How to Remove Sound Deadening from Your Car? Complete Guide

How to Remove Sound Deadening from Your Car? Complete Guide

How to Remove Sound Deadening from Your Car? Complete Guide

Putting simply sound deadening material inside a vehicle works to block road sound while enhancing audio performance. Specific scenarios emerge where car owners need to take out these materials. When you need to take sound deadening material out of your car you can reduce the effort required by learning the proper removal methods. Read this guide for complete instructions on how to take out sound deadening material from car floors plus alternate techniques to dry ice use.

Why Remove Sound Deadening from a Car?

Removing sound deadening material can serve several purposes, such as:

  • Reducing Weight: Dream cars made for peak performance need every ounce of weight to come out. The materials make the car heavier.

  • Repairs and Restoration: You will need to remove damaged material before putting on a fresh layer.

  • Custom Modifications: You might choose to change the existing material to make your vehicle deliver better results and look more appealing.

  • Cleaning Rust or Corrosion: The material holds moisture which creates rust issues that need fixing.

Before starting the process, make sure you have a clear goal and the necessary tools.

Tools You Need to Remove Sound Deadening

Removing sound deadening requires proper tools to ensure efficiency and safety. Here’s a checklist:

  • Heating Tool: Disables sticking quality of adhesive-backed substances.

  • Plastic Scraper: This tool helps you remove material without hurting your surface.

  • Dry Ice: Other ways to break up the material instead of heat.

  • Shop Towels or Rags: For cleaning residue.

  • Adhesive Remover: To tackle stubborn glue.

  • Safety Gear: Using gloves plus safety goggles with a face mask as protection.

  • Vacuum Cleaner: Vacuum device will remove leftover mess after cleanup.

Having these tools on hand will make the removal process more manageable and efficient.

Preparation Before Removing Sound Deadening

Step 1: Remove Interior Components

Start by removing parts such as seats, carpet, and trim panels. This step ensures easy access to areas covered with sound deadening material.

Step 2: Clean the Area

Your vacuum will sweep up loose particles from the surface area. Cleaning up the area first helps you see what needs to be taken away.

Best Way to Remove Sound Deadening from Car Floors

Method 1: Using Heat

Using heat to soften the glue is one of the best techniques.

  1. Heat the Material: Use heat tools to warm the sound deadening material. Work in small sections for better control.

  2. Scrape Gently: Once the adhesive softens, use a plastic scraper to peel the material away. Avoid using metal tools to prevent scratches.

  3. Clean Residue: After removal, clean the surface with adhesive remover and shop towels.

This method works particularly well on flat areas like the floor.

Remove Sound Deadening Without Dry Ice

Method 2: Chiseling Cold Material

For areas where heat or chemicals are not viable, you can:

  1. Freeze the Material: Let the car cool in a cold environment, or use ice packs to harden the material.

  2. Chisel Away: Use a plastic or wooden chisel to chip off the hardened material.

Remove Sound Deadening from Curved Areas

Curved surfaces, such as wheel wells, require more precision. The heat tool method is typically the most effective:

  1. Warm Small Sections: Work in small areas to avoid overheating or damaging the surface.

  2. Flex the Scraper: Use a flexible scraper to follow the curve and peel the material off gently.

  3. Clean Thoroughly: Residue tends to accumulate in corners, so pay extra attention to these spots.

Tips for a Faster Removal Process

  1. Work in Sections: Managing one small section helps you stay in control easier.

  2. Use Proper Lighting: The right lighting system lets you see everything to avoid missing detail spots.

  3. Invest in Quality Tools: A good heat tool and scraper will make your progress faster during the task.

  4. Stay Patient: Don't hurry the process of removing sound deadening because speed boosts the chance of harming the car's surface.

Dealing with Adhesive Residue

Even after removing the bulk of the material, adhesive residue may remain. 

  • Use Adhesive Remover: Apply a little adhesive remover to a cloth and work on the remaining residue.

  • Scrape Gently: Apply a scraper carefully against tight stains.

  • Wipe Clean: To complete the process remove any residue with a fresh cloth.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Using Excessive Heat: High temperatures may hurt the interior and electrical elements under the fabric.

  • Skipping Safety Gear: Must Keep the safety equipment while working.

  • Rushing the Process: Controlling your speed is essential to both dust-free and protected results.

  • Not Testing Adhesive Remover: Test your chemical in a small hidden spot on your car before you use it to see if it will harm the vehicle.

Conclusion

Removing the sound deadening material from your vehicle needs careful preparation but you can finish the task step by step with suitable equipment. Every tool choice should match methods that keep your work simple and hazard free. This guide helps you safely remove sound deadening materials to prepare your surface for restoration or customization work. You need patience together with proper preparation to achieve success.

FAQ’s

  1. What is the easy way to remove sound deadening material?
    The easiest way to remove sound deadening material is using a heat tool or dry ice to untie the adhesive and then scrape off the material with a plastic scraper.

