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Prior to investigating ways which are proven to successfully isolate, insulate and prevent unwanted noise, it’s perhaps important to dispel some myths about soundproofing techniques which simply do not work. Many people waste considerable time and effort attaching various materials to walls in the vain hope of sound proofing sufficiently, but the truth is that the majority of these amateur methods won’t help much whatsoever. Attaching egg boxes or crates to the wall is a common practice, particularly amongst budding music producers. The truth is that attaching egg boxes is virtually useless as an effective means of soundproofing. Egg boxes are porous, lightweight and manufactured from cardboard. While they do actually act as a diffusor of sound at high frequencies, the level of bandwidth they affect is limited to the point of completely unnoticeable. It’s also important to remember that egg boxes are highly flammable, and using them for sound proofing purposes creates a fire hazard. People have been known to use bed mattresses propped against walls or placed in cavities as a crude form of sound proofing. While it goes without saying that mattresses are made up from soft material, it’s simply not the right sort of material conducive to sound absorption, and certainly won’t have an effect on any low frequencies travelling through the walls. Mattresses placed against walls generally accumulate a lot of moisture and mould, making them ideal homes for bacteria and rodents. It would easily be possible to professionally soundproof a room for the price it would cost to purchase enough mattresses to do so, and mattresses take up a huge amount of space. As with mattresses, many people believe that fixing carpet to the walls of a room will prevent any unwanted sounds travelling through. The problems with using carpet are much the same as those encountered by using mattresses. Carpet will not have any effect on lower frequencies, which are more important to control for better isolation. Much like mattresses, carpet will attract bacteria, dust and mites, and will start to smell unpleasant given enough time. Oftentimes, homeowners presume that fibreglass insulation will solve many of their soundproofing requirements. As with most of these myths, it does have some slight soundproofing properties, but simply will not stop those low frequencies from travelling through. It’s not such a good idea to pin fibre insulation to a wall either, as it is irritating to the eyes and skin, and the dust from it can be hazardous to lungs when exposed for long periods of time.
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