If you have done any research regarding artificial lawn installation, you will have learned that almost every synthetic grass company out there require infill as part of their synthetic grass installation process. This practice dates back to the development of AstroTurf type athletic fields… a practice that continues to this day. What is infill, you might ask? Infill is a mixture of playground sand and cryogenic black crumb rubber made from recycled tires. There are five basic reasons why athletic fields use this infill:
- The blade count on the turf is kept at a minimum to keep the cost of the synthetic grass down, therefore infill is required to make the sparsely populated blades of grass stand up.
- The infill helps protect the blades from the grind and torque delivered by the athlete’s shoes.
- The infill helps provide some cushion for the athlete when they fall on to the turf.
- The weight of the infill (five pounds per square foot minimum) helps keep the turf in place.
- The infill helps hide imperfections of the product and/or of the installation.
While all these points may be a good idea if you are planning to have 350 pound linemen scrimmaging on your front lawn on a daily basis, they are bad ideas if you are looking for a beautiful natural looking lawn for your home. Here’s why:
- The playground sand gets very hard as time goes on – and because it stays wet much longer, the sand becomes a prime environment for the growth of bacteria.
- Pet waste products get trapped in the sand and rubber, creating an unsanitary and smelly condition.
- When black rubber heats up, it has the potential to off-gas, making an unpleasant odor.
- The dust given off by rubber fill can potentially be harmful to the respiratory system.
- The black rubber infill significantly raises the temperature of the grass on warm days to uncomfortable levels.
- Infill migrates: the wind blows it around, it gets washed away, it gets into your shoes and into your pet’s paws, which means it ends up in your house and in your car.
- Because infill migrates, the black rubber will also need to be periodically refilled. This is especially true if any slope exists in the lawn.
So you might ask why would any company use infill for residential synthetic lawns? The simple answer is that their artificial grass products do not have enough blades of grass per square inch to stand up without infill. Similar to the different qualities of bed sheets, where a higher thread count means a silky soft texture, a higher blade count in an artificial lawn means a softer, thicker, more lush look and feel and no infill!
San Francisco Bay Area artificial grass onelawn™ not only has a very high blade count but also has a layer of thatching below the blades that adds durability without sacrificing the beauty and natural look of this estate quality product. This combination allows the onelawn™ line of products to be entirely fill-free.
Contact onelawn™ today, get a free in-home consultation and see and feel this beautiful product for yourself.
