How to Select the Ideal Foam for Your Custom Case Insert

Deciding on the proper foam to use for your custom insert can be a particularly challenging task and UFP Technologies can assist you in the process.  It is essential to prioritize your needs and requirements in order to make the right decision.  Whether it be performance, cost, durability, or aesthetics, UFP Technologies can provide you with a wide variety of high-quality foams that will meet your criteria.  UFP Technologies’ material selection represents the top foams used for protective case inserts and our team of foam experts can help you decide which of these is the right foam for your needs.  In order to provide you with a basic framework of the different foams UFP Technologies uses for creating case inserts, we have qualified each “family” of material we use below:

Polyethylene Foams

Polyethylene foam is a durable, lightweight material that is easy to fabricate, non-abrasive and non-dusting.  It provides great protection and durability for the interior of your case, while exhibiting excellent shock absorption.  Additionally, it is impervious to mildew mold, rot and bacteria as well as highly resistant to chemicals and moisture. These qualities along with its excellent vibration dampening and insulation properties make it ideal for packaging heavier items and for material handling applications.

Polyethylene foam has load bearing characteristics which allows manufacturers to use thinner and smaller amounts of foam that still provide great protection and durability.  This can help significantly lower packaging costs as well as reduce space and storage.

Cross-linked Polyethylene Foams (XLPE)

Cross-linked polyethylene foam is commonly regarded as the highest quality protective packaging foam.  It is renowned for its ability to create long-lasting and extremely durable inserts.  It is also regarded as the most visually appealing of the foam families.   XLPE has the ability to protect class “A” surfaces, and has been used in the past as the foam inserts for medical devices and sales presentation kits.

Polyurethane Foams

Polyurethane foam provides good protection for lightweight, delicate objects with high fragility because of its excellent cushioning properties.  It is an open-cell foam that comes in a variety of densities at a very reasonable cost.  It can be easily molded or cut to fit any application.

UFP Technologies team of certified packaging engineers can help you select which material is right for you.  The ideal foam for your case insert will be suggested based on a variety of factors such as: weight, fragility and resistance to certain environmental elements. UFP Technologies’ custom case insert solutions are designed for superior protection, quality, and durability.  All of the above materials come in a variety of colors to help enhance your product’s appearance and organization which can increase its efficiencies and productivity.  Let us know what your criteria is today, so that we can work with you to meet all of your specifications and budget.