Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV)

Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) has been an industry-standard in noise control for decades. While there are many trade names for this material, all are a simple PVC sheet, loaded with barium sulfate or calcium silicate to add weight. Mass Loaded Vinyl is very dense, weighing one pound per square foot. This mass is what allows the MLV to be so effective at reducing airborne noise.MLV can be used as a barrier in walls, floors, and ceilings to significantly increase the mass of these surfaces and thus reduce noise. Additionally, Mass Loaded Vinyl can be used as a barrier material to wrap metal ducts, plastic plumbing pipe, steel columns, etcetera. This is extruded MLV, not cast. Cast MLV tears much more easily and is also more difficult to install than extruded, which offers:

• High tear and tensile strength
• Significant reduction in sound transmission
• Massive, limp, flexible, formable and versatile

MLV Specifications

Mass Loaded Vinyl has traditionally been “loaded” with heavy barium sulfate. That is much less common today, and most MLV made in the USA is made with calcium silicate. While it is common to still see “barium loaded vinyl” on an architectural spec, the fact is that barium is rarely used any longer as a filler.

*In the United States, MLV is loosely described as “1/8” and 1 pound per square foot”.” This is simply a common description. When various samples from various manufacturers are compared, one finds that none are actually 1/8” and most are not exactly 1 pound. This is the way MLV is manufactured, specified, and sold here in the States. The 1/8" dimension is simply part of an informal description that we as an industry use.

The weight of Mass Loaded Vinyl will vary +5%. We (like all MLV manufacturers) manufacture to a weight criterion, not a dimensional criterion. In general the weight will be 1 pound per square foot +5%. Additionally, the 1 pound material has a thickness of 0.105 inches (2.67mm), again, +5%.