At Second Skin, we pride ourselves in offering best-in-class solutions to help you eliminate unwanted noise and soundproof your car. Everything we sell has been tested in the field and in the lab to ensure you get the best possible results. We offer a comprehensive line of the best car insulation solutions for your vehicle. Whether you have rattling metal distorting your speakers, a car restoration side-gig, or just want to create a bubble of comfort for yourself as you drive down the highway, we have the high quality materials that will get you to your destination.
Why do cars make so much noise?
Noise inside the passenger compartment of a car comes from one of three sources:
To fix wind noise, you need to plug the holes. To stop structure borne noise, you have to damp the metal. To eliminate airborne noise, you need to block it with a noise barrier.
Quality materials matter. You’ll only make that mistake once.
Damplifier sound deadening mats are made of 100% butyl rubber. At 40mil thick, it’s half the rubber and weight of our Damplifier Pro mats. The foil constraint layer is composed of our reinforced, annealed aluminum foil to ensure the best damping performance. The butyl adhesive is extremely strong. Once applied, the permanent bond won’t come unstuck for the rest of the life of the vehicle. Damplifier will go with your vehicle to the scrapyard.
The result is a mat that punches substantially above its weight as a sound deadener, has best-in-class temperature rating (450 F), and best-in-class customer support as we’re available to you until you complete your build and beyond.
Now… to the low-quality stuff. Do yourself a favor and avoid asphalt-based products. If they don’t talk about “butyl rubber”, it’s because they don’t have it and their lawyers won’t let them. The problems you run into with asphalt is threefold:
Decide what parts of the car you want to insulate first: roof, floor, doors, trunk, firewall, or hood. Insulating each part of the vehicle has its benefits. You likely need to do a little detective work to identify the noisiest parts of your car or truck. For the best results, you’ll need to soundproof all of your vehicle’s metal surfaces. Before installing any material though, step #1 is always to expose the sheet metal. For any metal surfaces behind plastic panels or upholstery, you’ll need to research how to remove them. Be careful to avoid breaking plastic trim parts or any fasteners. Detailed step-by-step guides can be found on our website or the one of the many automotive forums.
Remove any damaged factory insulation after you’ve dismantled the interior. If the insulation is in good shape, you can choose to leave it and save yourself the trouble. Ensure all debris, rust, and waxy oils are removed from the application surface. Clean the surface with denatured alcohol and a dry, clean rag. We do not recommend using a solvent or degreaser, as they can leave behind a film that will prevent the best bond from forming. Allow the metal to dry.
Measure the cleaned surface where you want to apply your sound deadener. We recommend to start by making a pattern of an appropriate size on paper or cardboard and then transfer that to the sound deadening sheet. Taking the time to measure will give you a cleaner install and avoid wasting material. Use a sharp utility knife to trim the mat to the appropriate size. Our annealed foil constraint layer is sturdy, so we do not recommend scissors. Be careful and wear gloves. The foil edges are sharp.
Hold the mat up to the metal surface of the vehicle where you’ll be applying it. Make sure you like the coverage before removing the wax paper and exposing the tacky butyl adhesive. For larger sheets, it can be easier to gradually remove the paper backing and slowly work your way across the panel. Use your hands to flatten the sheet and adhere it to the metal surface before rolling out any air pockets with a wooden hand roller. Pop any stubborn air bubbles with a pin. After you’ve smoothed out the butyl sheet with the roller, you’ve created a permanent bond that’ll stay stuck even under extreme conditions.
Sound deadening is the hidden secret behind the upholstery of any car project. To reduce road noise, use Damplifier to stop the structural noise generated by vibrating metal. Stop the vibrations, stop the noise.
After you’ve damped the structural noise, stop airborne noise with a sound blocking layer covering the entire floor and inside the doors. Luxury Liner Pro has a high r-value and STC rating, making it an ideal insulating noise barrier for engine, exhaust, and road noise.
Further quiet things down inside your vehicle with sound absorption materials. Mega Zorbe has a high r-value, making it excellent for the car roof, and a high sound absorption coefficient to reduce interior echoes and improve acoustics in door cavities.