Remember that sound comes from vibrations, and vibrations come from motion. Which means your washing machine will never be completely silent because, well, it needs to move to work. Washing machines and dryers work by spinning your clothes, when the spin of the drum is well-stabilized, little noise can be heard. But if something’s just slightly off, that normal spin can cause far more ruckus than intended.

It’s no surprise that older machines tend to be louder, but you may not realize that front-load washers also cause more noise than top-load washers. That’s because they spin faster, and since they spin end-over-end, the clothes will spin to the top of the drum, and fall down, which can cause the thumping you hear.

On top of everything, your laundry machines are likely sitting on a hard surface like tile or hardwood, so any existing vibrations are exacerbated because the flooring doesn’t deflect the vibrations from the structure. Even worse, excessive movement can cause damage to your floors – we’ll touch on how to prevent this later on. If you have the luxury of choosing where to put your washer and dryer in the house, try to keep it farther from living areas with walls in between. The farther sound has to travel and the more barriers between you and the source of the noise, the less sound you’ll hear

Steps to soundproof a washing machine

There are three steps to a quieter washing machine and a quieter life. Some may not apply to your situation, so make sure to jump to the steps that make sense for you:

1.  Use Anti Vibration Pads Under the Machine
2.  Treat the Machine with Sound Deadening Materials
3.  Soundproof the Laundry Room

Even if you go through the checklist, you may find that there’s still too much noise coming from your washer and dryer. This could be because of the make and model of your machine, or just the layout and build of your home. Whatever the reason, here are some additional ways you can add soundproofing to a washing machine or dryer.

Step One: Use Anti Vibration Mats or Vibration Isolation Pads

Much of the noise from your laundry machines are likely caused by the structural energy moving from the vibrating washing machine to the floor and then through the floor to the rest of your home. As we mentioned earlier, most washers and dryers are placed on a hard floor, which isn’t designed to deflect those structural vibrations. To prevent the energy transfer into the floor, you will need to decouple the washer from the floor using vibration isolation pads or an anti vibration mat, like our Super W Sound Isolation Pads or our Stomp Mat floor sound isolation mats. similar to what we recommend for soundproofing a server rack. For either the pads or the mats to be effective, they should be made of 100% rubber. Rubber is by far the best material to isolate any type of machinery from the floor, like a noisy fridge or dishwasher for example, and a washer/dryer is no exception. If you can stop the transmission of vibrations, you’ll stop a good chunk of the noise.

Not only will the pads or mats help reduce noise, but they also can prevent your washer or dryer from ‘walking’ or moving across the floor. If your machine continues to move so much that it’s walking off of an isolation pad, you need to get it checked out. That’s too much movement. A small isolation pad made of neoprene rubber under each corner tends to be the best for noise reduction (although the full isolation mat is also effective). When looking into pads, you want to check for their maximum load as well as the load that maximizes their deflection rate (how well the pad stops vibrations from transmitting).

For example, a pad may have a maximum load of 120 lbs, but the best deflection rate may occur at 40 lbs. For a washer or dryer that weighs 200 lbs, this means one pad per corner is ideal. If the washer weighs 300 lbs though, you should use 2 pads per corner to maximize your sound isolation.

If the vibrations from your washer and dryer are causing the units to impact the wall, cabinets or objects around your machines the easiest solution is to move them away from the wall (we’re geniuses!). That’s not always possible due to the way laundry closets are built though. In that case you can decouple the machine from the wall using something like Overkill closed cell foam. Apply this lightweight, high-performing decoupler to the sides of your machine to cushion the impact between the unit and whatever is around it. Depending on how much space you have, choose either ⅛” thick Overkill or ⅜” Overkill Pro. Both options come with an optional peel and stick backing for easy application. Much like the rubber mats, this material will stop the two hard surfaces from contacting each other, “deflecting” that structural energy from the machine and preventing it from rattling your walls and cabinets.

Step Two: Install a Sound Deadener on the machine

If you want to go another approach or just want additional sound reduction, you can also apply our Damplifier Pro sound deadening mats directly to the metal of your machine. Use Damplifier Pro on the inside of the metal casing of your washer/dryer, or directly on the bin of your dryer. Remove the peel and stick backing and then apply firmly with a hand roller to roll out any air pockets. Take care not to cover or get in the way of any ventilation, drainage, or electrical components. When covering the dryer bin or the metal casing of the washer/dryer, cover as close to 100% of the metal as possible. With 100% coverage, you’ll actually add some density to the metal casing to improve the amount of airborne noise blocked as well as stopping a ton of structural vibrations.

Step Three: Soundproof the Laundry room

Still looking for more soundproofing options? You may want to consider soundproofing the laundry room as a whole. At this point, we’re beyond the washer/dryer and now looking at soundproofing the laundry room or closet door itself. If you have a hollow door, replace it with a solid core door, and install a Sound Lock Door Seal Kit. These kits are DIY-able, and close the gaps around the perimeter and bottom of the door which is how most sound leaks through. It’s important to know that this won’t do anything to fix a rattling or moving washer or dryer, or stop structural noise through the wall, but it will block airborne noise from traveling out the door and into the rest of your home. For those of you who want to get this extra step, checking out our other articles on how to soundproof a room and how to soundproof a door.