Sales of sound insulation booming thanks to COVID-19 lockdowns

Coronavirus has drastically changed the way we conduct our lives, with millions of us now remote-working from home, quarantined between the same four walls day in day out.

The unexpected knock-on effect of this has been a dramatic rise in noise pollution within our communities and an all-time high in the sale of sound-insulating materials.

One West Midlands foam manufacturer has seen an unexpectedly successful year, reporting a 240% increase in sales in 2020.

Charlie Barrett, Sales and Marketing Manager for eFoam.co.uk explains:

“We were not surprised to see an increase in the number of people purchasing sound-insulating foam.  With more people working from home, sales have has hit an all-time high, driven mainly by residents installing products to dampen the sound of noisy neighbours. So far this year our sales of foam have increased by 240 percent – and the year hasn’t finished yet.”

“Pre-pandemic, our acoustic foam was being purchased mainly by recording studios and musicians such as drummers, who were converting garages or spare rooms into practice studios to help insulate the noise. Now we are receiving enquiries from people saying they need something to insulate their home from noisy neighbours, as they haven’t slept properly in weeks. There’s no evidence the trend won’t continue as the work from home culture benefits many industries.”

When relaxing at home, noise like traffic, a neighbour’s barking dog and family noise are often unnoticed, but being at home all day and trying to concentrate in a work mindset can highlight every sound – however it isn’t only the perception of noise that is an issue – the brave new world, with more families spending time indoors, more stress leading to more arguments and multiple people all working from home, noise levels have physically increased too.

Charlie explains that the properties of acoustic foam offer noise reduction in a number of ways, such as reducing reverberation, reflections and flutter echoes in recording studios, home theatres, music rooms, workshops, cinemas, etc. –  and home offices have been added to the list:

“Many clients have enquired about sound insulation for a dedicated meeting room at home, so they can take Zoom & Skype calls without intrusion. While meetings have generally become more tolerant, dogs barking, kids playing and normal household noise can be really distracting.  With remote meetings becoming a hallmark of the pandemic, it’s hardly surprising that we have seen a general increase in soundproofing requests – after all this is what we specialise in.  We can also customise our foam to meet any household requirements, and while we prepare and cut our foam in the heart of the West Midlands from our own factory, we supply the whole of the UK.”

To learn more, visit https://www.efoam.co.uk/