Bubble Wrap Cape Town
The bubbles that provide the cushioning for fragile or sensitive objects are generally available in different sizes, depending on the size of the object being packed, as well as the level of cushioning protection needed. Multiple layers may be needed to provide shock and vibration isolation while a single layer may simply be used as a surface protective layer. Bubble wrap is also used to form some types of mailing envelopes.
Bubble wrap is most often formed from polyethylene (LDPE) film with a shaped side bonded to a flat side to form air bubbles. Some types of bubble wrap have a lower permeation barrier film to allow longer useful life and resistance to loss of air in vacuums.
The bubbles can be as small as 6 millimetres (0.24 inches) in diameter, to as large as 26 millimetres (1.0 inch) or more, to provide added levels of shock absorption during transit. The most common bubble size is 1 centimeter.[7] In addition to the degree of protection available from the size of the air bubbles in the plastic, the plastic material itself can offer some forms of protection for the object in question. For example, when shipping sensitive electronic parts and components, a type of bubble wrap is used that employs an anti-static plastic that dissipates static charge, thereby protecting the sensitive electronic chips from static which can damage them. One of the first widespread uses of bubble wrap came in 1960, with the shipping of the new IBM 1401 computers to customers, most of whom had never seen this packing material before.
In 2015 Sealed Air launched an “iBubble Wrap” design, the bubbles of which are connected in strips. This allows the wrap to be shipped flat to retailers (taking up around 1/50th of the space in transit), who can inflate it with an air pump prior to using it for packaging. The connection between pockets means that the bubbles on iBubble Wrap cannot be “popped”