How To Soundproof A Laundry Room the Right Way

Laundry rooms are not noisy, but the laundry machines sure can be. However, no one can ever deny that the low noise and constant vibration that a washing machine produces can be annoying, so soundproofing a laundry room might be the best idea.

Once the washer is working and the dryer is both on at once, the noise will take away the peace in the laundry room and the surrounding rooms. If that bothers you, then now is the time to stop the constant annoying noise.

Soundproofing A Laundry Room — Modern machinery vibrating and loud? Let’s see what we can do to soundproof the room!

To soundproof a laundry room, you can:

Use anti-vibration soundproofing pads. You can also hang soundproofing curtains.
Install adhesive soundproof weather strips
Mount soundproofing foam mats

Also read: How To Soundproof A Nursery

Doing the steps above will allow you to confine the noise made by your washing machine within the laundry room. This way, you will not be able to disturb anyone who is around the house while you are doing your chores.

Which Part of the Laundry Room Should You Soundproof?

When soundproofing your laundry room, it is not enough that you apply soundproofing materials on just one part, such as the door. Instead, you need to install soundproofing materials on any area that noises may pass through.

Remember, you want to leave the other people in your home undisturbed. For this reason, you need to be hands-on in terms of doing this job.

Apart from reducing the noise that reverberates the entire house, soundproofing your laundry room, specifically using a vibration foam, can help you protect your washing machine and dryer.

As they vibrate, your laundry equipment’s machines can get damaged. The fixtures and screws can also loosen up without you noticing. But by using a soundproofing anti-vibration foam, you will be able to prevent that from happening.

Soundproof your laundry room’s doors

To soundproof your laundry room’s door, the first thing you need to do is to find out how much sound is leaking underneath it.

Try slipping a piece of paper under the door. If you can do that easily, or you can see the light passing through it, then that means noise can easily pass through. That said, you need to install a soundproofing door cover.

Soundproof the windows

If a lot of sound passes through your window, even if it does not disturb anyone within your house, then you should still hand soundproofing curtains. The reason is that the noise your washing machine makes can disrupt your neighbors.

Soundproof the laundry room walls

True enough, there are several ways that you can do to prevent noise from getting out of your laundry room. One of them is to soundproof the walls.

Your laundry area’s walls are generally not made for soundproofing purposes. For this reason, adding a soundproofing material to dampen the sound.

It would also be helpful if you will check if the walls have insulation. You can do this by drilling a tiny hole through the wall. If you cannot find any insulation within the wall, you can hire a professional to install it for you.

How to Soundproof a Laundry Room

The technology we have today is far from having the ability to silence a washing machine.

No one can stop this home equipment from vibrating, squeaking, and rocking as it operates. For this reason, the only thing you can do is not let the noise get out of your laundry room.

However, doing such can be a difficult task. But there are some practical steps that you can follow to do it successfully.

Install anti-vibration soundproofing pads

If you cannot control your washing machine’s vibration well, the sound it produces will continue to reverberate not only in the laundry room but also in the entire house. The reason is that vibration can penetrate through the walls.

One way to reduce the vibrating sound that escapes from your laundry area is to use vibration isolation pads.

When you put them under your washing machine and dryer, the pads will be able to absorb the vibrations, preventing them from disrupting anyone in other rooms.

In addition, the anti-vibration pads can prevent your laundry equipment from damages, such as loosening of screws, bolts, and any other fixture.

Use soundproofing curtains

Curtains may only seem like decorations that block lights from passing through the window. However, they can do more than that. Instead, they can also block some of the noises in your laundry room from getting out and being heard by other people.

There are three types of soundproofing curtains:

Insulation curtains
Industrial blankets
Audio insulation sheets

Insulation curtains are very similar to regular curtains. However, the difference is that they a construction constituting heavier materials. It gives them the ability to confine noise and preventing it from getting outside the laundry area.

Industrial blankets generally find use to protect fragile items and furniture when moving them to a new home. Since they have padded and thick materials, they can also act as soundproofing curtains.

On the other hand, audio insulation sheets are not curtains. But you can still hang them on your laundry room’s windows to prevent the noise from passing through them.

Most of the time, audio insulation sheets have grommets so that you can hang them from a curtain rod.

Between these three, audio insulation sheets can block the most noise. The reason is that fabrication occurs utilizing several layers of heavy fabric.

Install soundproof weather stripping on the laundry room’s door

Typically, interior noise does not have soundproofing strips. However, sticking some around your doorway’s perimeter will allow you to muffle sounds and confine them within the laundry room alone.

Foam rubber weatherstripping is easy to install as you only need to peel and stick it. It is also very affordable and produces a highly tight seal.

Moreover, one of the oldest and most effective weather strip fabrication involves the use of felt material. You can buy it in rolls and with or without adhesive at the back.

You can also install an under-door draft stopper and a door strip at the bottom of the door, along with the weatherstrip. These materials will seal the gap along the floor and stop the laundry room’s noise from passing through.

Use soundproofing foam mats.

Soundproofing foam mats can absorb the noise that your washing machine and dryer make. This material will allow you to prevent noises from your laundry room from transferring from the other spaces of your home.

Acoustic foam mats have a rating on a scale of 0 to 1 on the NRC or Noise Reduction Coefficient. Zero means that the foam mats do not absorb any sound. On the other hand, the scale one is an indication that they absorb all noises. (1)

Before purchasing soundproofing mats, you first need to assess the product that you have chosen.

Make sure that you are getting one that has a pretty high sound absorption rate. This way, you will be able to make sure that soundproofing will trap most of the sound produced by your laundry equipment within the laundry room alone.

The Bottomline

You can never stop your washing machine and dryer from making noises when they operate. When not managed, these sounds can disturb other people in your home.

Fortunately, you can prevent that thing from happening by installing soundproofing materials in your laundry room’s walls, windows, and door. This way, you will no longer have to worry about disturbing the entire home’s peace while you are doing a critical household chore.

The good thing is that soundproofing your room is an inexpensive task.