Is Plastic Wrap A Good Insulator?

1.Understanding A Plastic Wrap?

In the hustle and bustle of life, we often neglect the most crucial facet of our life which is taking healthy diet. That's why, we often rush towards using easy and quick ways for accomplishing this need. Here arises the need for a plastic wrap which can make our lives easier by preserving our fruits, vegetables, and leftovers for a longer period.

Plastic wrap can be simply described as a thin layer of transparent plastic made from Polyvinylidene Chloride (PVC) and Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE), often utilized for protecting products. These goods may include food and non-food items comprising readymade meals and hardware objects respectively. As plastic is airproof, moisture resistant, and having high protection barrier against bacteria, your goods will remain safe from the fear of getting rotten.

Hence, you can take them whenever and wherever you want!

2.What Are The Pros And Cons Of A Plastic Wrap?

Plastic wrap holds in it several benefits including those highlighted below:

Pros Reduce Waste

Throwing spoil food in dustbin-Picture Courtesy: ecoinventos.com

According to the estimates of World Food Program, about one-third of food produced go wasted globally every year. One of the major reasons is food getting rotten and poorly packed. In this way, plastic wrap play a pivotal role in reducing food spoilage by providing convenient way for restricting microbes, pollution, and moisture, which can otherwise expedite spoilage and oxidation.

Reliability

Plastic wrapping of readymade meal-Picture Courtesy: ebay.co.uk

Plastic wrap is lightweighted, cost-effective, and easily applicable to myriad of goods. These attributes make it reliable for all sorts of home and industrial use.

Maintain Product Integrity

Worker wrapping boxes with a plastic stretch wrap-Picture Courtesy: static.wixstatic.com

Plastic wrap greatly maintains the product integrity especially during transportation. For instance, stretch wrapped pellets remain united throughout their shipping and strongly resist disintegration due to the strength given by flexible plastic wrap.

Better Transparency

Plastic wrapped food trays on shelves-Picture Courtesy: Pinterest

By using plastic wrap, one can better display their products to consumers and shoppers. It is because of the high transparency and visibility of plastic wrap which can enhance the charm of your goods and appeal to the viewers.

Cons Environmental Impact

Plastic wrap damaging marine life-Picture Courtesy: seeturtles.com

Plastic wraps are considered harmful for our environment. Their poor waste management system can lead to environmental degradation and huge loss of marine life.

Health Hazards

Nausea symptoms-Picture Courtesy: richmondgastro.com

Although, plastic wraps are freezer friendly, but they are not good to be kept under excessive heat like in oven. Hence, heat can lead to the emission of toxic chemicals to eatables which have potential health hazards.

Poor Longevity

Plastic wrapped food storage warning-Picture Courtesy: cocinadelirante.com

Poor Longevity is another drawback of plastic wrap, as it degrades over time due to multiple stimulants including scratches, breakage, and dents. Apart from that, its poor resistance to light and absorption of aroma and taste badly affects the shelf life of food products.

3.Is Plastic Wrap A Good Insulator?

Various plastic wrap rolls-Picture Courtesy: packing.supplies.com

Before initiating arguments on whether plastic wrap is a good insulator, it is pertinent to better understand what actually insulator is.

Any material or substance which does not allow the flow of heat and electricity through it, is called insulator. The common insulators include wood, paper, plastic, and glass etc.

From here, we get to know that plastic is among the best insulators, however, their degree of resistance to heat may vary according to the thickness and type of plastic such as plastic wraps. That's why, most of the manufacturers get confused in determining the truth about it. The right answer to this question is Yes! Because plastic wrap is a good insulator. Let's look towards reasons:

The thermal conductivity ofpaper, glass, and wood is05 watts, 0.80, and 0.71 watts per kelvin respectively. Compared to these insulators, plastic wrap has thermal conductivity of 0.19 watts per kelvin. Hence, plastic wrap is good insulator than wood and glass.

Unlike metal, plastic wrap does not have free-moving electrons to pass heat which indicates its poor condition to conduct heat.

It has been a long practice, that plastic wraps are used across the globe for covering windows, vehicles, and walls to insulate heat. Therefore, it can be said, that plastic wrap is a good insulator.

4.Write Down The Kinds Of Plastic Wrap Available In Market?

