Rayda Plastics – Plastic Properties: Domestic vs Industrial Plastics

Plastic has many uses in our day to day lives, often going unnoticed and being considered a common convenience without any real thought about the vast properties of the material and how much we rely on it.

Depending on usage too, plastic can often be made with different properties to withstand the particular use intended. Here, we go through some of the main properties of plastic when designed and manufactured for domestic and industrial use.

Domestic

Plastic is being used widely in household situations as it is relatively cheap compared to a lot of materials.

It is a cheap resource and the variety of uses for plastic continue to add to its benefits. Compared to metals and other materials, plastic has emerged as one of the best materials to be adapted to meet specific needs of the consumers, whilst also fitting within their budget.

Plastic in household and domestic applications is often designed to be durable but also not ‘industrial strength’.

For example, families with small children would want to purchase plastic toys that are resilient but would not hurt if landed on or thrown.

Domestic plastics are also regarded highly in the home due to the extreme adaptability in terms of their size and shape. In the kitchen for example, we see different uses and properties of in plastic in the following:

• Cling film – a very thin and malleable plastic used to create a thin coating on food – can be moulded and adapted to fit whatever product it is covering
• Tupperware – a pre shaped tub of moderate durability that holds a pre-determined amount of goods
• Utensils – strong and heat resistant plastic useful in high temperatures and for cooking
• Coating inside canned foods – the resin used in these provides a layer of protection to extend the shelf life, but not altering the taste of the food.

The popularity of plastic in domestic life is largely due to convenience – it can be given almost any shape and size and used in any setting.

In another branch of domestic use, plastic sheeting can be a brilliant source for insulation. They provide protection from extreme weather conditions all year round.

Industrial

A lot of the same reasons apply when considering the best properties of plastic in industry.

Performance and durability, alongside cost effectiveness for businesses is what drives the inclusion of plastics in industry.

More often than not, packing is used for product protection and must adhere to and deliver on the expectations that goods will arrive intact, and there are often legal requirements around this. For example, medical and pharmaceutical packaging.

Plastic can help and benefit these industries in the following ways:

• Cosmetics and personal care – part of the appeal with cosmetics is their packaging. The flexibility and adaptability of plastics has allowed for some unique and memorable designs to be created. Plastics have also enabled more portable packaging, which is a huge selling point for cosmetics.
• Home and garden – from flower pots to fertilizer bags, plastics have come to serve a great use in the garden industry. People rely on these plastics for their reliability and durability.
• Construction – plastic has almost endless uses in construction – seals, pipes and cables, floor coverings and insulation. All of these are possible due to the varying properties of plastics.
• Transport – plastics replacing metals and other components and cars have allowed for better performance as there are no heavy materials weighing vehicles down.
• Medicine and healthcare – from prosthetics to expanding foam to stop wounds bleeding out, see our previous blog post for some amazing innovations of plastic in the medical industry.

There are so many uses and applications for plastics in so many industries and domestic settings. For more information about what plastics can do for you or your business, contact us at Rayda today.