What are knee pads?

How do knee pads provide knee protection?

Knee pads are a necessary piece of equipment for floor installers who spend a lot of time on their knees. Even if you are just installing flooring on one room of your home, you will quickly recognize the need for knee pads. Knee pads protect the bones in your knees from the hard surface that you have to knee on. There are many kinds of knee pads on the market and most of them are not suited to use when you are installing a floor. For example, you can get knee pads for all different kinds of sports, but these do not provide adequate knee protection for someone who is kneeling for any length of time. They are basically designed for falls and spills to avoid having the knees injured by hard smacks to the floor or to keep them from being burned by sliding across the floor.

Knee protection from knee pads

Workers who do a lot of kneeling without wearing knee pads run the risk of having to have extensive, painful knee surgery later in life. Wearing keen pads for knee protection is a basic part of on the job safety.

Types of knee pads available

There are many knee pads available now for various kinds of work that involve a lot of kneeling. You can buy knee pads that have strong rubber caps to evenly distribute the weight and are longer to give knee protection for the full knee. They contain thick contoured foam rubber cushioning for increased comfort. Some contain buckles that make the knee pads easy to put on and take off. The natural rubber will not put any marks on the new flooring. A tough nylon fabric that resists water, abrasion and deterioration is the usual covering for the caps.

You can also get knee pads with velcro straps for even easier application and removal. These knee pads usually have 2 inch wide straps that flex with movement without pinching the knees or the knee joint. If you want protection for your knees against the rigors of hardwood floors, you really do need to have knee pads.