Mylar / Drafting Film / Matte Polyester, this stuff goes by a few different names (more on that below). This tough, translucent plastic material is receptive to a wide variety of media including pencil, ink, oil sticks, and most paints. Like plastic tracing paper it's easy to see through when laid directly on top of other material, but disperses light and can offer privacy and diffusion like etched glass. It makes a great stencil material as you can trace, draw and cut it easily and is waterproof and solvent resistant. Very versatile!
People often use the word “mylar” generically to refer to polyester film or plastic sheet. In reality, Mylar® brand is a registered trademark owned by Dupont Tejjin Films for a specific family of plastic sheet products made from the resin Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). The true generic terms for this material are either polyester film or plastic sheet.
Get great results for your Plastic Film & Sheeting application by using Polyester Film. A complementary combination of physical, thermal and optical properties allows film to be used in a variety of applications, across a wide range of industries. The following are just some examples of how Polyester Film & Sheet are used:
-
Polyester Film enhances the properties of glass. A variety of industries laminate and use applied window films made from Polyester Film. End users coat Polyester Film with special adhesives, ultraviolet (UV) inhibitors and protective, scratch-resistant coatings. Some window films are also metallized for specialized color and solar energy rejection properties.
-
LCD/Plasma/Computer Displays brought to life with Polyester Film and Sheet. Most of today’s electronic displays employ polyester film. The film is either coated with diffusion coatings for use in the back light mechanism, or coated with anti-glare or anti-reflection coatings. This film is laminated to the face of the display to make it easier to read in bright light.
-
Make cards more wear resistant. Extend the life of cards such as those used for automatic transit fare collection, prepaid telephone and university IDs.
-
Polyester Film print applications include photographic printing, xerography, digital printing, inkjet printing, screen printing, offset/lithography and more. Please note that sheets must be coated with special coating optimized for a given printing process.
-
Ensure labels are durable, tear resistant and heat resistant with Polyester Film. Many applications require labels that are durable, tear resistant and heat resistant. Polyester film is a great film for this sort of application. Usually polyester film supplied for this application is adhesive coated on one side, and top coated on the other to make it printable by a specific printing technology.
-
Most magnetic recording media is made from Polyester Film. Cassette tapes, floppy disks, backup tapes, microfiche, and hard disk systems employ polyester as the base film. A magnetic coating allows film to accept data recording.
-
Package a variety of products. The product is ideal for a wide variety of packaging needs, from food packaging to medical packaging to electronic packaging. Once again, packaging film is coated with any number of different coatings to make it appropriate for a given application.
-
Medical devices: Plastic Film is used widely throughout the medical industry. In addition to packaging, sheets are also used to make X-ray film, test strips and more.
