# Plastic **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653 "2012-01-06T19:24:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/1 "2012-01-06T19:24:42Z")
Assume your favorite brand/flavor. Polypropene or Polyvinyl chloride? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/2 "2012-01-06T19:58:38Z")
Polypropylene? Polyvinyl chloride? :mad: \*\*Polyoxymethylene \*\*all the way, baby! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/3 "2012-01-06T20:09:52Z")
[HDPE](http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/plastic_moulding/) baby, Yeah! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/4 "2012-01-06T20:18:35Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > [HDPE](http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/plastic_moulding/) baby, Yeah! Well done! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/5 "2012-01-06T21:26:43Z")
Amateurs. [PFA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluoroalkoxy), all the way! ---
**Author:** ![Bri2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@Bri2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bri2k)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/6 "2012-01-06T21:28:19Z")
Styrene. Bri2k ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/7 "2012-01-06T21:36:40Z")
Given only the choice between the two, PVC is much more workable than poly-prope. It can be glued, tolerates tooling, is more readily available in a variety of preformed shapes, and has greater tensile strength with less deformation. But if you want to ride in style, only polyamide-imide will do. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/8 "2012-01-06T22:52:35Z")
Anyone else a fan of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/9 "2012-01-06T22:59:57Z")
> [@Bri2k](#): > > Styrene. Amateur! _Poly_styrene. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/10 "2012-01-06T23:17:27Z")
CFRP, if that counts as a plastic. PTFE, polyimide and polyoxymethylene are also good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![moldmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@moldmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/11 "2012-01-06T23:41:24Z")
Acetals all the way, baby!!🙂 It machines so much better than all the others. (Delrin is a brandname for one variety.) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/12 "2012-01-07T00:37:10Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Assume your favorite brand/flavor. > > Polypropene or Polyvinyl chloride? [_Biaxially-oriented_ polypropylene.](http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/komiksulo/6439847017/) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/13 "2012-01-07T01:04:19Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > [_Biaxially-oriented_ polypropylene.](http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/komiksulo/6439847017/) 😃 Oh man. That’s funny! I should have guessed! ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/14 "2012-01-07T02:48:33Z")
I’m old school. Give me some polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride anyday. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/15 "2012-01-07T03:20:57Z")
It depends. What’s the main course? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/16 "2012-01-07T04:02:11Z")
No love for polyethylene terephthalate? ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/17 "2012-01-08T14:54:45Z")
Personally I prefer polycarbonate. Between PP and PVC, I prefer PP for its environmentally friendliness and archival properties. Is the workability of PVC the reason for its popularity over PP? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/18 "2012-01-08T15:38:18Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Personally I prefer polycarbonate. Between PP and PVC, I prefer PP for its environmentally friendliness and archival properties. Is the workability of PVC the reason for its popularity over PP? Well, PVC is solvent weldable, which makes it very convenient for plumbing. However, it’s not nearly as chemical resistant as PP and PE, so those are used more often for chemical handling (like in the semiconductor industry). I don’t know about the relative cost, but they are probably pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/19 "2012-01-08T16:32:18Z")
that is unpossible to answer. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic/608653/20 "2012-01-09T06:34:28Z")
There’s a great future in plastics.