What's New at Idaho Blue Insulation


	« Back to News Idaho Company sells alternative insulation 7/27/2007 Edward Cash was itchy. He scratched his arms raw trying to rub off remnants of the fiber-glass insulation he used in areas of his new workshop behind his Boise home. He said he searched for a less irritating material to insulate the rest of his work space — and that's when he found Idaho Blue Insulation. "I envisioned the material before I saw it," Cash, 68, said. "It is environmentally safe and easy to put in." Idaho Blue Insulation, at 228 E. Plaza St., sells insulation made from blue-jean remnants from denim manufacturing plants across the nation and Mexico. The Boise-based company, owned by Jack and Katy Slater, is a distributor for Bonded Logic, an Arizona-based manufacturer of Ultra Touch, the cotton-fiber insulation. Ultra Touch controls noise transmissions through walls, ceilings and floors and maintains thermal protection in extreme temperature changes, the Slaters say. It is mold resistant and environmentally safe, they say. "To start with, the manufacturing remnants don't go to landfills," Katy Slater said. "And the ingredients are biodegradable, and it doesn't have formaldehyde in it." It costs about 25 percent more than conventional fiber-glass insulation, she said. The Slaters became distributors in August 2006 after insulating their home with Ultra Touch. The Slaters invested about $25,000 in personal funds to start the company. They kept overhead low by not hiring any employees and have a contract with Boise's G&G Insulation to assist customers who want insulation installed. Ultra Touch comes in packaged batts with varying thicknesses, lengths and widths. Customers roll out each bundle and press it to wall crevices. Cash bought about $1,800 worth of Ultra Touch — about 37 bundles — and said it took him, his son and his grandson about 42 hours to insulate the workshop behind his house. "It's neat and easy to put in," Cash said. According to the Department of Energy, insulation is rated in terms of the R-value, which indicates resistance to heat. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating effectiveness. For a wood-frame house with a natural-gas furnace, the DOE suggests an insulation with an R-value of 13 for an exterior wall and 38 for the attic. The retail price of Ultra Touch insulation with an R-value of 13 and a thickness of 3.5 inches is about 80 cents per square foot. For customers who want to insulate an exterior wall of a wood-frame building, Slater recommends an insulation with an R-value of 19 or 21, and for a ceiling, an R-value of 30 or 38. She said Ultra Touch insulation never has to be replaced, has a Class A fire rating and can contain a fire within a burning building for up to an hour. Idaho Statesman, 7/27/2007