Popular Names for Padded Rooms & Uses

When it comes to keeping someone safe from themselves, padded rooms have traditionally been one key component. Originally used in psychiatric hospitals, a padded cell is a room with cushions lining the walls to protect the patient from harming themselves by hitting their head against a wall - usually involuntarily.

Over time, padded rooms have become more common in places such as schools and homes for people with medical conditions or temper issues that may cause them to fall, seizure or otherwise thrust themselves into hard objects - voluntarily or not.

What is a padded room called?

These padded rooms have come to be known by less clinical names, such as rubber rooms, seclusion rooms, time-out rooms, calming rooms, quiet rooms, sensory rooms, personal safety rooms, or simply safe rooms.

What kind of wall padding is used in a safe room?

Most often, safe room wall pads are the same style of safety padded wall panels you’ll find in a high school or university gymnasium to protect athletes from the inadvertent crash into a wall. This type of seclusion room wall padding is generally a permanent option with approximately 2 inches of foam attached to a stable plywood backing.

If the calming room is a temporary solution, removable wall padding may be a better option. In this case, the time out room is generally equipped with folding gym mats that have been secured to the wall.

In any case, the safe room wall pads are most often a polyethylene and/or polyurethane foam covered with a durable vinyl material that is easily cleaned and sanitized.