Tiling can be a long and tedious work. Although the task itself requires a lot of patience and determination, a lot of homeowners just can't resist laying the tiles themselves.
Laying down those tiles is an effective way of improving your home. Depending on the size of the project, the process can take a few hours to a couple of days worth of your time and energy.
As much as we love looking forward for the end result, the process can be downright miserable and exhausting especially if you're not using the proper tools and equipment.
And since the task itself demands a lot of prolonged kneeling, you'll need a work knee pad to help say goodbye to knee pain. In this review, you'll learn about:
- What are knee pads made of?
- How do knee pads work?
- How do I dry my knee pads?
- And what are the best knee pads for tile setters?
Let's get started with this guide:
| Image | Product | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Top Pick  | Top Pick | Thunderbolt
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| View on Amazon |
Close Second  | Close Second | Minor Miracle
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| View on Amazon |
 | Carib Gear Pro
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| View on Amazon | |
 | Cogurd
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| View on Amazon |
Our Overall #1 Rated Pick
ThunderBolt
- Thick gel foam padding
- Anti-slip design
- Strong neoprene straps
- 7-inch extension straps
The ThunderBolt Knee Pads are built for tough work and long hours of kneeling. It is also designed to be the perfect companion for a wide variety of home improvement tasks such tiling. It can protect your knees, take care of your work, and help you enjoy the time one tile after another.
Top 4 Best Knee Pads For Tiling
Only have a minute? Check out our top 4 knee pads for tiling! Keep reading to learn all of the details of each pick.
What Are Tile Setter Knee Pads?
Tiling is absolutely much more complicated and of course, much more exhausting than it looks. Laying down floor tiles requires years of experience, needle-point precision, creativity, and stamina unlike any other.
In the floor tiling industry, professionals deeply understand the gravity of their work particularly when it comes to the setbacks on their physical health. Tilers endure prolonged kneeling around five to eight hours a day, for five to six days a week.
As much as we want to be the best at what we do (tiling), our knees can only endure so much. The best knee pads for tile setters are specially designed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to ensure knee protection and enhance a tiler's work efficiency.
Apart from the cushioning provided by soft gel core and heavy duty foam padding, tiling knee pads are geared with tough outer shields to guard your knee caps from sharp and uneven surfaces as you lay down those tiles one after another. These tools are also designed with an anti-scratch feature so that your work surfaces are left spotless no matter how challenging the task at hand becomes.
Leaving a superb impression to your client is a golden rule in the tiling industry. However, ensuring protection for your knees should also be a priority. Knee pads for tiling protect your knees from mild to serious knee injuries to help you endure long hours of tiling work with impressive efficiency.
Read Also: What Are The Best Knee Pads For Roofing?
What Are Tiling Knee Pads Made Of?
Not all work knee pads are the same. Basically, these sorts of protective equipment differ by design.
First and foremost, knee pads for tile workers differ on their padding. This particular element provides the needed cushioning feature that protects the critical parts of the user's knees. With proper cushioning, knee pads can effectively prevent serious knee injuries. These paddings can be made of gel, carbon fiber, nylon foam, neoprene foam, polyethylene foam and many other.
On the outside, the knees are protected by a shield which is either a heavy duty plastic or a ballistic fabric. Some popular knee pads have ballistic neoprene while others sport ballistic nylon.
Another interesting difference among knee pads is the type of closures that they have. A lot of these products have velcro adjustable straps while some others have click closures at their ends. Typically, knee pads have two to three straps that can be adjusted conveniently to make sure that the padding doesn't move out of place.
Read Also: What Are The Best Rated Knee Pads For Flooring?
How Do Tiling Knee Pads Work?
Basically, tiling knee pads are worn to protect your knees from too much pressure and impact against hard or sharp surfaces. However, the concept is not as simple as that.
All parts or components of a knee pad for tiling has a specific function to satisfy. The cushion gel and foam padding of the gear are the ones that absorb the force of impact from hitting an obstacle or falling to the ground; or the strain of prolonged kneeling.
The shield on the other hand, is the outermost layer of the pads. Most of the time, the shield is designed to provide firm and straightforward protection to the knees while messy marks on your work surface at the same time. In some cases, the shield is designed to be waterproof for added versatility.
One main problem commonly experienced by professional tilers is the padding falling out of place from time to time. To solve such a problem, manufacturers provided models equipped with two to three straps. Tilers can adjust these belts to a snug fit that holds the padding in the right spot without restricting proper blood flow.
In some cases, wearers have some issues on the straps of their gears. Some become too hot and sweaty across the back of the knees while there are others that can't accommodate larger legs. To solve this problem, manufacturers came up with a breathable mesh design for their straps along with extra belts for support.
