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Some foam products on the market today are not only sought after for their strength, flexibility and low weight, but also as a result of the specialist technologies that have gone into their manufacture. As a result, specialist foams are occupying an increasingly large segment of the market.

One class of specialist foams, for example, has been developed specifically for use in industrial, medical, and aquatic filter applications. Known as reticulated foams, these foam materials are precision-made, demonstrating, among other features, rigidly uniform cell size.

High density polyethylene foams, or PE foams, meanwhile, are employed in situations where a high level of protective packaging is required: for example during the transportation of delicate artistic works or fragile electronic components. Examples of PE foams include Plastazote and Jiffycell.

A burgeoning market has also developed in fire-retardant foams, particularly in areas where a premium is placed on safety, such as building construction, vehicle production, and furniture manufacture. Specialist flame-retardant materials such as black Pyrosorb and Fireseal are used in the production of some of these foams.

Finally, rubber foams such as EPDM, Nitrate PVC and Neoprene, are used in a wide range of applications where secure sealing is required against air and water contamination, such as gaskets and industrial hoses. These specialist foams are also highly tolerant of extreme changes in temperature, whilst Neoprene and PVC Nitrate are further impervious to oil and chemicals.

At Technical Foam Services we can advise further on these and many other foam products that may well offer that specialist solution you are seeking.

Foam products, in their various forms, are such ubiquitous features of everyday life that they can easily be taken for granted. Yet without foam, modern living would be virtually unrecognisable.

Foam is essentially any substance produced with small, regularly placed air holes or ‘cells’. The production of foam is further broken down into two main types: open cell foams and closed cell foams.

In open cell foams the cells are positioned very close to one another, with such close connections generally leading to more malleable, softer foam. In closed cell foams, the cells are more spaced out, resulting in a more solid foam material.

Substances that are frequently used as a basis for the production of foam include polyurethane, polyethylene and polystyrene.
Foam products are favoured in many applications for the following reasons:

• Foam is lightweight and strong but also extremely flexible
• Foam is relatively inexpensive
• Foam is extremely easy to cut and shape from manufactured sheets and blocks.
• Foam enjoys a consistency of texture and quality rarely found in substances sourced directly from nature.
• Foam is waterproof and resistant to corrosion

One does not have to venture far in the world to see the extent to which foam plays such a prominent role in our lives: from paint rollers to bedding; from toys to cleaning sponges, foam is as essential for the householder as it is for industry.

At Technical Foam Services, we can supply a wide range of quality grade foam products both speedily and cost-effectively.

It’s important to realise that no mattress, whether it’s made from Visco Memory Foam or anything else, will give you a good night’s sleep if there’s an underlying medical cause. However, memory foam can bring a lot of comfort from sleep disorders, hip and back pain, and many people have reported reducing the level of medication they take as a result. Visco Memory Foam can also help prevent these disorders from developing in the first place, which can only be a good thing.

We at Technical Foam Services are one of the leading Memory Foam Suppliers in the UK. Our viscoelastic products are used by hotels, hospitals and clinics as well as domestic buyers. But why is memory foam so prized? Well firstly, it is highly heat and pressure responsive. This means it moulds itself to the contours of the body, reducing pressure points and reducing tossing and turning. One of the leading arguments against shaped foams being used as mattresses, was how hard and uncomfortable they were. With Visco Memory Foam, this is no longer the case.

As with products like Plastazote and Jiffycell, Visco foams are made to highly specific formulations. Memory foams are polyurethane (PU) foams, with additional chemicals added to increase their density and viscosity. They are often referred to as visco-elastic polyurethane foams – which is how the name Visco originated.

Memory foams vary in their reaction to heat and pressure. Higher density products react to body heat quickly, while lower density foams are more pressure-sensitive. In both cases, Visco Memory Foams mould to the natural contours of the body in just a few minutes.

Foam products take many forms, but all are made by trapping gaseous bubbles in a liquid matrix. When it is cured, the end result is an extremely complex system of polydisperse bubbles separated by draining films. Depending upon the chemicals and manufacturing process used, the product may be water repellent or highly absorbent, and will also vary in hardness.

Sponge rubber may be either closed or open-cell in structure. The open-cell type consists of interconnected cells which allow the absorption and circulation of liquids and gases. This absorbency means the product should not be used where resistance to penetration by fluids is a necessity, unless it is protected with a surface coating. The reason we say this is because it isn’t always immediately obvious how absorbent open-cell sponge foams are; rather than being porous, the outer surface is continuous. However, this gives them good physical durability.

