Tagged with 'Eco-friendly'

More and more people are taking on "DIY," or "Do It Yourself," projects, especially in the home improvement field: a 2025 survey by FrontDoor found that 98% of American homeowners have completed at least one DIY project at their home. 

The motivations behind do-it-yourself home improvement projects vary: some DIYers are looking to save money, while others want to satisfy creative urges and be "hands on" while doing so. Regardless of the reasons, the goal for most DIY home projects is the same: to enliven and enhance a home's comfort, appeal, and livability.

DIY acoustics is no different. Just like building a back deck or painting a bedroom, improving a space’s sound quality is a task you can tackle on your own ... provided you have the right tools, materials, and know-how.

Here's some tips on completing DIY acoustic projects to reduce echoes and reverberations within a space:

1. Identify Your Sound Management Goal

What are you trying to achieve with your acoustic project? Do you have too much echo in a room? Do you want better sound quality in your home theater or drum room? Are you trying to reduce reverberations in a dining room or kitchen? Different sound challenges call for different sound solutions: in the case of reducing echo or reverberation, you'll want to create a sound-absorbing solution (if you're trying to stop sound from entering or exiting a space, that will require the installation of a sound-blocking material like Mass Loaded Vinyl or our eco-friendlier version, Peacemaker.

2. Identify Points of Reflection Within Your Space

Sound waves echo around a room when they bounce off hard, non-porous surfaces, such as drywall, hardwood, glass, brick, or metal. By treating these highly reflective surfaces with sound-absorbing materials, you can dramatically reduce echoes and reverberations. Check out this guide to finding reflection points in a room. A good rule of thumb in acoustics is to cover at least 15% to 20% of your wall space to improve sound quality. You can check out our calculator to get an estimate based on your space.

3. Add Sound-Absorbing Furniture or "Finished" Acoustic Panels

Carpets, curtains, and upholstered furniture like armchairs or couches are all absorptive due to their porous construction, as will off-the-shelf acoustic panels like Audimute's Fabric, AcoustiColor®, AcoustiWood®, and AcoustiStone® options, each of which is eco-friendly and easy to install.

4. Add DIY eco-C-tex® Acoustic Products from Audimute

If you want something "unfinished" and more traditionally "do-it-yourself", check out our DIY eco-C-tex® products, available in multiple sizes, shapes, and styles. eco-C-tex is Audimute's signature sound absorption material, consisting of a blend of recycled cotton and cellulose fibers, the majority of which are post-consumer recycled newspaper.

Every Audimute DIY eco-C-tex product can be wrapped with acoustical fabric, coated with paint, or simply left as is. They can also be cut into different shapes and sizes with a utility knife, allowing you to fashion a unique sound management solution of your own design.

Our line of DIY eco-C-tex sound solutions include:

- DIY eco-C-tex Acoustic Panels
- DIY eco-C-tex Beveled Edge Acoustic Panels
- DIY eco-C-tex Acoustic Shapes
- DIY eco-C-tex Audimute Strata®
- DIY eco-C-tex Audimute Strata Sticks

It might be "do-it-yourself" but that doesn't mean you have to do it alone: let Audimute's industry-leading sound-absorbing products and team of Acoustic Specialists help out as you become the architect of your own sound solution!

Over the past several decades, there's been a big global shift toward eco-friendly, sustainable, "green" practices. Some efforts are everyday in nature, such as opting for reusable shopping bags instead of those made of plastic; other efforts are more ambitious, such as ongoing efforts to reduce carbon emissions and the push for LEED certifications in building construction.

"Going Green": Do Consumers Care?

In a word: yes.

A 2022 report found that 65% of U.S. buyers consider a product's sustainability when making a purchase, while a 2023 study concluded that 77% of Gen Z members and 72% of Millennials were willing to pay more for sustainable products.

Eco-Friendly Acoustic Products

Driven by this consumer demand and their own interests in more sustainable practices, many businesses have adapted their manufacturing processes and product lines to be "greener"; the acoustics industry is no different.

