Buying Carpet Padding - the Stuff That Really Makes Your Carpet As Nice As It Feels

Carpeting has this way of making home feel more comfy. Furniture curtains or wallpaper don't really have that kind of effect on us. When we look at a carpeted house and feel this way, usually, we think it's the carpeting. In truth though, the carpet padding that goes underneath contributes a lot to the way you feel as well.

Not only does carpet padding make carpeting feel more cushy than it really is, it can make your floors feel more even and more quiet. As much as you might luxuriate in the deep richness of it all, that's not really why they first invented carpet padding. It wasn't a comfort thing at all at first.

Back when padding first came to carpeting, the designers merely intended for it to be something that could help carpeting last longer. When carpeting is used against a bare floor, there's just too much wear to the underside of the carpet for it to last even a couple of years. Over time though, people began to realize that they liked carpet padding just for the soft springiness they got each time they stood on their carpet.

Now carpet padding should really be a pretty straightforward thing - it's just padding for your carpet. Why do you need dozens of kinds of choices?

The manufacturers have made your decision for you here though. They seem to believe that you really can't do without a range of choices in how thick your padding is, how soft, what material you use and what ways you use to install it. What should be a simple thing, as always, is overcomplicated by manufacturers trying to set their product apart.

So what we need now is one more buying guide - this one for carpet padding. Let's look over all the basics quickly so that you'll know what to look for when you arrive at the home improvement store.

The most important thing to look for in carpet padding is how dense the padding is - not how thick. When you get carpeting for the hallway that sees a lot of traffic, you want really dense padding. You want dense and thin padding. Basically, a lot of up and down travel isn't good for your carpet. It causes it to unravel. Thin and dense padding will make sure that the carpet doesn't ravel much. In places like your bedroom that don't see much traffic, you can go for just about anything - half-inch carpet padding that's not very dense will do. It'll be nice and soft (and you'll be ready for anything).

There are all kinds of materials they let you buy for your carpet padding. You get rubber, polyurethane, felt and, the most common kind - rebond.

Rebond is a great choice, but it isn't the cheapest. Polyurethane is not as long-lasting as the other kinds, and it can be expensive. But it's very easy to install and it can provide your carpeting with strong padding. If you're looking for really soft stuff, rubber and felt fiber aren't really what you should choose. They don't do really well that way. But they are easy to apply.

Make sure that you never use old and used carpet padding for new carpeting. And do keep in mind that it isn't easy to do a great job with padding. Pay a lot of attention to getting a qualified installer.