A Buyer's Guide to Underlay

While it may sound like a bit of an obvious thing to think about, what your underlay’s made out of is crucial in making sure it provides maximum comfort, helps your flooring last longer and provides an extra layer of insulation and noise reduction.

However, it can be a bit of a minefield when you start to look because underlay is manufactured from so many different materials, including polyurethane foam (made from recycled furniture foam and a good heat and sound insulator), crumb rubber (hard-wearing and durable), waffle (good sound barrier and extremely comfy), XPS foam boards (made from foamed polystyrene that doesn’t deteriorate) and luxury vinyl (fitted underneath luxury vinyl tiles and provides good sound and thermal absorption). While it may quite literally be a fundamental layer within the process of choosing and purchasing new Carpet underlay, laminate underlay or other flooring; it’s easy to overlook. Yes, we see underlay when we’re buying it and when it’s being fitted, but then it’s out of sight and out of mind for however many years your new flooring’s down for. As a result, it can be easy to forget about factoring in underlay until the next time comes for you to invest in some new flooring, which means what you decide on may not necessarily be the best option.

There are also eco-friendly underlay options available that are helping tackle the global plastics pollution crisis. Including British made SpringBond®, which is made from recycled PET plastic bottles and other single-use plastics. In fact, we’re incredibly proud to say that thanks to so many of you choosing this eco-friendly underlay you’ve helped to save a remarkable 1 million plastic bottles from the sea. We also offer carpet ranges made from discarded marine waste – Sedna® carpets take waste, such as old fishing nets, and transform it into soft, luxurious, and durable carpet. What’s more, Sedna® carpets are also fitted with an ECO FusionBac textile back made from 100% recycled PET plastic bottles.

To help make sure your next underlay decision is the best one, we’ve listed 4 key questions you should always ask yourself when shopping around for new flooring. But before we move on to the practical advice, there’s just one thing we wanted to address…..

You may be wondering if you even need new underlay; seeing as it’s never seen by anybody; it’s protected by your actual flooring, so is less likely to wear down that quickly and, because it’s under your flooring, it doesn’t matter if it’s particularly brand new. But here’s the thing, it does matter. Ideally, you should replace your underlay every time you get new flooring. Why? Because over time, underlay breaks down from the weight of being walked across, and within all of these gaps, dirt and bacteria can build up (a bit like how dust and skin cells can mount up in your mattress).

Top tip: Crumb rubber underlay is incredibly springy, which means it’s more likely to spring back after having heavy items (e.g. furniture) placed on it.

…..Now back to those all-important questions you need to ask yourself when it comes to making your next underlay purchase:

We have added two new fantastic underlay choices for laminate flooring which can be added to your basket during the order process and will add a great deal of comfort, stability & warmth to your wood flooring.