Which carpet underlay?

[Rod Hewitt]

I have seen a bit about carpet underlay recently. It seems that Cloud 9 is highly rated. What is not clear to me is why. I realise that it is lighter and so preferred by many fitters. It also has a higher tog value so preferred on cold concrete floors.

But we are about to get a very ordinary bedroom carpet, on a standard boarded first floor. The room is small and so there is a very definite traffic area - with the vast majority under the bed, wardrobe, etc. Our prime concern is the resistance of the underlay to getting unevenly worn in this traffic area. Would Cloud 9 be better than recycled rubber, tredaire, old fashioned felt? Any other suggestions?

[Richard Faulkner]

In message , Rod Hewitt writes

Amongst other things, the cushioning effect of Cloud 9 makes cheaper carpet feel much more expensive. I understand that a good underlay also helps with wear.

[Reckless]

I've got Cloud 9 in my front room with a reasonably expensive wool berber carpet. It feels fantastic compared to what we had before (old green/brown waffle rubber underlay and a 80/20 carpet). On the hall/stairs/landing I thought I'd try some of the crumbed rubber construction. Fitter was pretty crap and provided something that wasn't exactly what I'd asked for and so it ended up being thinner than I'd bargained for. The carpet is again a 100% wool berber but has a textured design. This feels cheaper by comparison to our front room given that there's not much spring in it. As far as wear due to traffic, I think the Cloud 9 is doing a good job but less cushioning is noticeable in the high traffic zones whereas it's almost impossible to notice wear on the HSL carpet given the lack of spring from new!

Nothing too conclusive but I like the Cloud 9.