# Coroplast - the most useful material you've never heard of **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 29, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542 "2017-12-29T22:52:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/21 "2018-01-01T02:57:30Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > That’s where I get all mine. I sealed up a broken window in my shop, and use it to winterize the sides of my swamp cooler. > > That guy ain’t running for Sherriff anymore, anyway. 😉 I imagine that the day after an election, you could volunteer to go around picking up those big yard signs and disposing of them, and you would get people falling all over themselves to thank you. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/22 "2018-01-01T04:55:08Z")
Hmm. I have 200 campaign signs in my garage waiting for the next election in 4 years. I never thought of cutting them up and using them for projects! Good to know…I definitely have signs to spare. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/23 "2018-01-01T07:06:58Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > If I were doing your project, I’d be sandwiching two pieces together, one oriented side to side, one oriented up and down. That should make the dividers nearly indestructable. I haven’t seen it in videos but you can melt the rough ends to smooth it out (have really good ventilation.) Hot glue looks to be the best thing for bonding joints and seams, and the glue is cheap enough - maybe a bead along the top of each divider to smooth them out. I’m going to Home Depot this week. See how stiff this material is. Doubling it up may be a great idea. ---
**Author:** ![Gullible\_s\_Travels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de0a6/32.png) [@Gullible\_s\_Travels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gullible_s_Travels)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/24 "2018-01-01T08:06:23Z")
It’s called Corflute around here I think and I didn’t know about it until fairly recently either. I mostly see it used for signs and billboards of various sizes at schools, markets, fetes, community events, etc, and of course during election campaigns. It can be printed with really vibrant colours too, it’s great stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Santelia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Santelia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santelia)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/25 "2018-01-01T12:48:07Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I sealed up a broken window in my shop, and use it to winterize the sides of my swamp cooler. Sorry to jump in at this point, but _swamp cooler_? _winterize_? ---
**Author:** ![Enlightening\_Meditation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@Enlightening\_Meditation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enlightening_Meditation)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/26 "2018-01-01T13:05:44Z")
Technically, the material is high impact polypropylene copolymer. Coroplast is the name of the extruded twin-wall plastic sheet products and also name of the company. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/27 "2018-01-01T18:43:05Z")
> [@Santelia](#): > > Sorry to jump in at this point, but _swamp cooler_? _winterize_? A [swamp cooler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler) is a substitute for an air conditioner. Works by evaporative cooling. Fine for dry climates. Not a good idea in humid climates. Like an AC wall unit, it’s a good idea to cover them in the winter to make them last longer and reduce heating losses. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/28 "2018-01-01T19:44:23Z")
> [@Santelia](#): > > Sorry to jump in at this point, but _swamp cooler_? _winterize_? > [@ftg](#): > > A [swamp cooler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler) is a substitute for an air conditioner. Works by evaporative cooling. Fine for dry climates. Not a good idea in humid climates. > > Like an AC wall unit, it’s a good idea to cover them in the winter to make them last longer and reduce heating losses. I live in a Wonderland! Hot as shit in summer, and cold as Hell in winter. If you don’t seal and cover the swamp cooler, you would just vent all the heat straight up through the roof. I use the coroplast to cover the sides, wrap it up in shrink-wrap stuff, then cover it with a canvas cover and wrap that in rope to keep it from getting torn up in the wind. Lots of wind here. Like I say, a Wonderland. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/29 "2018-01-02T15:41:42Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I’d never heard of this stuff until my daughter got a fancy guinea pig cage, which uses coroplast for the low walls and the floor. It was interesting to cut and form, it has I would say a unique feel…I can indeed imagine it’s useful for a lot of different things. I bought a big sheet of it from a sign shop 11 years ago to make a guinea pig cage from scratch. Easy to work, durable, strong. I just bought a sheet Sunday from Home Depot to make a light table for bottom-lit photography. $20 for a 4’ x 8’ sheet (may not have been Cloroplast brand). ---
**Author:** ![Santelia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Santelia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santelia)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/30 "2018-01-03T11:22:40Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > A [swamp cooler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler) is a substitute for an air conditioner. Works by evaporative cooling. Fine for dry climates. Not a good idea in humid climates. > > Like an AC wall unit, it’s a good idea to cover them in the winter to make them last longer and reduce heating losses. Thanks:) ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/31 "2018-01-03T13:03:50Z")
I was getting ready to make a bunch of arrow cases for my flight arrows, an entire set only weighs about 3 oz. This would be perfect for that. I normally use veneer but this would be a lot easier to work with. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/32 "2018-01-03T18:38:04Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I was getting ready to make a bunch of arrow cases for my flight arrows, an entire set only weighs about 3 oz. This would be perfect for that. I normally use veneer but this would be a lot easier to work with. If you made [a box like this one,](https://youtu.be/QRGfumIGPoU) you would wind up with quadruple thickness at the ends. And it would only weigh a couple of ounces. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542/33 "2018-01-07T01:41:19Z")
So it turns out that when a snowplow hits a coroplast sign (which, if you’re curious, read “#2069”) and it’s -8°, the sign shatters into a bunch of little pieces. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coroplast-the-most-useful-material-youve-never-heard-of/805542.md?page=1)