Doors, on a house, are some of the most vulnerable parts when it comes to noise leakage. And there are obvious reasons why noise can easily penetrate into a home through the doors.
I am talking about the air gaps – which you will normally see between the door and its frame, the frame, and the walls and between the door and the floor. Some invisible cracks on the door form good channels for a stealthy intrusion of sound.
Once you are aware of these areas, altogether with a hollow (core) door, you can now think of the available soundproofing options.
The work starts right here.
You may want to seal all the gaps I have talked about – and work on your hollow door. The problem, however, is when there is not enough money to secure the required soundproofing resources for the project.
This can place you in an awkward shift. But did you know that there are quick cheap ways on How To Soundproof A Door With Household Items?
Yes, that is true. Materials such as the thick curtains you have in your house, the blankets, old towels and pillowcases, carpets and rugs, mattresses and soundproof paint.
You can also mention the couches, cabinets, wardrobes and bookshelves, large pictures and paintings. They all can do an inspiring job if properly manipulated.
The Advantage of Household Items.
To begin with, I hope you understand that the household items and materials may not give you the perfect results.
But it requires zero thinking to know that household items will cost you virtually nothing. Which is a welcome idea for the tight budgeters or economizers or urgent soundproofing projects.
These materials are also available to you in the house. No hassle of going out in the market to buy new items because you have most of them around.
If you are looking for temporary measures to get you through a certain period of time, perhaps a scheduled event in your neighborhood, then household items and materials are going to be just what you need. And of course, if the area is always a quiet one for peaceful staying.
In short, sound dampening door for a home using the household materials is a feasible idea that you want to take advantage of as much as there is that opportunity.
Here are 9 Easy Ways on How to Soundproof a Door with Household Items.
1. Rearrange Furniture
The quickest method you can implement right away is rearranging your furniture. Probably, your home has multiple doors; you can stop using some of them.
In this situation, you want to place your cabinets, wardrobes, bookshelves, and closets right next to that door. Again, you can fill the wardrobes with more clothes, the bookshelves with more books in order to increase the thickness of the barrier you are trying to create.
If it matters, don’t be afraid to block the door completely using even bulkier furniture. Afterward, you won’t be using that door for some time.
For a major door that is used regularly, it is going to be trickier to use this method of soundproofing. Because if you end up blocking the regular door, then how do you move in and out of the house, comfortably?
2. Install the Curtains on the Door
If you have curtains in your house – everyone has these – then you will want to hang them on the door. Thick, dense curtains can soundproof your door quite well to live your space a great place to sit and relax.
You want to make sure that you hang these curtains in as many layers as you want the results to come out. They should be long enough to hang from the door top and touching on the floor of the house.
When you are layering these curtains, you must ensure that the curtain rod right above the door is strong and stable to hold them in place. Curtains should be wide and look for the thickest and possibly the heaviest you have in the house for this task.
If the results don’t impress, it will be your time to consider buying the soundproof curtains. There are many of them on the online market stores.
3. Paint the Door with Soundproofing Paint
You can paint the door with ordinary paint and still get an awesome reduction of noise. Definitely, you will have to apply many layers to reach the level where noise is reduced.
Soundproofing paint works out the magic. It is not just the ordinary paint – it comes properly thick making it an effective barrier when applied on the door.
The decorative properties of this paint offer your door that sleek appearance also. Which is a bonus for those of us who want more than just soundproofing.
How the soundproof paint works is that it thickens the door. And you will, therefore, notice some changes in terms of noise leakages.
4. Use the Old Blankets
Identify the thickest blankets and the heaviest. Their installation is the same as for the curtains mentioned above.
The only difference is that with blankets, you will need to fix them with some clips or grommets which will be used for hanging. Some people may just nail or screw them on the door.
For a soundproof door, ensure the entire door is covered without leaving any place exposed – you still remember the tiny cracks on the door? The blanket can go as far as to the door frame to help out with the air gaps existing between the door and its frame and the floor.
These blankets may not provide you with killer results you want. Unless you try out the more professional solutions such as these moving blankets here.
5. Use the Leftover Green Glue or a Similar Substance
For the tiny holes on the door and the spaces between the door and frame, frame and wall, you can get Green Glue or another suitable adhesive.
This substance will seal the hole effectively. And you will be amazed at the outcomes.
6. Change the Old Weatherstripping
Oftentimes, you may find out that the old stripping on your door has worn out. Remove them or repair according to the level of damage.
After removing, make your own stripping using the local materials in your home. You can make use of your wood for a wooden door and metal for a metal door.
It seems to be a very ordinary method but it gets, somehow, the job done.
7. Use the Carpets
Normally, people use carpets on the floor. They can be slid under the door and be able to seal the gap between the door and floor.
But these carpets can be used even more than just laying them down – you can attach them on the door. Which without doubt, would increase the thickness of the door and therefore help reduce the amount of noise reaching the interior of your home.
Make sure to use appropriate adhesives to attach these carpets on the door. Alternatively, you can nail them but nailing comes with its own downsides like damaging the door.
8. Create Your Own Insulation
Look for a reliable insulation material such as this Styrofoam (it is superb in noise insulation). Once you resize it to fit the door, you just need a suitable adhesive to fix it on the door.
Nailing is another option you want to use to put up the material on the door.
Once it is in place, you can spray it with colorful paint to increase its visual appeal –It is not the best when it comes to appearance. You can hang some beautiful curtains as well to hide the problem.
9. Other Improvisations
There are a number of improvisations you can learn on how to soundproof a door with household items.
You can stuff towels below the door on the floor during sleep and remove them in the morning. This can reduce the noise coming inside the house or room.
But to make this even more efficient and easy, crafting a double-sided draft stopper will go a long way in ensuring that your noise-reduction efforts pay some dividends.
The pillows and towels can be added to the door to increase its thickness and bulkiness. This could prove to be handy.
Only use the pillows or towels for this job if you don’t have blankets around. Otherwise, you are better placed to reduce noise using blankets and curtains than it is with pillows or towels.
Final Thoughts
Soundproofing the door with household items is the easiest and cheapest way to make a quiet space. But you should not expect these local tricks to provide the magical solutions of the real soundproof materials.
As you see, most of these methods do not need many efforts and resources. They are simply improvisations using the local materials in the house.
Hopefully, this article on how to soundproof a door with household items was a helpful guide to us who want some quick, temporary fixes to one-time noise pollution.
