Practical Ways to Re-use Old Packaging Foam
If you’ve ever had something delivered in the mail or bought a fragile item, you’ve encountered a foam packaging insert. And whether it’s rigid white polystyrene or soft charcoal foam, keeping the extra foam for packaging, even after you’ve decided you won’t need to return what it originally protected, is usually a good idea.
The most obvious benefit of keeping foam packing around is that you can re-use it when the time comes for you to send something. Whether you’re mailing a friend or relative a gift or sending a product away for repair, you never want to under-protect what’s going in the mail. If you find yourself with a product that’s had its original custom foam packaging thrown away long ago, even creating makeshift packaging with soft polyurethane foam can keep it secure and help absorb impact.
Packaging peanuts are almost universally the least-liked packaging material, but even these have some value if you keep a few around. For example, packing peanuts make great spacers behind pictures to protect walls, and when mounting them, are helpful for keeping fingers free of hammer swings when starting a nail into the wall.
Firmer open-cell packing materials meanwhile, can be repurposed acoustically. When coupled with a non-resonant piece of MDF wood for a stand, firm charcoal foam can be used under speakers or subwoofers to help decouple, which isolates the speaker from the floor. This will help reduce the travel of vibrations throughout the room, which can cause rattles and buzzing as they affect the various objects in a room. It may also help give your speakers a clearer sound as well, by lifting them to a better listening position. If you’ve got loads of packaging foam hanging around, don’t be afraid to put it to a whole new use or invent a new practical approach to getting the most out of materials.