You probably wondering, does egg carton soundproofing block noise as effective as mass-loaded vinyl soundproofing?
Even though the idea of filling a room with egg cartons may seem silly, you’d be surprised to learn that most of the soundproofing materials, including acoustic foam panels, mimic the shape of egg cartons.
In this guide, we shall be discussing whether egg carton is effective in soundproofing, and the different ways you can soundproof a room with egg cartons.
Do Egg Cartons Work for Soundproofing?
Yes, egg crate soundproofing does help in echo and noise elimination.
You’d be surprised to learn that some insulators and foam that are designed for noise reduction emulate the form of egg cartons for maximum noise reduction.
One of the cheap soundproofing materials that mimic the shape of egg crates is acoustic foam panels.
The convoluted shape of these crates allows them to absorb noise better.
This is because the varying curvature and dips enable the product to scatter sound waves right through different frequencies.
This helps the product deflect noise by significantly reducing the amount of sound reflected within a given room.
Egg Cartons Sound Absorption vs. Soundproofing?
Here’s a simple analogy to help you differentiate between sound absorption and soundproofing.
Take a racquetball and throw it against the wall, and observe what happens next.
The racquetball will bounce back and fall a distance from the wall.
Now grab something spongy like a mattress and place it against the wall.
Take the racquetball and throw it against the mattress and observe what happens.
You’ll note that the ball won’t bounce back with the same force as compared to when it hit a solid wall.
In our example, racquetball represents sound waves while the mattress represents our sound absorption material- in this case, egg cartons.
When sound waves in a room bounce against a solid wall, they are reflected and scattered back to the room.
However, with a sound-absorbing material in place, the sound waves that hit the wall get absorbed.
The curvatures on egg cartons also help disperse sound waves into different directions, which helps minimize the noise that reaches your ears.
You can read this Wikipedia guide on how soundproofing works and what makes it different from sound absorption.
Why Egg Cartons Fail at Soundproofing A Room?
Unlike mass-loaded vinyl, egg cartons don’t soundproof against sounds.
Like in the analogy of racquetball above, they help absorb some considerable amounts of echoes and reverbs.
But they’re not effective in noise reduction.
For this reason, you can’t rely on these cartons to soundproof against yard noise as they’re simply not designed for this purpose.
They’re also quite less effective compared to acoustic foam- here’s a guide on how soundproof foam works.
Egg Carton Soundproofing Alternatives
Because egg carton soundproofing has proven not a reliable soundproofing material, it’s important to focus our attention on some more affordable and effective materials that can help deal with unwanted noise.
Some of these products include:
1. Acoustic Sealants
Just like the name suggests, acoustic sealants are used to provide acoustic seals in parts of the walls, walls, and floors that are prone to noise transmission.
Cracks and gaps on the walls, electrical outlets, edges where walls meet the floor, and the ceiling are major areas that leak sounds.
A perfect solution for these culprits would be acoustic sealant, and one of the most recommended in this case is green glue acoustic sealant.
This product boasts a unique polymeric formula that transforms the mechanical energy of sound into small negligible heat energy.
The product performs the best when it’s sandwiched between two layers of drywall boards as it forms a damping system.
There are also other acoustic sealants that serve as efficient green glue substitutes with equal efficiency.
When installed on floors, Green Glue significantly gives a double benefit; it highly helps with both airborne noise and structure-borne from neighbors above (footfall noise) and is quite effective at both.
2. Mass Loaded Vinyl Soundproofing
Mass-loaded vinyl is perfect for blocking both low and high-frequency sounds.
This product is unique because it’s easy to install and doesn’t require too much technicality when hanging on the walls like acoustic foam panels.
You can sandwich it between two rigid drywall layers or alternatively screw it on a drywall surface or even glue it to a plastered wall.
Unlike eggs carton soundproofing, the MLV sound barrier blocks sound waves.
For this reason, MLV is quite a useful material for soundproofing against bass noise or yard noise.
It’s available in clear and grey colors, and the best part it can be easily painted using any latex paint of your choice.
In case you need to paint, I would recommend soundproofing paint as it will help with sound absorption as well.
3. Drywall Boards
Drywall, also known as gypsum board, plasterboard, buster board, sheetrock, custard board, is also one of the most effective soundproofing materials for professionals as well as DIY enthusiasts.
Even though it’s effective, this material requires a bit of technical experience and might require a professional to help you with installation.
However, even though the gypsum board will help in noise muffling, you shouldn’t expect it to block out noise completely.
One of the best-known gypsum brands that help in soundproofing is Quietrock.
The panels come in 8-, 9-, 10-, and 12 ft long panels and are installed as traditional drywall material.
What makes Quietrock drywall panels unique is the fact that they have a 3-layer design.
There’s a rubber-like viscoelastic sound-absorbing polymer sandwiched between ¼ inch thick of gypsum drywall.
The rubber-like material dissipates sound waves and energy much better than any synthetic polymer or rubber.
The only downside is that Quietrock is quite expensive than regular drywall panels.
4. Soundproofing Paint and Acoustic Wallpaper
Acoustic wallpaper is not your regular wallpaper.
It’s specially designed to help absorb noises hence reducing echoes and reverbs in a room.
For more information, here’s a complete guide on soundproofing wallpaper, how it works, and its effectiveness.
On the other hand, soundproofing paint contains thermacels, and it’s quite thicker than your regular paint.
It requires several coasts- ideally 2-3 coats for effective noise absorption.
These two products are not only more effective but also offer better aesthetics than egg carton soundproofing.
On Egg Carton Soundproofing
There you have it; egg cartons don’t soundproof.
They only absorb sounds and are not effective in sound absorption as well.
If you thought you could get away with egg crates, it’s time to reconsider and go back to the drawing board. You can start by reading the learning resources section on my website.