Where foam and fiberglass acoustic panels (both made with non-renewable raw materials) once dominated the market, today's acoustic products use more sustainable elements like recycled PET, mycelium, and natural fibers for their sound absorption properties.

Audimute: Innovation in Sustainable Acoustics

Audimute is proud to be one of the industry leaders for green acoustics. The core of our sound management solutions is eco-C-tex®, a sound absorption material comprised of a blend of recycled cotton and cellulose fibers, the majority of which are post-consumer recycled newspaper. The eco-C-tex manufacturing process itself is also eco-friendly, expending only 1/10 of the energy required to produce fiberglass and 1/40 of the energy used to create foam.

We also dramatically reduce waste by repurposing discarded pieces of eco-C-tex from custom-cut shapes and signs for other acoustic installations.

On the soundproofing side of Audimute, our Peacemaker® soundproofing product is made from 90% post-consumer material, including recycled tire rubber. It's an eco-friendlier alternative to Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV), which uses petroleum-based plastics and industrial fillers.

Audimute is always looking for new ways to deliver quality sound-absorbing panels and sound-blocking products that are also environmentally responsible, sustainable, and eco-friendly. We're big believers in the steps that all of us — from individuals to companies to countries — can take to create a happier, healthier planet.

Wood has long been one of the go-to materials for design and home decor due to its durability, its stunning aesthetics, and its versatility. So it only makes sense that wood has also become a popular option in acoustic panels and other sound management solutions.

But the type of wood matters: 

• Softwoods like pine, cedar, fir, and spruce are excellent for sound absorption due to their lower density and more open cell structure.
• Hardwoods such as oak and maple, on the other hand, are more dense and therefore more likely to reflect sound. It's why rooms with hardwood floors are more susceptible to echoes and reverberations.

There are no shortage of acoustic wood panels on the market, with wooden slat panels (typically featuring wooden slats mounted on a sound-absorbing panel) particularly popular. Wooden slats themselves have both sound-absorbing (where the wood soaks up sound waves instead of reflecting them back) and sound-diffusing (where the sound waves are broken up and reflected back as smaller, weaker pieces of energy) properties.

Here at Audimute, we love the look of wood as much as anyone, but we wanted to take a more eco-friendly approach to "acoustic wood panels." So we launched our AcoustiWood® line of sound absorption products. AcoustiWood has all the aesthetics of real wood, but is instead made with high-quality graphics printed on acoustical fabric that's then wrapped around our 100% recycled sound absorption material, eco-C-tex®. It's the acoustic wood wall panel without the wood.

Here's why we love AcoustiWood:

1. It's Effective

Thanks to its eco-C-tex core, our AcoustiWood panels have NRC ratings of .95, meaning they absorb an average of 95% of echoes, reverberations, and mid to high frequencies.

2. It's Beautiful

There's just nothing like the look of wood. Elegant, warm, and timeless, it connects us to the natural world while also projecting an image of strength and stability. Audimute offers AcoustiWood in more than 75 different cover material styles, including Chestnut, Brown Walnut, Red Mahogany, Aged Teak, Cerused Oak, and Earthy Birch.

3. It's Durable

Our AcoustiWood acoustic wall panels are Class A Fire-Rated (ASTM E-84). It's the highest rating under the ASTM standard and means it has minimal flame spread and low smoke production.

4. It's Versatile

From home to office and Old World extravagance to New Age minimalism, AcoustiWood, like real wood, visually fits in with any and all environments and design styles.

5. It's Eco-Friendly

Each AcoustiWood product is made with our eco-C-tex sound absorption material. Eco-c-tex is made of a blend of recycled cotton and cellulose fibers, the majority of which are post-consumer recycled newspaper. On top of that, making eco-C-tex takes 1/10th the energy of making fiberglass and 1/40th of making foam (two other materials popular for sound absorption solutions).


You shouldn't have to compromise on aesthetics when you're looking for great acoustics! AcoustiWood, along with other Audimute options like AcoustiStone® and AcoustiColor®, is proof of that.