About Foam  

Overview
Hadar Athletic makes products that use several different types of foam.  Often, especially with mats, the user must choose between foam types.  The properties of each type of foam affect the feel, performance and appropriate use of the product.  This page is designed to give the user a general outline of the issues involved in selecting the proper product for the desired activity.

Three Basic Types of Foam
We use three basic types of foam in our products.  In addition to the structure of the foam, the weight and density of the foam affect the performance and feel of the product.  We try to select the highest quality of the most appropriate type of foam for each product we make based on how that product will be used.  All of our foam is tested by the manufacturers, independent labs, and in.our in-house testing facilities.  This page is designed to give the user a general outline of the issues involved in selecting the proper product for the desired activity.

  

Open celled foam, usually urethane foam, has interconnecting air pockets and behaves like a sponge. It is generally softer than other types of foam, but less able to absorb impact. Other factors such as foam density (pounds per cubic foot) and the structure of the plastic material itself also affect softness and impact absorbing ability. We use open celled foam in football dummies, UMT Series mats, and some baseball bases

Close-Celled Foam, usually Crosslinked Polyethylene Foam, is characterized by air bubbles that are separate from each other. In general, it has a harder surface feel, but is better at absorbing impacts than open celled foam. Other factors such as foam density (pounds per cubic foot) and the structure of the plastic material itself also affect softness and impact absorbing ability. Close-celled crosslinked polyethylene foam is featured in our EMT Series mats and in other products where impact absorption is a must.

Rebonded foam, sometimes called bonded foam, is recycled foam that is made by grinding old foam into small bits and bonding them back together. Rebonded foam is a heavier foam with good impact absorbing qualities. It is nearly as soft as open celled foam. We use rebonded foam in our RMT Series tumbling mats and in some baseball bases.

Combining Foam Types
In many of our products, we combine one or more types of foam to produce a result that we would not achieve if we were to limit ourselves to a single type of foam.

Layered Foam
For example, by bonding a layer of soft open celled foam to a sheet of impact absorbing foam, we produce our SMT series mats that feature a soft tumbling surface over a layer of close-celled foam for added impact absorption. We use this technique in our Agility series football dummies to provide a soft shoulder surface for the man hitting and extra protection for the man holding.

Recycled Foam
In our best stand-up dummies, we wrap recycled scrap foam from our other operations around a wooden center post to give the dummy long life and rigidity. We then wrap the core in a sheet of rolled cut open celled foam to provide a softer shoulder surface and a smoother back for our vinyl cover