Plastic wrap is a broad term, that covers under its umbrella, multiple types of plastic wraps having different characteristics, so as applications. These kinds have been comprehended below:

According to Usage

Food Grade Plastic Wrap

Food grade plastic wrap over cooked fish-Picture Courtesy: Lian Hamilton

As the title illustrates, food grade plastic wrap is a type of plastic wrap which is meant to be used for various types of cooked and fresh foods. Such type of plastic wraps are made from low density polyethylene and must adhere to the quality standards established by Food and Drugs Administration. For instance, they do not contain dyes, additives or any other harmful products which can cause health issues. Hence, they may be found in range of flexible forms mostly known as cling wrap, saran wrap, and glad wrap.

Industrial Plastic Wrap

Industrial plastic wrapping over pellets-Picture Courtesy: ctcpackaging.com

Industrial plastic wrap is a robust, strong, and stretchable plastic wrap used to cope with the bulk pellets and make them united. This type of plastic wraps are often made from linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) due to its strength to resist punctures and breakage during transit. They are available in flexible form like stretch wrap and rigid form like shrink wrap. Both are useful in their respective domains.

According to Elasticity

Stretch Wrap

Stretch wrapping of pellets-Picture Courtesy: amazon.com

Stretch wrap is a thin flexible cast film made from polyethylene. It is used for wrapping large number of pellets and binding bundle of household for packaging purpose. As stretch wrap is flexible, it can be easily stretched to ensure your goods having excellent protection throughout their shipping journey.

Shrink Wrap

Shrink wrapped fruits-Picture Courtesy: alibaba.com

Another type of plastic wrap that comes with less elasticity but high rigidity and protection is shrink wrap. This type of plastic wrap can be used for both food and non-food purposes depending on their quality grades. Shrink wraps are basically meant to be wrapped around different goods after which they undergo heat process, so, that they may get extra safety when the wrap get shrink around them.

According to Thickness

Cling Wrap

Cling wraps-Picture Courtesy: ebay.com

Cling wrap is a type of food grade plastic wrap which is often called saran wrap. Cling wrap is highly transparent, thin, flexible, and can be easily attached to any material like food tray, bowl, glass, and plate etc. It is available in a form of roll laying inside a long rectangular box from where it can be easily dispensed over goods. Apart from eatables, cling wrap may also be used for hardware objects like mobile phones, decorative items, and glass etc.

Bubble Wrap

Bubble wrap roll-Picture Courtesy: buzzfeed.com

Another and most cozy type of thick plastic wrap is here with name bubble wrap. As the name indicates, it is a sort of plastic wrap with myriad of plastic bubbles inside filled with air in order to work as cushioning for fragile objects. Bubble plastic wrap is a good insulator that it is not only used for protecting hardware objects like electronics and glass, but often used in the walls and windows of houses to insulate the heat inside during winters.

5.What Is The Difference Between Plastic Wrap And Foil Wrap?

Plastic wrap and foil wrap are commonly used for same goods, but having different features. Have a look towards them in detail:

No	Aspects	Plastic Wrap	Foil Wrap
1	Definition	Plastic wrap is a thin flexible layer of plastic employed for wrapping food and other objects.	Foil wrap is an aluminum based wrap made from thin layer of aluminum to be wrapped on various goods for higher protection.
2	Material used	PVC and LDPE	Thin aluminum
3	Color	Most of the plastic wraps are transparent or slightly colored.	It has a silver color.
4	Barrier Properties	Plastic wrap has comparably low barrier properties particularly against light and moisture.	Foil wrap is highly impermeable with extreme barriers to withstand moisture, air, and light.
5	Cost	Plastic wrap is cheap and cost-effective.	Foil wrap is expensive than plastic wrap.
6	Environmental Impact	Plastic wrap is not eco-friendly.	Although, Aluminum is non-biodegradable, but has a chance to be recycled more easily than plastic wrap.
7	Transparency	They are highly visible with having excellent transparency ratio.	Foil wrap is non-transparent.
8	Suitable for	Fresh food products and everyday hardware objects which don't require high protection.	Food and non-food products requiring additional protection and long shelf life.
9	Picture	Plastic wrapping of food-Picture Courtesy: chicwrap	Aluminum foil wrap roll-Picture Courtesy: stylecraze.com

6.What Are The Common Uses Of A Plastic Wrap?

The uses of plastic wrap are multifarious which will no doubt amaze you soon. So, let's discover few of them!

Food Products

Plastic wrapped desserts-Picture Courtesy: IPS Packaging & Automation

The most prominent and inevitable application of plastic wrap is indeed food preservation. It can be used for fruits, vegetables, readymade meals, dessert, and snacks etc., for prolonging their shelf life.

Transit Facilitation

Plastic wrapping for pellets transportation-Picture Courtesy: pearltress.com

By employing stretch and shrink wrapping to your bulk pellets and cartons, you can transport your valuable goods all around the world without any fear for their loss or damage caused by disintegration.

