Recycled Nike Shoes Are Being Turned Into Acoustic Panels

Being ecologically responsible means recycling as much as possible, and that goes for manufacturers too. We’ve seen numerous instances in the past where common textiles or materials are made into an acoustic control product, but there’s one that’s been under the radar that you should know about – Nike shoes.

Nike has been repurposing all the materials from its old or unsold shoes and clothing into something called Nike Grind. Grind is being used for things like sporting tracks and Astroturf, carpet padding and flooring materials, and even new Nike apparel and footwear. One of the coolest applications is something called Fluff, which is being turned into acoustic absorbers by a company called Kirei.

Among the acoustic items that the company makes includes acoustic tiles, absorptive clouds, and thanks to Nike’s Fluff material, a new product called the Air Baffle.

The Air Baffle is a ceiling mounted absorptive cloud that’s available in a variety of sizes and colors. It’s made specifically for industrial and business spaces with high ceilings, but it should work well in a studio environment as well. It has pretty good absorption qualities, although it does favor the 1k to 4kHz area, which is where you want the reflections to be tamed anyway. They look like they’re a lot easier to mount that the typical acoustic panel, which could make all the difference in a home studio.

Nike Fluff looks like dryer lint, which makes it easy to work with and a good material for acoustic products. It’s possible that the Air Baffle is just the first of many acoustic creations made with it. One more nail in fiberglass’s coffin, I hope.

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