Red rubber mulch
Red is the bold pick for a play area or a front bed. Softscape Outdoor ships it by the pallet across the lower 48, and the price you see already covers delivery.
See your total delivered price
One pallet covers about 300 square feet at 3″ deep.
Same price either way. Choose bags for a home delivery. A super sack comes off in one piece, so it needs a loading dock, or a forklift and a pallet jack waiting on site.
Not sure how much you need? Open the calculator.
Need more than seven pallets?
Ask for a quote at any size.
Red rubber mulch in place
What comes on a pallet of red
One pallet of red rubber mulch holds 75 cubic feet. You choose how it is packed, and the price is the same either way.
- 50 bags on the pallet, each holding 1.5 cubic feet.
- One super sack on the pallet, holding the load in a single bag.
- The same rubber mulch at the same price, in both cases.
Bags suit a job you spread by hand. You carry one bag to the spot you are working on and open it there. A super sack comes off in one piece, so it needs a loading dock, or a forklift and a pallet jack on site. The load stays in one place until it is spread.
Buy one to seven pallets on the site. A quote is available at any size. For eight pallets or more, ask us for a delivered quote. Either way, the price you see includes shipping to the lower 48.
Red is a look, not a different product
We sell six colors: Black, Brown, Red, Green, Blue, and Unpainted. Red is the same rubber mulch as the other five.
Every color we sell is tested to the same impact standard and carries the same certification. Red does the same job in a fall that black or green does. Color changes how the ground looks and nothing more.
Tested to ASTM F1292 · confirm any certification in the IPEMA public certification database.The other five colors
Red is one of six. Each of the others has its own page.
- Black rubber mulch, the dark, quiet base color.
- Brown rubber mulch, the warm tone people picture when they hear mulch.
- Green rubber mulch, which settles in beside turf and evergreens.
- Blue rubber mulch, a cool, bright blue that marks a space as its own.
- Unpainted rubber mulch, the rubber with no color on it.
Where people use red
Play areas kids notice
Red reads as fun, and children spot it from across a yard. Some sites run red over the whole play area. Others use it in one zone and a quieter color everywhere else.
Zones you can read at a glance
Color is a fast way to map a big site. Red can mark the edge of the play area or set the toddler zone apart from the older kids’ zone. Staff and parents then read the ground instead of hunting for a sign.
Beds meant to be seen
In a landscape bed, red plays off green leaves, and the contrast is strong. That suits a modern yard, and it suits a front bed you want seen from the street.
Some plantings sharpen the effect:
- Silver and gray foliage, which reads cool against a warm red.
- White and yellow flowers, which stand out of a red bed.
- Succulents and grasses, which hold a strong outline.
A business with red in its logo can carry that color out to the entry beds.
Depth is what makes a playground surface work
Red rubber mulch is tested for impact under ASTM F1292. Depth is the part you control on site. The federal playground handbook gives the depth to use for the height of your equipment, and it shows how far the surface must reach around each piece. Read it before you order. Then buy enough red to hold that depth across the whole area, not only under the swings.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Public Playground Safety Handbook (Publication 325) · tested to ASTM F1292.Our rubber mulch coverage calculator turns your area and your depth into a pallet count.
Check the certification yourself
Ask for the paperwork on any surface you put under play equipment. Our rubber mulch is certified, and that certification sits in a public database anyone can search. Print the listing and file it with your inspection records.
Listed in the IPEMA public certification database · tested to ASTM F1292.How red behaves once it is down
- It is inert, and it has no odor.
- It does not rot, so the cover you spread stays cover.
- It springs back underfoot, where wood chips pack down.
Traffic still moves it. At the foot of a slide or in front of a swing, the mulch drifts toward the edges. Rake it back, and top those spots up when they thin out.
That is the routine. There is no yearly load to buy and spread again.
How we make it and where
Red starts as recycled rubber. Magnets draw the steel out of the stream. Air classification lifts the fabric away, because moving air carries light fibers while heavier rubber drops.
We make rubber mulch in Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. We deliver it to the rest of the lower 48.
What happens on delivery day
Shipping is built into the price on your screen. No freight charge shows up later.
A truck brings your pallets. The driver lowers each one to the curb and leaves it there. Clear a level spot near the street before the truck arrives.
We deliver. A wheelbarrow and a rake handle the rest.
Common questions about red rubber mulch
Can I mix red with another color?
Yes, and it is one of the most common plans we see. Each pallet ships in one color, so you order each color you want as its own pallet. On a playground, one common layout is a base of black or brown with a red band around the edge. Another runs red through one zone inside a larger field.
In a landscape bed, put one red bed near the front door. You get a focal point without a bright tone across the whole yard. Keep a quieter color in the beds along the side.
Mixing costs you nothing in performance. Every Softscape Outdoor color is tested to the same impact standard, so a two-color layout protects the same as a one-color layout. Work out the square footage of each zone first. Then order pallets for each color to the depth you need.
Is red a good choice for a backyard swing set?
Yes. Red is a common pick for home play areas, and kids like the bright look. It also makes the play zone read as its own space. Parents like that when the rest of the yard is lawn and beds.
The surface under a home swing set does the same work as one at a school. Take your depth from the federal playground handbook, which sets it by how high a child can climb. Then spread red to that depth across the whole fall area, not just the strip under the seats.
Run your numbers through the coverage calculator before you order. Add a little for topping up later, because the mulch drifts out of the landing spots. Red does that no more and no less than any other color we sell.
How many pallets of red should I order?
Start with two numbers: the square footage of your area and the depth you want. Multiply them for cubic feet. Our coverage calculator does that math and returns a pallet count, and one pallet of red rubber mulch holds 75 cubic feet.
For a playground, take the depth from the federal handbook. For a landscape bed, depth is your call, and a shallower spread is normal.
Order a little past the bare number. Rubber mulch travels out of busy spots such as slide exits, and a spare bag lets you top those up later. Round up rather than down, because a second delivery for one short bag costs you a day. Buy one to seven pallets online. Ask us at any quantity and we will price the freight with it. Eight or more is quote only.
Order red rubber mulch
Enter your ZIP code and see the real delivered price for red. One to seven pallets ship straight from the site, and shipping is already in the number. Any quantity can be quoted. For eight pallets or more, send us the details for a quote.
Get your delivered priceGet your delivered price
Pick your color and your state and the site shows the price you actually pay. Freight to your state is already in it, and no shipping charge is added later. An online order carries up to seven pallets in total. For more than that, ask us for a quote at any size.
What comes with it
Every color is tested to ASTM F1292, the standard for how far a surface cushions a fall, and certified by IPEMA. The certificate itself is public, listed in IPEMA’s public database. Painted colors carry our 12-year color guarantee.
- Tested to ASTM F1292
- IPEMA certified
- Ships to all 48 contiguous states
- 22 years of rubber mulch experience