
Heavy lined drapes are also an excellent choice for cheap soundproofing materials. They can easily be hung all around the room and moved out of the way when not needed. They look great, and they work really well.
You can add your own extra lining to make them even more effective, depending on what you need them for. It makes the space look and feel cozier while working as soundproofing. Ideal for the office or studio in a basement, a shed or garage, or in a concrete space.
Seal Up Small Spaces
Using cheap soundproofing materials to close off gaps around the room will help considerably. By covering up doors and windows, you will reduce the sound getting in or out greatly. For windows, try covering them with plastic and taping it down.
If you don’t need the window, you can cover it with a board or a heavy drape. There are sealing kits for windows that will not only soundproof them but keep out cold, winds, drafts, and weather.
For doors, you can use sealing tape or weather stripping around the frame and attach a sweeper at the bottom. They are cheap soundproofing materials available everywhere.
Keep out extra unwanted sound, weather, dust, pet hair, and bugs. It’s easy to do and very inexpensive. In fact, you may notice a drop in your monthly power bill.
Tips and Suggestions
Photo by Skitterphoto from Pexels
Assess what you really need and make a budget. Stick to your budget. It won’t be hard as there are many amazing things that can work as cheap soundproofing materials. Find items you can use that you already have in the home-curtains, blankets, extra bits of foam.
Check out thrift stores for used carpeting curtains, blankets, and other items you may need to hang the items with, like hooks, curtain rods, and cheap adhesives.
Mix and match the items you get. You don’t need to use all of one item. The variety of these materials will add a new sound or feel to the projects or just change the mood of the room. It can change the entire feel and sound to your album or podcast.
If it’s for your bedroom, find colors that are relaxing and soft. If it is to be a workspace, avoid things that will cause distractions. Be sure to check the materials themselves in case you will have any type of reaction to them.
Expensive Does Not Mean Better
If you are just beginning, don’t be shy about asking questions. Also, don’t feel you need to spend a lot to get the desired effect. Cheap soundproofing materials are readily available and are easy and convenient to install. By finding the right materials at the right price, you can have your perfect home office or studio. Use your imagination, check out some other soundproof spaces, and find out what will work best for your space. It is your space; make it work for you.