Which plastics can be heat sealed?

Most thermoplastic materials can be sealing using an impulse heat sealer or a continuous band sealer.

This is a wide variety of plastic based flexible packaging films. These include polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, polyamid and some thinner materials like PE laminated foil and aluminium foil.

For heavy gauge, multi layered films testing is advised first.

Some plastics like PVC, polystyrene, acrylic and PETG can be heat sealed using a heat sealer machine. These materials can also be cold seal laminated. Polyethylene film can also be cold seal laminated but it is not as common because it has a very low melting point and can be easily damaged. Aluminium foil, while not a plastic, can be heat sealed using a heated seal bar.

Some plastics like PET and HDPE cannot be heat sealed but can be cold seal laminated.

Materials that cannot be heat sealed need to have an adhesive layer added in order for them to be laminated together. This adhesive can either be applied to one side or both sides of the film. Once the adhesive has been applied, the two materials can then be brought together and laminated using pressure and heat.

Some plastics like LDPE, LLDPE and PLA can be heat sealed but have a very low melting point and can be easily damaged. We advise testing first on these materials.