There are two distinct types of sound you will be dealing with when soundproofing your laundry room: structural noise and airborne noise. Both types of sound will require different soundproofing treatments, so it is important to understand the difference between the two before you start on your project.

Structural Noise from a Washing Machine

When one object makes contact with another, vibrational energy travels through the objects before being released into the air and heard as sound. Structural noise is a common issue with laundry appliances due to the machine literally vibrating from the motor and other moving parts inside – not to mention the clothes! You may hear your dryer rattling against the wall or floor of the laundry room or hear interior parts of the appliances clanking together.

Airborne noise from a laundry room

Airborne noise is best described as any sound that travels through the air. Examples of airborne noise include when you hear someone talking, a dog barking, or a car horn honking. In the context of a laundry room, you may hear the whirring of the machine’s motor or water whishing around and draining in the washing machine.

Once you have identified the sources and type of noise you are dealing with in your laundry room, it is time to address the issue with soundproofing materials. Here are some of the steps to soundproof a laundry room:

1. Soundproof the Machinery in the Room
2. Soundproof the Laundry Room Door
3. Soundproof the Laundry Room Walls

We cover all the soundproofing products you will need to make your laundry room quiet as a mouse. To get the best results we recommend taking all three steps, but even knocking one of these steps out will likely help a lot with soundproofing your laundry room.

Step One: Soundproofing the laundry room Machinery and Floor

One of the most important things to address if you are dealing with structural noise coming from your laundry room is the machines themselves. Generally, when you hear structural noise in other rooms of the house, the sound is traveling from the machine through the floor. So the best thing to do is to soundproof the washing machine and dryer by decoupling the appliances from the floor. The other option you have is to deaden the vibrations on the machine itself by applying a vibration damper to the metal parts making noise (like the dryer drum).

Rubber Isolation Mounts

The best way to prevent sound from transferring through your laundry room floor is to place rubber isolation mounts underneath your appliances. Your washer and dryer are likely placed directly on top of a hard floor, meaning that when the machines vibrate, the energy is transmitted to the floor before traveling to other spaces in your house. Using rubber isolation pads at the 4 corners of the machine prevents this by isolating the floor from the machine.

Rubber Floor Underlayment

Another great way to prevent structural noise from transferring through your floor is to place a large rubber pad underneath the washer and the dryer. Our UnderBlock Rubber Floor Underlayment is a great option because it is made of 100% rubber and is super easy to install. We’ve also had customers use our OverKill Pro rubber infused closed cell foam for the same purpose.

Damplifier Pro on the Metal

To quiet down a dryer, soundproofing the drum with Damplifier Pro is going to substantially reduce the noise from the clothes tumbling around. You can see this method on the picture below.

Step Two: How to SOundproof a Laundry room Door

Another area of the laundry room to focus on is the door. It is common for interior doors that lead to closets or laundry rooms to be hollow core doors. Although these are much more cost effective than solid core doors, they are horrible at blocking sound.

If your washing machine and dryer are making a lot of airborne noise that is heard in other areas of your home, you probably have sound leaking through your door. If you have a hollow core door, our first recommendation is to replace it with a solid core door. This will immediately improve the amount of noise your door is blocking, and will deliver immediate results. For alternatives to replacing a hollow core door read this.

Sound Lock Door Seal Kit

If you already have a solid core door in place but are still looking for some more noise reduction in your laundry room, your best option is to get the Sound Lock™ Door Seal Kit to seal around the perimeter of your door. Our adjustable Sound Lock Door Seal Kit can be fit to any size of door, and allows you to soundproof your door. For more door soundproofing solutions, read our article.

Step Three: Soundproofing laundry room Walls

Suppose the laundry room has shared walls with a bedroom or a soundproof home office space where someone in the house will be spending extended amounts of time. In that case, you may consider soundproof walls for the space to prevent the noise from becoming an ongoing, frustrating experience for those with shared walls.

The easiest and most cost effective way to get a bit of noise reduction is to seal around the perimeter of the wall using acoustical sealant. Airborne noise travels like water and seeks to travel through any gaps in a barrier. Sealing these gaps and penetrations will close up the tiny gaps sound is traveling through.

If the walls in your laundry are allowing sound through them, the first thing to check is whether there are structural vibrations transmitting from the machine to the wall. You must isolate the machine from the wall, just like you would from the floor. If the problem is airborne noise, you need to add density to the walls to prevent the noise from traveling to other rooms. The best way to do soundproof an existing wall is to add an additional layer of ⅝” drywall to the existing wall with a layer of Green Glue in between. No need to rip out existing walls, just add to what you have already.