We have all heard the upset consumer angry about the ‘Cheap Plastic’, normally about a thin plastic bag or water bottle that just broke during normal use.
“I thought ALL Plastic Was A Just A Cheap Material?”
We do hear this question regularly. And, maybe, in years gone by Plastic was that Cheap material.
Back in the 50′s and 60′s, plastics were very inexpensive, and were very limited in types, grades and availability.
What caused this to change?
Plastics are primarily produced from Oil and several Oil by-products. As oil pricing has skyrocketed from the 50′s, so did the low end plastic material pricing.
In addition, a new generation of high tech, mechanical and engineering grades of plastic we developed. These performance plastics replace metals and other substrates in manufacturing. They out live and out perform most materials at a fraction of the cost of the material it replaces.
Isn’t Cheap better?
All materials are not designed to the same standard. This is true with plastics as well. Choosing the wrong plastic for a project can be a costly mistake. All engineering perimeters should be considered: strength, impact, sunlight, water absorption, electrical resistance, temperature range, etc. We’ve all witnessed the ‘cheap’ plastic kids toy that lasts but a couple of days, the clip or cover in your car breaks off, the inexpensive outdoor furniture and so on. These are examples of under designed or choosing a material for its resin cost, not its physical properties. Thus, no, cheaper is not better. Cost should be just one of your decision criteria. The overall ‘performance’ of the material you require will dictate the type, grade and overall cost of the material. We supply materials from very inexpensive to some that are very expensive. These price differences are based on the significant differences in many of today’s high performance plastic materials.
What Should You Do?
The answer is really quite easy. Ask.
Talk to one of our experienced ‘Plasticologists’ and tell them your requirements. You’re input, and a little time to answer some questions could save you enormous time and expense in your finished parts. All plastics are not created equal, and neither are all plastic suppliers. Give us a try, and take the guess-work out of choosing the right material for your job. Most Performance Plastic materials outlast other raw materials, even metals. Check the physical properties, and using the right material for the application, could mean your parts may last decades without needing maintenance or lubrication.
Some of our lower cost materials: HDPE, PVC, Styrene – are less expensive, but not cheap. Each with very specific strong points, and yes, weak areas as well. Contact us with any questions you may have about the best material for your project as ‘one size does not fit all’.
‘Cheap plastic’ is most likely not the best plastic for your application.
Ask Us, we are happy to guide you on your Performance Plastic Material search.
Specializing in performance and mechanical plastic sheet and plastic sheets, blocks, slabs and panels; Industrial Plastic Supply carries a huge variety of materials in flat plastic sheet. Most materials are available in 48″ x 96″ sheet sizes, although many are in 48″ X 120″ and some only 24″ X 48″ sheets (depending on thickness and type of plastic material). These sheet materials can be cut to produce Plastic Strip, Plastic Bar, Plastic Square Bar, Plastic Rectangular Bar or simply cut to size pieces. Our quality American Made plastic sheet manufacturers are some of the largest in the industry and make the finest grades of plastic sheeting material available anywhere. We source only the best materials with the least amount of residual stress in the industry – providing the flattest plastic sheet, and thus the best quality for your finished parts.
All of our suppliers are American companies, and we import nothing from China.
Why chose Industrial Plastic Supply for your Plastic Sheet
Huge selection of plastic sheet, plastic plate and plastic slabs
Cutting service to cut sheet plastic or blocks, strips and ‘blanks’
Most plastics available in sheet form
Many materials available up to 6″ thick sheet (and in stock), with thicker materials available.
Plastic sheets generally starts at .062 or 1/16″, with thinner materials being called film
Here’s a listing of some of the most popular wholesale plastic plate and plastic sheet materials available, and normally in inventory:
If you are still not sure which product is the proper sheet material for your application, consult our free Plastic Materials Selection Guide or call us today at: 866-832-9315.
These and many other plastic sheet and sheet plastic materials are available. If there is a material not listed, please call. It might be in stock, but not on the website. While this is a large list of materials, we do stock dozens of additional materials in plastic sheeting.
While Plastic Sheet is a standard item, we can cut these plastic materials into Plastic Strip, Plastic Bar, Plastic Square Bar, Plastic Rectangular Bar, and of course cut pieces of Plastic Sheet.
One of the most popular questions we are asked is, “Can Plastic Sheets Be Recycled?” The answer is ‘Yes’ for all of our Thermoplastic Sheet materials. Feel free to ask us for specifics on the plastic sheet material you have been searching for.
There are hundreds of plastic manufacturers, and even more plastic sheet, rod and tube suppliers.
What makes one better or worse than another? Some of the biggest differences are in the quality of the materials they have in stock. Not all manufacturers are the same. Some produce very inexpensive materials for the disposable trade. A few supply high quality materials from the big names in the plastic industry.
We buy only from American companies. Our suppliers and warehouses are all here, in the USA. While several of our factories have parent companies in Western Europe, they manufacture the bulk of their materials here in the states. With the NAFTA requirements, we are able to provide certification to all our materials.
American Made Quality Makes A Difference
As you probably know, materials made in areas around the world don’t have the same quality control systems that we have here. We have seen materials from suppliers not in the USA or Western Europe, and have chosen to not carry any of these materials – they just don’t measure up to Made In The USA! We believe that that American Made still means something, and it transfers to the materials we supply.
Since 1975 we have partnered with the best manufacturers, with the best industrial, machinable, mechanical and professional grades of plastic materials available in the marketplace. Quality names like: Westlake Plastics, Ensinger Plastics, Gehr Plastics, Roechling Plastics, Polymer Industries, Spartech Plastics, Z/L Plastics, Plaskolite, and many, many more. None of these are suppliers are newcomers, most of our suppliers have been in business producing excellent quality plastic sheet and rod for over 50 years. We are the new guys, as we started in 1975!
Buy From An Establish Plastics Professional
Industrial Plastic Supply of Anaheim California
How can you tell if your plastics are ‘quality’ pieces of plastic? It is a bit tough to tell by just looking, and that is what the low quality suppliers and manufacturers count on. Sometimes the only way to tell is by cutting or machining a part. We have cut into materials that literally break when a saw blade comes into contact. Some materials have stress levels so high they bow significantly as we cut through the material. See article on Stress In Plastics.
These high internal stresses show up during machining as warping, changes in tolerance, large movement in part size and stress fractures. We have seen parts move by over 5% after part was machined and within 12 hours. This picture shows a piece of glass filled nylon from one of the ‘upstarts’ in the industry. As a test, we were cutting some strips. As you can see, the part has such a high stress level that it warped away from the rest of the sheet as we cut it. This is very dangerous for a person cutting or machining, as it can stop a blade or break free and strike an employee. We chose not to buy from this new company.
Plastic Sheet and rods Proudly American Made
We have been around the block a few times, and we know most of the things that will cause you problems in a material. That is why we only buy from the big guys, the high quality material manufacturers, the well known – tried and true manufacturers. We buy from the experts, the professionals, the leaders in our plastics industry. Supplying industrial grade plastics to machine shops may seem like an easy thing. We treat this process with the respect it deserves; your parts are important to you and your customers. We won’t let you down by providing unacceptable grades of plastic materials. Our parts aren’t stressed out!
Call on us today – 866-832-9315 and ask for a Plasticologist, or email us for more information about the quality materials we supply.
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