Non damaging way to mount acoustic foam

[Janettebot]

Hello, recently I have been looking into getting a nice mic setup and I've come to the realisation that my room is not treated very well at all ( only a bet and curtains, both of which are on the same wall ) and the wall my desk is on is opposite a near blank wall and I need a non damaging way to mount acoustic foam to prevent echo. Any feedback is appreciated  and thanks in advance : )

[Bombastinator]

14 minutes ago, Janettebot said:

Hello, recently I have been looking into getting a nice mic setup and I've come to the realisation that my room is not treated very well at all ( only a bet and curtains, both of which are on the same wall ) and the wall my desk is on is opposite a near blank wall and I need a non damaging way to mount acoustic foam to prevent echo. Any feedback is appreciated  and thanks in advance : )

The two non damaging things for wall mounting I know of are blue yak and command adhesive.  Blue tac was once called poster putty. It has extremely limited holding capacity, and command adhesive requires that its tab be accessible when mounted so that it can be grabbed and pulled to release it.  Command adhesive can stretch a foot or more when being removed and if it breaks during the removal process it can be a real PITA. One would assume what you would have to do is attach the sound absorbent material to a tile of some sort and then mount the tile to the wall using one of the two substances. 

[dalekphalm]

4 hours ago, Janettebot said:

Hello, recently I have been looking into getting a nice mic setup and I've come to the realisation that my room is not treated very well at all ( only a bet and curtains, both of which are on the same wall ) and the wall my desk is on is opposite a near blank wall and I need a non damaging way to mount acoustic foam to prevent echo. Any feedback is appreciated  and thanks in advance : )

What we did is used adhesive spray to glue squares of cardboard or boxboard (we used cereal boxes) onto the backside of the sound foam. 
 

Then, we used the 2-piece hook and loop (“Velcro”) CommandStrips. One side stuck to the boxboard, and the other stuck to the wall. 
 

This way you can easily and quickly remove and reattach the sound foam squares as needed. 
 

And the command strips can be removed from the wall permanently when you’re done with no damage (just be patient removing them when pulling those little tabs). 

[Bombastinator]

I was thinking of what tile to use.  Corrugated cardboard and foam core are cheap and light. One might get additional sound insulation from something heavy and vibration resistant like old linoleum tiles, but that stuff by definition weighs more.  Sound insulation that is good and inexpensive is often heavy. It will depend on what you can hold with what.  Command adhesive will actually hold a lot.  It’s double stick foam tape, more or less.  What makes it “command adhesive” is numerous slits in it that allow it to be pulled from the wall a little bit at a time (and is why it stretches)  it’s not cheap stuff though and using it can add up fast.

 

peeling one side off the cardboard or foam core will lighten it without damaging its ability to hold on the other side very much and might actually improve its sound absorption.

Edited March 20, 2021 by Bombastinator

[Bombastinator]

17 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

What we did is used adhesive spray to glue squares of cardboard or boxboard (we used cereal boxes) onto the backside of the sound foam. 
 

Then, we used the 2-piece hook and loop (“Velcro”) CommandStrips. One side stuck to the boxboard, and the other stuck to the wall. 
 

This way you can easily and quickly remove and reattach the sound foam squares as needed. 
 

And the command strips can be removed from the wall permanently when you’re done with no damage (just be patient removing them when pulling those little tabs). 

The only problem with spray adhesive aside from the fumes (which can be hella dangerous) is that most of them aren’t permanent.  They have a nasty tendency to lose their hold after a couple years. 3m Spray77 is famous for this.  The most permanent one I know of is original “final net” hairspray because it’s basically spray starch.  Silverfish will eat it, and it doesn’t stick all that well, but it’s basically the same stuff as library paste.  I stopped looking at such things long ago though.  Perhaps technology has improved.

[dalekphalm]

38 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

The only problem with spray adhesive aside from the fumes (which can be hella dangerous) is that most of them aren’t permanent.

I mean, sure... but as long as you follow the safety instructions you'll be fine. I sprayed all of mine outside in a well ventilated area of open air.

38 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

 They have a nasty tendency to lose their hold after a couple years.

Even if you have to re-apply the adhesive spray every few years, that's a miniscule amount of work for the convenience factor. Especially if "non-damaging" and "non-permanent" are requirements for this.

