Very. Crumb rubber underlays are made from recycled rubber tyres. For example, Treadmore is made from 82% recycled content by volume and System 10 is made from 75% recycled content. All of the crumb rubber, by definition, is recycled but it is mixed with latex & some other materials. The Textron backing is non-recycled.
Even better, the crumb rubber underlay itself can be recycled.
We recommend Durafit 500 or Durafit 650, depending upon the level of comfort that you need, for the following reasons:
- Crumb Rubber underlays are the hardest wearing, and they all achieve 100% 'retention of work of compression'; in other words, when tested they can be compressed repeatedly with no loss of 'spring'.
- Thicker crumb rubber underlays, such as System Ten, are really designed for domestic use in smaller environments such as a hallway; over a large area a thick underlay can move, so the thinner Durafits will be better.
- Crumb rubber underlays can be stuck down, which reduces movement even further.
In a normal household room there is no need to stick down an underlay, particularly if the underlay joins have been taped together and the carpet has been properly stretched over the carpet gripper. However, there are two scenarios when sticking the underlay down makes a big difference: large areas, such as a commercial property or restaurant, and wheeled traffic, such as wheelchairs and mobility scooters.
The issue with large areas is that the bigger the room the more opportunity there is for the carpet to stretch and to move relative to the underlay underneath., particularly as people walk back and forth. Within a normal home there is a similar issue as vehicles such as wheelchairs and scooters run back and forth, particularly within a hallway, because the wheels push against the carpet when they move forwards and can cause it to ruck.
Sticking the underlay to the carpet (single stick) or to both the carpet and the floor beneath (double stick) can eliminate these problems.
All double-stick underlays can be single-stick too. There are really only two differences: first, underlays that are double stuck mean the flooring is very unlikely to move or ruck over time; second, underlays that are single stuck down are not glued to the floor itself and can be more easily lifted when it comes to redecorating.
To make absolutely sure that there is no side-to-side movement (on large floor areas or where there is a lot of traffic) it helps if the underlay is thinner and denser, so the two Durafit contract crumb rubber underlays are 5.25mm and 6.5mm, compared to 7.95mm and 9.2mm for Treadmore and System Ten. The thicker underlays feel more comfortable and are better suited to a home environment.
Actually, all underlays with properly taped joins will cut down draughts almost completely, and crumb rubber underlays especially so. To make utterly sure we recommend putting paper felt underneath the underlay.
All the crumb rubber underlays will do an excellent job. When measured scientifically against the relevant British Standard they score a 100% recovery after loading.