Identification of PE and PP sheets

Here are some tricks you need to know to recognize polyethylene or polypropylene sheets:

Natural PE 100 polyethylene

– lighter than water, therefore it floats on water
– burns with open flame, even after the source of the fire is removed
– it seems a little greasy to the touch
– easy to scratch, even with the fingernail
– when cutting, it results little swarf, compared to PE 500 sheets.
– less opaque than PE 500.

Extruded or pressed PE 500 polyethylene:

– lighter than water, therefore it floats on water
– burns with open flame, even after the source of the fire is removed
– more glossy than PE 100
– difficult to scratch with the fingernail
– when cutting, it results more swarf, compared to PE 100 sheets.
– more opaque than PE 100.

AlphaPlus PP-H homopolymer polypropylene:

– lighter than water, therefore it floats on water
– burns with open flame, even after the source of the fire is removed, but the smell is different from that of polyethylene
– it seems waxy to the touch
– whitens in the areas strained by mechanical loads
– extremely difficult to scratch with the fingernail

PP-C copolymer polypropylene:

– lighter than water, therefore it floats on water
– burns with open flame, even after the source of the fire is removed, but the smell is different from that of polyethylene
– it seems waxy to the touch
– whitens in the areas strained by mechanical loads
– very difficult to scratch with the fingernail