38 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

3m Spray77 is famous for this.  The most permanent one I know of is original “final net” hairspray because it’s basically spray starch.  Silverfish will eat it, and it doesn’t stick all that well, but it’s basically the same stuff as library paste.  I stopped looking at such things long ago though.  Perhaps technology has improved.

I'm not even sure if my can of adhesive spray is branded - but it's definitely not 3M. I think it's Elmers brand. I did have to re-apply the glue on one specific foam square where the glue didn't take, but after fixing that, they seem to be doing totally fine, all things considered.

 

49 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

I was thinking of what tile to use.

"Acoustic" sound foam can be purchased from places like Amazon for extremely low cost - but if you want to save even more money, just buy foam from a hardware or craft store. You can find some with similar surface patterns, or you can start cutting them to spec. Different shapes serve different purposes, but my research pretty much indicated that "diamond pyramid" vs "triangle" ridges didn't make much appreciable difference.

 

The main thing that will is having a thicker base of foam to begin with, unless you need an extremely aggressive approach, such as sound deadening blankets.

49 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

 Corrugated cardboard and foam core are cheap and light. One might get additional sound insulation from something heavy and vibration resistant like old linoleum tiles, but that stuff by definition weighs more.

I would really avoid something like floor tile. I can't imagine it has any benefits that outweigh the added weight.

49 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Sound insulation that is good and inexpensive is often heavy. It will depend on what you can hold with what.  Command adhesive will actually hold a lot.  It’s double stick foam tape, more or less.  What makes it “command adhesive” is numerous slits in it that allow it to be pulled from the wall a little bit at a time (and is why it stretches)  it’s not cheap stuff though and using it can add up fast.

 

peeling one side off the cardboard or foam core will lighten it without damaging its ability to hold on the other side very much and might actually improve its sound absorption.

 

[Bombastinator]

8 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

I mean, sure... but as long as you follow the safety instructions you'll be fine. I sprayed all of mine outside in a well ventilated area of open air.

Even if you have to re-apply the adhesive spray every few years, that's a miniscule amount of work for the convenience factor. Especially if "non-damaging" and "non-permanent" are requirements for this.

I'm not even sure if my can of adhesive spray is branded - but it's definitely not 3M. I think it's Elmers brand. I did have to re-apply the glue on one specific foam square where the glue didn't take, but after fixing that, they seem to be doing totally fine, all things considered.

 

"Acoustic" sound foam can be purchased from places like Amazon for extremely low cost - but if you want to save even more money, just buy foam from a hardware or craft store. You can find some with similar surface patterns, or you can start cutting them to spec. Different shapes serve different purposes, but my research pretty much indicated that "diamond pyramid" vs "triangle" ridges didn't make much appreciable difference.

 

The main thing that will is having a thicker base of foam to begin with, unless you need an extremely aggressive approach, such as sound deadening blankets.

I would really avoid something like floor tile. I can't imagine it has any benefits that outweigh the added weight.

 

Sound absorbency happens in a bunch of ways but one of them is when the vibration moves from one type of material to another type.  This is why foam is good.  It goes air plastic air plastic.  Another material with really good sound absorption is cheap particle board.  It’s random ragged shapes of wood with air pockets and glue.  Very acoustically dead stuff.  It’s the preferred material for speaker enclosures. Recycled materials are often also useful because of their shredded AMD reconstituted nature.  Various somewhat flexible materials are also good.  Acoustic dampening stair treads are made of recycled tires.  This is also why linoleum tiles (notice I use the brand name) have this advantage as well. It’s not that weight is good so much as a lot of the things that work well are also heavy. A bajillion kooshballs for example would make great sound insulation. One of the known good materials is a product called “blue fill” which is an insulation material made from recycled blue jeans.  Cotton fibers are kind of fluffy even under a michroscope.  Much moreso than any synthetic material. Distressed recycled shredded ones even moreso. 

[Ahoy Hoy]

The trick to not damaging the wall is not attaching the acoustic foam to the wall but instead to something else.

Like @dalekphalmsuggested cardboard boxes. Ive also seen cheap wood panels or MDF and attaching picture screw hooks.