Frequently Asked Questions: Acetate
What are acetate film and acetate sheet? Many people use the term “acetate film” to generically refer to plastic film. However, acetate film is really a specific type of plastic material called cellulose acetate.
Made from wood-pulp and/or cotton fibers, cellulose acetate comes in two derivatives, Di-Acetate and Tri-Acetate. Grafix Plastics is one of the largest stocking converters of Cellulose Di-Acetate in North America. We also stock Tri-Acetate, but in a lesser variety or quantity than Di-Acetate.
Acetate film is produced by two mechanical methods – solvent casting or forced extrusion. Solvent-cast, or cast acetate, is the type of acetate we stock at Grafix Plastics, because of its superior clarity and surface quality.
Because acetate is made from wood-pulp, it has certain attributes that are sometimes desirable and sometimes something you want to avoid … depending on your application.
- Glass-like clarity
- Very uniform optical properties and low birefringence
- Good dimensional stability
- Easily torn (low tear strength)
- Easily die-cut
- Printable with conventional screen and offset printing methods
- Melt point of about 225 degrees F./110 degrees C
- Approved world wide for indirect and direct food and medical applications
- Available in Clear and Matte
- Many custom production options: Colors, Finishes, Dies, etc.
- Available in wide range of thicknesses .001″ – .020″
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