# "Goodwill bag" sound absorbing material??



## Spuddy (Jan 2, 2010)

I'm closing on my first house in about a week, and while the basement has a few excellent areas to build my all-out plans for the best DIY theater in the area, I'm in that all-to-common position of new homeowners; My money is pretty much spent before I even get my paychecks, and will be for at least many months until I can settle down a bit :spend:

I have two plans for acoustic treatment of the concrete walls, one of which is rather established as a good idea, and the other of which I've not seen done before, and would like to know the potential integrity of from some of our resident gurus :T For my many wall panels, I'm basically gonna be dumpster diving at work every few weeks for the 2'x4' Armstrong ceiling panels that my building replaces regularly for very minor water damage (I've talked to maintenance, and they're going to make sure to leave them fully intact for me, and just lean them on the side of the dumpster so I can snag them as I leave), so that's pretty much all set, but my "what if" question is geared towards another used material that I have a pretty good amount of- clothing and sheets.

I have a few trash bags full of old clothing and sheets that are essentially useful only as shop rags now, but seeing as cotton works well for acoustics, would it be possible to use them as stuffing for my bass traps? Maybe something like using drop panels as the outside edge for a 24" hypotenuse, then having the corner stuffed solidly with my old, unwanted cotton (and likely some polyester) "rags"? If it's a bad idea I can do it all with the mineral wool like I've seen in some posts here, but that will take a while to complete due to a rationed amount of panels coming in, so the stuffing route would be a bit more ideal if it works, I just need to know that it actually _does_ work before-hand. Thanks in advance for the help and any ideas to improve the plan!


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

The rags will certainly help some though not likely as efficiently as mineral wool, bulk cotton, or fiberglass. They can certainly be used in the interim until budget allows replacement. I wouldn't stuff them tightly. Just fill whatever you're going to use for the container without a ton of compression.

Bryan


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## Spuddy (Jan 2, 2010)

Thanks Bryan, that's good to know- my wallet hates me right now


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