  2. Can I remove sound deadening material without damaging my car?
    Yes, by using gentle tools like a plastic scraper and carefully applying heat or dry ice, you can avoid damaging the car's surface during the removal process.

  3. Is dry ice the best method for removing sound deadening material?
    Dry ice leads the industry because it freezes soundproofing materials so they break apart smoothly with no sticky remains.

  4. How long does it take to remove sound deadening from a car?
    Preparation duration depends both on how much material you need to process and which technique you use. Fabricating metal parts normally needs a few hours but can extend to an entire day.

 

Step 1

To install the material you need be working on the metal surface of the car, remove upholstery. If you have never done this, we suggest searching it up on YouTube. Once the upholstery is removed, make sure there is no debris, waxy oils or rust by cleaning the surface with denatured alcohol.

Step 2

Once surface is clean and ready to go, cut the sound deadening material to the right size so it fits desired area. For small surfaces, we recommend that you measure the dimensions and then cut to fit.

Step 3

With the surface area clean and pieces cut to desired dimensions, peel off the paper and apply material to surface area starting from the top to bottom using the car door holes to help with alignment. We recommend using a hand roller to ensure that there are no air pockets and ensure the adhesiveness.

Sound Deadener Install On Jeep

SOUNDSKINS GLOBAL

Sound Deadener Install FAQ: Tips & Tricks

What tools will I need to for a sound deadening project?  
  • Rag & Denatured Alcohol: Apply the alcohol to the rag and use to clean the metal surface areas you will be applying the material to.
  • Gloves: Our product is pretty safe to install without gloves but if you have never installed a sound deadener mat, we recommend using gloves.
  • Hand roller: We highly recommend using a small roller to reach the tighter surface areas of your vehicle. You can find these on Amazon or most online retail shops. There are wooden, rubber and metal rollers, we recommend wooden or rubber, try and stay away from metal as they can tear the material.
  • Utility Knife: The utility blade is to cut the material. Make sure to cut the material on top of a pice of cardboard so that your blade stays sharper longer, if it's a big job, have some extra blades around.
How do you apply sound deadener material? 

We sell our roll on sound deadener product in 2 different formats: custom cut to fit pro kits and an easy to work with rolled up large sheet. If you can measure, cut, peel and stick you can install sound deadener! You can use your hand to apply pressure when positioning the material and then use a roller to make sure it sticks down to metal surface.

After you cut the material and are ready to stick it on, some customers find it easier to peel off a small portion of the release liner and then apply it to metal surface, and then work their way across the sheet, peeling off a small section at a time.

Make sure to always remove the air bubbles with the roller. The second most important thing when it comes to quality of sound deadener is the quality of adhesion to the surface area. You want the material to be stuck down properly to ensure it stays in place.

Where do you apply the sound deadening material?  

The great thing about our sound deadening material is that it can be applied to all types of metal surfaces. All SoundSkins sheets use extremely strong adhesive and they can even be mounted on fiberglass, plastic and even wooden surfaces, but it's not very common to apply to these surfaces since they don't vibrate as much. By covering all metal surfaces such as your doors, roof, trunk and floor you can make a significant difference to unwanted road noise.

Your top priority when applying a car sound deadener is to cover the doors, floor and trunk. If you have extra material then proceed to other metal surfaces you wish to cover for extra sound insulation.

How much surface area should I cover?  

To properly deaden the metal surfaces, we recommend to at least do 25% coverage with our SoundSkins material, this will make a difference in unwanted road noise, but to have a huge impact we recommend covering up 60% of metal surfaces. If you want to get the most used from your sheet, one effective strategy is the CHECKER BOARD APPROACH, using this technique you cut the SoundSkins sheet into small pieces and apply them to the metal surface in a checkered pattern.

It is very common for our customers to do close to 100& coverage to any metal surface because not only are they looking to reduce road noise, they also want to insulate their car from heat or they like the way the material looks on the car's bare metal surface.

How do I make sure the sound deadener sticks well?

SoundSkins products are made with a very strong adhesive and create a extremely strong bond with the metal, it's really hard to NOT make it stick. To ensure the best possible bond, we highly recommend cleaning the metal surface before applying our material and then using a hand roller to firmly attach the SoundSkins deadening mats.

Great adhesion with no air bubbles is the absolute key if you want to get the best performance. Remember that any air pocket with poor adhesion means you will not get the full benefit of the deadener.

How to install car sound deadener: Recap
  1. Remove upholstery and carpet from your vehicle. Proceed to vacuum to get rid of debris and dirt. Clean all greasy spots with denatured alcohol, other solvents or degreasers will leave behind a film that prevents a solid contact surface. Allow metal surface to try.
  2. Cut the SoundSkins sheet to desired size and cut using a sharp utility knife. Use gloves to avoid any cuts.
  3. Peel off the wax paper from the back of material and apply to surface, this can be done by small sections at a time. Use roller to create a strong bond between material and metal surface and to get rid of any air bubbles.

If you have any questions, make to reach out to use and we'll be happy to help.

SOUNDSKINS GLOBAL