Read Also: What Are The Best Knee Pads For Roofing?
How Do I Dry My Knee Pads After Tiling?
Although most manufacturers boast lasting durability, you also need to do your part in taking good care of your gear. And one perfect way of doing so is washing it.
Whether you like it or not, you need to wash your knee pads before its smell becomes unbearable because of accumulated sweat and dirt. On the bright side, you can wash your gear with a washing machine as long as you follow these rules:
- Avoid washing only your tile knee pads in the machine. The cycle can push the gear into hitting the interior of your washing machine causing serious damage. Try throwing in a couple of your shirts instead.
- Secure your gear in a mesh laundry bag. This helps in preventing some parts of your knee pads from getting tangled with your laundry clothes.
- Pour a minimal amount of mild laundry detergent into the machine. Go for cold water and gentle settings. To make sure in neutralizing the odor, add a cup full of white vinegar into the mix.
- Once done, take the gear out and hang them to dry. As much as possible, avoid using a dryer. This can cause fabric shrinkage and elastic warping which can significantly affect the sizing of your gear.
Read Also: What Are The Best Rated Knee Pads For Flooring?
What Are The Best Knee Pads For Tile Setters?
Do you want to know what are the best knee pads for tiling projects? Here is my personal list of premium knee pads that will work great for tile setting. Check it out below...
THUNDERBOLT is a popular company that produces top notch personal protective equipment gears.
Its knee pads are designed to cater the knee protection requirements of professionals in the construction, mechanics, gardening, and HVAC industries.
The Platinum Pro is the upgraded version of the Elite Series II packed with innovative features. The gear's soft gel core and thick engineered foam makes sure that your patella bone sits on a nice cushion on prolonged kneeling.
On the other hand, the outermost shield is hard on nails, screws, sharp edges, and glass debris but gentle on work surfaces so as not to spoil the job or leave any unpleasant marks. The gear is secured on your knees through heavy duty neoprene straps that come with two 7-inch extensions in case you have bigger legs.
Pros
- anti-slip design
- thick gel foam padding
- 7-inch extension straps
- super strong neoprene straps
Cons
- a little bulky
- extra straps for larger legs are quite a hassle
Sometimes, a tiring task like laying tiles for flooring requires a Minor Miracle.
This premium kneepad is the best companion for all those hardworking homeowners and flooring experts who deserve nothing but the best for a protective equipment.
The gear's triple protection system is composed of a soft gel core, EVA foam padding, and a thick poly shield. The first two ensures utmost comfort for hours on end while the outer shield delivers protection as well as stability.
Unlike any regular kneepad, Minor Miracle Home Solutions Kneeling Gear has rubber latex strips on both thigh support straps for that extra firm grip that you've been looking for. It's basically, a kneepad that can help you endure tough and long tile work.
Pros
- rubber latex grip solution
- anti-slip poly shield
- augmented thigh support
Cons
- not suitable for larger/chunkier knees
- velcro strap doesn't provide sufficient grip
- rivets on straps may fall after months of use
This fourth entry offers a rather wide knee cap coverage compared to the previous ones in the list.
Inside, it has contoured padding with thick gel cushion underneath.
And as for the shield, it has a non-slip design that offers superior protection against various types of surfaces.
This product bundle is a perfect professional treat. It comes with a pair of scratch resistant safety glasses that can be used for both working and gaming. Also, the package also has non-slip leather gloves with reinforced padded palms.
Pros
- rubber latex grip solution
- anti-slip poly shield
- augmented thigh support
Cons
- not suitable for larger/chunkier knees
- velcro strap doesn't provide sufficient grip
- rivets on straps may fall after months of use
Another reliable partner for all your tile laying work is the COGURD Pro Protecion Knee Pads.
Like most of the knee pads in this list, COGURD has a three-layer padding system to make sure that both your knees rests comfortably as you work and are well protected from serious knee injuries.
The knee shield is geared with a waterproof and non-slip layer to enhance your efficiency while working on those tiles.
And through such feature, these knee pads are also great for other types of home improvement work like roofing and gardening - ideal for daily use.
Pros
- three-layer padding system
- waterproof and non-slip knee shield
- two extra hoop and loop tape
- anti-scratch shield
Cons
- a little bulky
- not suitable for when wearing shorts
Our Overall #1 Rated Pick
ThunderBolt Professional Knee Pads
All of the entries in this list are already considered as the cream of the crop and are worthy of recognition.
However, this review still requires a top pick and it simply goes to ThunderBolt Professional Knee Pads.
Why?
First and foremost, it's not so bulky unlike most knee pads.
It is a big factor especially if you're constantly moving on your knees as you carefully lay down those tiles one by one.
