Useful Properties of Polyethylene Foam

Polyethylene foam is a strong, resilient, durable and lightweight thermoplastic material. Thermoplastics are recyclable plastics that can be reshaped, reheated and even repeatedly frozen. Polyethylene foam has several extremely useful properties.

For starters, it has excellent buoyancy. This very fact makes it an ideal choice to be used in nautical products and other floating equipment like pool noodles. Polyethylene foam is a closed cell material. In layman’s terms this means that structurally it is made up of millions of tiny bubbles. As a result of this it has more strength and rigidity as compared to open cell materials. It has good cushioning properties and due to its’s resilient nature it goes back to its original form after being compressed.

Another extremely desirable property of polyethylene foam is that it has excellent vibration damping and insulation properties. As a result of this it is used to package fragile goods. Besides this polyethylene foam is resistant to water, chemicals, solvent and grease. It is also impervious to mold, dew, rot and bacteria. These two characteristics of polyethylene foam combined together, make it one of the most widely used materials for packaging and transportation of products from manufacturers to suppliers as well as end users. Polyethylene foam’s tear resistant, high shock absorption and anti-static nature just enforces the fact that it one of the best choices for packaging of goods, especially fragile and delicate ones.

Apart from all these properties polyethylene foam has two more plus points. One being that polyethylene foam is easy to process and fabricate. Thus making it a cost effective and easily available option for manufacturers. The second advantage is that polyethylene foam is easily customizable. It can be easily made in different shapes and sizes as per the customer’s specifications.

Polyethylene foam has a plethora of desirable properties which result in a variety of uses as shock absorbers, packaging materials, masonry supplies as well as flotation devices.