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About Lextra In Mold Laminates

What added value do Lextra In Mold Laminates bring to the world of molded plastic products?

Aesthetically, the look of a richly-textured soft object can appear to be far more inviting that even the sexiest Apple white plastic iPhone or iPod. Especially by adding multicolor graphic images, such objects may appear to be covered with velvet, denim, velour, etc.—in a most comforming and permanent way; and a textile-covered hard plastic object would appear to be more desirable than a simple molded part, right?

Functionally there are significant added values from Lextra In Mold Laminates, including:

• Temperature insulation—a Lextra-covered battery would never be too hot to the touch
• Moisture insulation—up to a point, moisture is absorbed by Lextra so the surface of an object does not feel wet
• Sound insulation—two parts touching each other, even with force, would not give off a loud crash or bang
• Slip-or-Grip—against a smooth, hard surface Lextra will glide easily and smoothly; while against a rougher surface like a textile it will not tend to move at all (picture: Lextra on the back of a cell phone—when placed on one’s pant leg cannot slip off)

You get the idea. Thanks to millions of individual nylon Lextra fibers placed on the surface of the hard molded item—and the millions of air spaces between the fibers—the result is a unique textile-like surface that has even more unique advantages.

When an actual textile is laminated to a plastic before it is formed, during forming the textile will tend to either wrinkle if compressed or split if stretched thanks to its horizontal construction. However, Lextra In Mold Decoration has no horizontal structure, it is made up of millions of individual fibers which are individually located in an elastic or thermoplastic Forming Film which serves to determine the Lextra In Mold Decoration’s formability. To the extent that the Forming Film can be heated, thermoformed, etc., the In Mold Decoration can take most any shape and the individually-placed Lextra fibers will ‘go along for the ride’—while at the same time maintaining the overall pleasing and continuous surface qualities described above.

Realizing that even with the tactile sensation of today’s advanced soft, silky and even rubber-like plastics—most people prefer the touch of a more convincing, textile-like surface. So why haven’t more plastic molded parts been graced with Lextra In Mold Decoration? It’s just a matter of time, a matter of industrial designers and developers realizing this new tool is available to them and then being able to synchronize and control the elements and processes necessary for In Mold Decoration in order to make it work: the decorated film laminate, forming and cutting the part, fitting into the mold and molding the final part.