What is Nylon?

First produced in 1935, Nylon is one of the most common plastics in the world and has been used to create everything from clothes and parachutes to food packaging and guitar strings. Nylon can also be used in conjunction with other materials, such as glass and carbon fibre, as its wide range of qualities are often beneficial, but sadly lacking from the materials that it teams up with.

Talking about the qualities of nylon, what are they exactly? Well nylon has numerous characteristics, all of which have contributed to its wide-spread popularity. Firstly, nylon is incredibly versatile in terms of aesthetics, insofar as it can be made to have a high gloss shine, a dull, matte finish, or just about anywhere in between. This is why nylon is a popular material in the manufacturing of clothes and is also why our nylon sheets and rods are amongst the most popular products on Cut Plastic Sheeting.Like many other plastics, because nylon is made from processed petroleum it is very durable and has an especially long life-span. This durability even extends to a resistance to damage caused by animals (such as insects), spores, rot, mould and chemicals – which in conjunction with the material’s high strength – is one of the main reasons why nylon is often relied upon for delivering consistent, enduring performance; the kind that is required from safety features such as car seatbelts.

Nylon 6 & Nylon 6.6

As a thermoplastic, when heated nylon will become soft and malleable, allowing it to be reshaped and repurposed should the need arise; giving it some degree of re-usability and recyclability. However because Nylon is so long-lasting and because its uses are so wide and varied, its low recycling potential is not as much of as issue as some other plastics – in fact because of its longevity the carbon footprint produced by manufacturing nylon is lower than the processing of wool.Other properties of nylon include an impressively high resilience to heat, abrasion resistance, infrared transparency, slow moisture absorption, thermal resistance, and impact resistance. We offer two types of nylon material on Cut Plastic Sheeting, Nylon 6 and Nylon 6.6. Both materials have relatively similar properties, however Nylon 6.6 has greater heat, sunlight and abrasion resistance, where as Nylon 6 is easier to colour or dye, and has a greater resistance to forceful impacts.