Window Fixation

Plastic wrapping on window-Picture Courtesy: lakeside.com

Bubble plastic wrap may be used for window fixation in case of cracks or chips. Besides that, covering entire window with plastic wrap will give you a better environment to stay warm during the snowy days of winter.

Store Cutlery

Cutlery-Picture Courtesy: webstaurant.com

Plastic wraps can also be used for extensive items among which cutlery can be notable one. As we always plan to have our own collection of knives, spoons, and forks during outing, so, plastic wrap can better help us in their safe handling.

Cosmetics Safety

Various cosmetics-Picture Courtesy: nivea.de

We often take our daily skin care products such as lotion, handwash, and makeup etc, in our bags all the time. In this case, if we wrap them in a layer of plastic wrap will surely reduce the possible risk of spillage.

7.Why Plastic Wrap Is Considered Detrimental For Environmental Sustainability?

Globe wrapped in plastic wrap-Picture Courtesy: balkangreenenergynews.com

Unfortunately, despite providing much ease and facilitation in goods' handling and protection, plastic wraps are considered dangerous for the environmental sustainability in one way or another.

It can be better understand by looking into the bitter fact that around 12 million tonnes of plastics are found in ocean every year. Inside this figure, huge share has been accredited to plastic wraps which are popularly used around the globe.

By entering in such giant volume into ocean, plastic wrap viciously destroy the life of thousands of whales, turtles, and around 1 million sea birds each year. Study shows, on the other hand, the plastic wraps which remain on earth surface react with environmental elements, and become the basis of emitting green house gases which is 4% to the rising global warming.

8.What Are The Precautions For Using Plastic Wrap?

Food plastic wrapping-Picture Courtesy: slurrp.com

It is essential to follow necessary precautions whenever you are using plastic wrap, especially in case of food wrapping. Some of the precautions have been pointed below:

Make sure to check whether the plastic wrap you are going to use for your eatables is meeting food quality standards and is of food grade category. Otherwise, you may pick the unsuitable and hazardous plastic wrap only made for industrial use.

Plastic wrap such as cling wrap is only meant for isolating the food from environment and its elements. Therefore, you are supposed to keep your plastic wrapped edibles into freezer or refrigerator.

Plastic wrap is not oven-safe, as it cannot resist high temperature and will ultimately result into melting, leaching, and sticking to your products. Hence, if you really want to use them for microwave, you must consider the plastic wraps having big mentioned OVEN-SAFE.

While heating oily food, plastic wrap must be kept separate from the food. Otherwise, the oil will reach such a high temperature, that it will cause plastic wrap dissolution to food and resulting in the release of chemicals and additives into food.

9.How To Choose The Best Plastic Wrap?

Well, this question is carrying high weightage regardless of the background you belong to e.g food or non-food. Let's find out the ways leading for choosing effective plastic wrap:

Stretchability

High elastic plastic wrapping over chilli-Picture Courtesy: delish.com

Stretchability is the core factor to determine if the plastic wrap is premium. The high ratio of elasticity will activate adhesive to your goods, in turn there will be less or no chance of plastic wrap getting separated from the object.

Quality

Quality matters the most, after all, you are on the way to maintain the integrity and longevity of your products. Hence, it becomes obligatory to check the quality standards a plastic wrap is meeting with.

Temperature Resistance

Temperature resistant plastic wrapped food heating-Picture Courtesy: amazon.com

Temperature resistance of any plastic wrap determine how long it will last and can endure intense heat. Therefore, selecting plastic wrap with high temperature resistance will prove better insulators for your goods against heat.

Usage Requirement

Food plastic wrap box-Picture Courtesy: walmart.com

Plastic wraps also vary on usage basis. For instance, if you want to buy plastic wrap for automated use, it is better to go for plastic wrap rolls, so, that they can be better placed in concerned machine. In contrast, for manual use, plastic wrap with a long edged stick or in a box with integrated separator is good option.

Conclusion

To put in a nutshell, the answer to question "Is Plastic Wrap a Good Insulator" is yes! Plastic wrap can be used as an effective insulator for your multiple goods and objects against heat. Although, the degree of insulation vary from one type of plastic wrap to another as mentioned above. Hence, you must be careful in choosing a suitable plastic wrap for your desired needs. Besides that, being a user and producer of this feasible but non eco-friendly object, it becomes your responsibility to make a safe use of plastic wrap and promote awareness regarding its waste management through advertisement. For enjoying related content make sure to keep in touch with us!