Rubber mallets position stone tiles, set wooden boards and flooring, tap parts into place, and stamp leather. They are softer than plastic and metal mallets but harder than wooden ones. They can be more difficult to control than other mallet materials since they are prone to bouncing back when delivering strong blows.

Wooden mallets deliver a controlled blow to strike wood- or plastic-handle chisels, set dowels and pins, and form sheet metal. Also known as joiner's mallets, they hit more softly than other mallets to minimize damage to surfaces. Wooden mallets are commonly used to position wood pieces in carpentry and framing applications.