Rubber Mulch for Playground Surfacing
Playgrounds are constantly bustling with children of all ages. Running, jumping, swinging, climbing – the list of games and activities leading to falls and other accidents goes on and on. With rubber mulch, kids have a safe, durable surface to land on when they trip, slip, or fall. We provide playground rubber mulch for:
- Schools
- Preschools
- Day Care Centers
- Parks
- Churches
- Residential
- Apartment Complexes
- Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs)
Using pea gravel or wood mulch as a surfacing material for playgrounds results in battle scars for children and accident horror stories for their parents. What would be a small scrape or bruise on rubber mulch easily equates to broken bones, wood mulch slivers, concussions, severe cuts or worse on other playground surfaces. Reduce the chance of playground injuries by utilizing rubber mulch.
Unlike other playground surface materials, rubber mulch will not compact or 
turn into a hard surface, even after frequent use. It will continue to provide superior fall protection, keeping your playground safe through many years of daily use. Rubber mulch is non-toxic and safe for use around children and pets.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published a playground safety surfacing guideline for public playgrounds, stating rubber mulch is an appropriate loose-fill surfacing material for use on commercial playgrounds. Our shredded rubber mulch is virtually wire-free, providing a safe, shock absorbent surface which meets the strict ASTM regulations regarding impact attenuation of surfacing materials within the zone of playground equipment. Compared to various other materials, rubber mulch provides superior fall protection and is the best material for playground surface for both commercial and residential use.
Benefits of Playground Rubber Mulch
Compared to traditional playground materials, rubber mulch offers many benefits. It’s long lasting and virtually maintenance free. It stands up to changing weather—rubber mulch won’t freeze during winter or get scorching hot in the summer—and the color stays bright and vibrant with a 12-year color lock guarantee. Rubber mulch doesn’t attract pests and will not decay or rot, providing a long-lasting, safe playground surface.
It’s available in bulk rubber mulch orders or convenient residential bags—at much cheaper prices than big box stores. Our eco-friendly mulch, sometimes also called as recycled tire mulch, as its made from recycled tires is 99.9% wire free. Best Rubber Mulch® provides non-toxic, odorless mulch for both residential and public playgrounds.
See for yourself why more and more people are turning to rubber mulch for playground safety.
Best Playground Surface: Why Rubber Mulch is Better than Wood Chips and Other Playground Surfacing Materials
Think back to the playgrounds you used to visit as a kid. You probably didn’t really care what the surface was made of unless you fell on it and got hurt. Popular playground surface options include pea gravel, Pour N’ Play, sand, and wood chips. Rubber mulch for playgrounds is safer, cleaner, and easier to maintain.
Pea Gravel for Playgrounds
Pea gravel is small, smooth stones available in natural color ranges. While attractive in gardens, walkways, and around stepping stones, pea gravel is not ideal for playground surfacing. As you can imagine, falling and landing on stones can be extremely harmful. While pea gravel is better than nothing, only provides fall protection up to 7 feet and over time compresses into a hard, non-shock absorbent surface.
Pour N’ Play Playground Surfacing
Pour N’ Play (sometimes called PlayPour or Pour and Play) consists of rubber granules combined into a solid surface. This prevents the material from getting pushed out of the way and absorbs some of the impacts from falls. However, after a few years of wear, Pour N’ Play starts to harden and lose shock absorbency, making it dangerous in a fall.
Sand Playground Surface
Playground sand provides up to 5 feet of fall protection, compared to rubber mulch clearance of 10 to 12 feet, and it compacts quickly upon impact, making for a more painful fall. Sand is messy, gets scorchingly hot in the sun, and attracts animals like a giant litterbox.
Wood Chips for Playgrounds
Playground wood chips have been the most popular playground surfacing material for years, despite needing regular replacement and causing splinters and slivers. Wood chips decay over time, attract pests, can be blown or washed away in harsh weather.
Rubber Mulch for Playgrounds
Unlike these other playground surfaces, playground rubber mulch offers 10–12 feet of fall protection, does not compact and harden over time, and does not rot or fade. Rubber playground surface also deters weeds and pests, stays put in windy or rainy weather, and won’t get burning hot in the sun. The numerous benefits of rubber bark aka recycled tire mulch make it the best playground surface for residential and commercial use.
Applications of Playground Rubber Mulch
Commercial Playground Application
In order to meet ASTM standards for fall protection, anywhere between 4” to 6” rubber mulch clearance may be needed. Government-funded playgrounds and schools need to apply a minimum of 6” of rubberized mulch throughout the entire play area. For church, daycare and other private applications, typically 3” to 4” needs to be applied. The greater the depth of rubber mulch, the more fall protection it provides.
Residential Playground Application
For residential play area application, a depth of 3” rubber playground flooring is recommended. This will provide incredible fall protection for residential play areas. Depending on the structure in your backyard, you can adjust the depth accordingly.
Whatever you’re using rubber mulch for, our convenient playground mulch calculator will determine how many bags or pallets needed to get the proper amount of rubber mulch per square foot.
If you have any questions about bulk rubber mulch orders, or just about anything, don’t hesitate to contact us! We are happy to help.
