DIY Acoustic Panels
DIY Acoustic Panels
This tutorial by acoustic cloth manufacturer Akustikstoff.com was originally published here.
Acoustic panels for home use are very much in vogue. These sound-absorbing elements improve the acoustics of a room by eliminating unwanted sound reflections, and they can look good too.
The good thing is that there’s a quick and inexpensive way of making them as a DIY project: The first step is the construction of a wooden frame with an edge height of about 5 centimeters. Then, a special acoustic foam such as Basotect is tightly inserted in the frame. Finally, the front of the entire construction is covered with an acoustically transparent fabric, such as Acoustic Cloth.
The youtube channel of Akustikstoff.com provides a number of practical tutorials that apply to loudspeaker frames as well as for acoustic panels.
Have a look at the photos one of their customers has kindly provided to give an impression of how good such DIY acoustic panels with acoustic cloth can look in a room.
Of course, you can give your DIY sound panels a further individual touch by painting them with suitable textile colors. Just make sure that the color doesn’t clog the pores of the acoustic fabric.
To fix the textile colors, the polyester speaker fabric can be ironed at up to 175 ° C. Simply put a piece of thin, flat cloth between the Acoustic Cloth and the iron. It makes some sense to mount the fabric on the frame only after fixing the paint. If you do so, make sure that the picture isn’t spoiled by uneven tension.
If this appears to be too tricky, you can also mount the fabric on the frame first, then paint it like canvas on a stretcher frame, then fix the colors by ironing from behind, and finally insert the acoustic foam tightly in the frame. Just make sure not to paint the areas of the acoustic cloth that are right on top of the frame, as you cannot iron these areas properly afterwards.
Please note that due to its water-repellent and stain-resistant properties, acoustic cloth 2.0 available at akustikstoff.com is not suitable for painting.