MOVING BLANKETS and FURNITURE PADS

We carry a wide variety of quilted moving blankets to choose from. We often hear a question – what is the difference? Which blanket is better?

All our furniture pads are brand new, quality moving blankets. The difference is the thickness, which you can determine by the weight of the blanket, and the outer fabric of the blanket (the inside filler is recycled cotton, same for all blankets).

• Economy blankets ( or furniture pads) have nonwoven fabric on both side. Nonwoven fabric is very soft but not very durable. Furniture moving pad would be an excellent choice if you plan to put furniture to storage or if you use them as packing blankets for shipping overseas and do not expect to see blankets again.
• Green moving blankets are of the same weight as Economy or Furniture pads , but the outer fabric is woven polyester on both sides. Polyester is much more durable than nonwoven fabric.
• Professional grade moving blankets also known as “Multicolor moving blankets” combine advantages of soft nonwoven fabric on one side and durable woven fabric on the other.
• Some people favor Deluxe grade Moving blanket because it has one side light blue and the other dark blue. This feature is very useful, it allows you to always know what side will be facing the furniture (and clean) and what side is the outside.
• Premium Grade moving blankets are thicker than others. At almost 7 pounds per blanket they provide an excellent protection and durability.
• Our Cotton moving blankets are the thickest of the lot. They are very nice blankets. Outside cotton is soft, not rough and scratchy. They are not slippery. Some people buy them for exercises and this is important for them.
  

If you are looking to protect your soft furniture like sofa, love seat or sofa-chair from sun, dust, or pet claws– please check out our quilted furniture covers.

Watch a video to learn about difference between moving blankets:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFU6nYdTPkc

FILM MAKER'S BLANKETS. MOVING BLANKETS FOR SOUND PROOFING

Can Moving Blankets be used for sound proofing?

I had nothing to tell him…
Recently I came across an interesting chatroom of Filmmakers where they discuss the topic of using moving blankets for sound proofing. The original link is here: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=56725&highlight=sound+blankets
So I condensed the chat to the sound proofing questions and answers only:

Q: I understand the usefulness if not necessity of having so-called "sound blankets" to absorb sound, especially with my less than ideal mics etc.. I know that there are special blankets made of special materials and that's what you pros probably use. And I know they cost a way more than I can afford.
Here's my question: Can I get reasonable (not necessarily best possible) results just using inexpensive quilted furniture moving pads? I don't see why I can't just get a few of these and add some grommets so that I can hang them if I want to. They might not be the best at deadening sound (stopping reflections), but the large thick type should certainly help the acoustics in many indoor situations.
A: Yes, movers blankets are fine, provided they are thick like. Acoustic treatment is one area where I dont place a whole heap of value in buying specialist products (at least, not for on set applications). I say this because having a carpeted room in a quiet neighborhood with some soft furniture (beds/couches) inside is often enough to give good results if the correct mic choice is made (here Im not talking make and model, but polar pattern), and that mic is put in an appropriate place. And when you DO get optimal recording conditions, then your audio sounds INCREDIBLE.

Q: So, next question, once you have the large thick movers blankets, what is the best way to suspend them. Would you use light stands with a "knuckle" (I think thats what it is called) or some other type of special clamp, or would you use a background setup with a pole stretched between two stands and then suspend the blanket from the pole? Or would you only drape the blankets around the room. I should have prefaced this with the situation is that you are shooting an interview in a room with poor acoustics.
If suspending the blankets gives better sound, what is the best way to do it?
A: What really makes the difference, is the surface area the blanket covers, and the distance from the speaker. As sound leaves a speakers mouth, the closer the blanket is to them, the less surfaces the noise can be reflected off before it gets absorbed by the blanket. Back in our old office, we used a small tiled bathroom as a vocal booth for doing music recordings. Normally, this would be a nightmare acoustically. But we hung a sleeping bag (inside out) covering the entire wall the singers were facing. All the sound projected in that direction would be absorbed, and the recordings really came out great sounding in there.
Comment From another member:
“I want to get great sound, but only want to spend $500 - tell me how". I think it is a natural reaction to read a post like that and basically say "for $500 your sound will be crap".
Okay, now that I have gotten that off my chest, let's get to the topic at hand - moving blankets. Yes, moving blankets work well as sound blankets. But, you want the good, thick ones, not the thin ones. And, if you have an option, get them in both light and dark colors. Your lighting team will thank you.

Q: Hi all, just read thru and couldn't find any refs. to....shouldn't you find out what frequencies the 'blankets' attenuate before ordering. Custom designed sound foam and tiles refer to certain frequencies for users to specify.
If any of the these blankets attenuate the mid voice range, then they could be trouble?
A: The blankets are not for sound proofing but diffusion. A lot of things work to do this including the human body but blankets are the most convenient tool that can be taken from set to set easily.

Q: Sorry, I didn't have in mind sound proofing but if a set is too live for your voices, shouldn't you have a rough idea what frequencies your blankets will absorb rather than diffuse? And how do you measure that, how many blankets do you put up, first time on that set?
Hard questions all, experience with your chosen blankets for different size rooms is the answer I guess. And as you say portability is paramount.
A: From a post perspective you probably cant make it too dead. If you sound post is all going to be in FCP or another NLE then I would try to avoid REALLY dead but you don't have much chance of ever getting a set dead, there is just too much other stuff around.

I hope this was useful.

Trying to accommodate the filmmakers industry and supply them with quality inexpensive blankets we plan to manufacture special blankets for filmmakers and try to match what we understood the requirements of the industry. Blankets will be made out of cotton fabric with 8.2 lbs per blanket recycled cotton filling. One side Black and the other side is White. Bound all around.
The blankets are currently in stock and they feel like very nice ones!
Grommets: We will place grommets on them according to your specifications individually.
From the experience we have, everybody has different requirements. Some people place grommets on the corners only, some need two rows of grommets on each side so they can nail it to the ceiling.... We do not want to restrict an artist to some artificial mold. Send us a sketch and we will place grommets for you wherever! ( almost). (J.M.)