PLASTIC FILM

Plastic film

Plastic film is defined as a continuous form of plastic material that is thin and usually wound on a core, or cut into sheets. Generally, plastic film is made from thicknesses of .00025″ (.06mm) up to .010″ (.25mm).  Anything thicker is considered plastic sheet.

There is a huge universe of plastic film materials, ranging from film made of a simple single plastic material to film comprised of a complex structure of different materials and coatings. Plastic film can be manufactured out of various plastic resins, each with its own unique physical properties which are differently suited to different applications. Besides all the different materials it can be made out of, plastic film can be clear, colored, smooth, rough, functionally embossed, opaque or semi-transparent. So when you’re looking for plastic film for your application, our goal is to help you get to the specifics, so we can best fulfill your needs.

If you know you need a plastic film material but don’t yet know what particular material will best suit your application, it’s helpful to start by considering what you are going to be doing with the material, and how you expect it to perform.

Next, it’s critical to understand the size and quantity of material required. Finally, you’ll want to ask about the film’s expected life time, to ensure it will meet the length of service your application requires.

Often, we hear, “Oh just give me any plastic film, I’m trying to protect a window on a display where we’re installing in a piece of machinery. It doesn’t have to last long, it just has to be cheap.” However, it is worth examining the circumstances more critically, to ascertain whether the film needs to withstand certain conditions. For example, if it has to protect the window from certain chemicals, you’ll want to make sure that the specific plastic material used is resistant to those chemicals. (Not all plastic materials are resistant to the same chemicals!) That is especially true when it comes to solvents. Or if the window is outside, and needs UV protection, you’ll require a specific material with UV resistant properties.

Printing on plastic film

Printing on plastic film and sheets is a very common application. However, the techniques that used to print on the vast number of different plastics is very detailed. Usually, the method and techniques chosen have to do with the plastic material itself, as well as the type of printing.

In general, there are two types of printing – conventional and digital. With respect to our plastic film and sheet products, there are three levels of “printability”. A plastic film or sheet product either:

1. s printable with the specific technology/ink/equipment
2. can be printed with the specific technology/ink/equipment, BUT is not specifically designed to be printed this way. (In these cases, we recommend you test the product extensively with your printing process in order to determine whether the product you want will be printable)
3. is NOT printable with the specific technology/ink/equipment, and printing should not be attempted.

With regard to conventional printing applications, many of our commodity plastic film and sheet products fall under the second level of printability. In digital printing applications, all three levels can apply; here’s where graphic saves the day (!) helping you understand what your material possibilities are given the method of printing your project will employ.

THE THICKNESS OF PLASTIC FILM

Plastic Film and Sheet thickness is expressed in a number of different formats all related to length. In the English measurement system, we use inches (in decimals) and gauge, so a sheet of .005″ thick material is also 500 gauge.  In the Metric measurement system, we use microns (um) and millimeters (mm).  There are 1000um in a mm.  So the same sheets as described earlier is 125um thick, or .125mm thick.

There are many types of plastic materials, with a wide range of physical properties and attributes. To help you define what you might specifically be looking for, we’ve developed a handy Hierarchy of Plastics and their relative performance and cost, just check out our website surly you will find what you wan