Owing to the fact air can pass freely between the cells, open-cell sponge foams are not memory foams. Instead, they display a high degree of compressibility, followed by rapid recovery from compression. This means they can be “wrung out” quickly – ideal for use as cleaning sponges.

Sponge rubber is generally made from polyurethane, although natural latex is also used (natural foam rubber makes a very durable and absorbent mattress material.) As with all foam materials, it is manufactured with a foaming agent, creating an air-filled matrix.

One method of producing natural sponge rubber is via the Talalay process, a complex method of producing natural latex shaped foams which was first used in the 1940s. Some of the products we at Technical Foam Services sell are still made by this process.

The first artificial sponges were developed by the Du Pont company, an innovative manufacturer of man-made materials who also invented nylon. The earliest examples of cellulose sponges dated from the 1940s. However, it wasn’t until 1952 that the secret was revealed, when Du Pont sold the technology to General Mills.

Although natural sponges, i.e. sea sponges had been used since Roman times for cleaning purposes, the modern need for household sponges demanded something that was both cheap and sustainable. Cellulose sponge rapidly took off, and by the mid-20th century was the common choice for household use. It still is today.

However, some of the components are still natural. The three main ingredients are cellulose (from wood pulp), hemp fibre and sodium sulphate. Manufacturers also use chemical softeners to break down the cellulose, plus dye and bleaching agents.

To begin with, cellulose is delivered to the factory in large, stiff sheets. These are then soaked in vats with chemical softeners, which give the cellulose a soft, jelly-like consistency. This is placed in a large rotating drum to which cut hemp fibres, crystals of sodium sulphate, and dye are added. This mixture is then churned thoroughly, before being poured into a large rectangular mould.

The mould is then heated, “cooking” the cellulose mixture. This also melts the sodium sulphate crystals, which pour out through openings in the mould. It is this which creates the characteristic holes. The difference in holes between, for example, bath sponges and those used for cleaning cars is explained by the size of crystals used. We at Technical Foam Services sell a wide range of sponge foams – including those used as cleaning sponges.

Natural sponges, or sea sponges, represent some of the oldest of all living creatures. Long before chemically engineered, machined foams came on the market, man was hunting the warm Mediterranean and Pacific oceans for the elusive skeletons of these fascinating sea animals, to be dried and used as cosmetic, cleaning and bath sponges.

Although they have largely been replaced by manmade cellulose products, it is still possible to buy natural sponges from UK foam exporters like us at Technical Foam Services, though as with all natural resources it’s essential they are harvested responsibly. Sea sponges take many years to grow, and in the past enormous harm was done to fragile marine environments by over-zealous fishermen.

Sea sponges only grow in shallow, warm waters, where – like coral – they come in many fantastic shapes, sizes and colours. They tend to lose this colour as they dry, though people feel this is part of their attraction. Some sponges are branched like coral, while others are small, flat and round, or tube shaped.

Like manufactured open cell foams, sponges have a porous structure. Lacking any specialised organs, and living their entire lives attached to rocks on the sea bed, they have a soft, spongy skeleton covered by a leathery skin. Seawater is pumped through open pores and nutrients and oxygen extracted, the excess leaving the body through large holes called oscula.

Amazingly marine natural sponges have been in existence for around 700 million years, and have changed little in that time. Cellulose sponges are cheap and popular – but nothing beats the feel of the natural product on the skin. Hence their popularity as bath sponges and cosmetics applicators.

Honeycomb, sponge foam, rubber foams and composite core materials can be rubber, plastic, ceramic or even metallic in nature. They have internal cells, or pores (which may be open or closed) that allow them to be used for composites, tooling, insulation, floatation or impact protection.

The construction of honeycomb and composite products is such that the central core material is covered with a strong and flexible skin, so they are often called flexible foams. Different configurations allow them to handle particular stresses for example the skins of foam sheets may resist tearing by compression and tension, while the cores of foam blocks may resist shearing when bent.

The cores of foam products vary enormously in their chemical composition and engineering. One of the most common ways to buy them is as foam sheets or panels. These are composed from synthetic polymers such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PE (polyester) or PU (polyurethane). The foams are named after their chemical core composition; hence you can get PU, PVC or PE foams – each of which has quite unique characteristics.

Foam blocks and sheets vary enormously in their density and thicknesses, depending on the use to which they’ll be put and their relative strength. For example, Confor foams have highly superior cushioning and impact resistance, even when used in thin sheets. This makes them a popular choice where a lighter weighted foam is needed, for example sports equipment and aircraft seats.

We at Technical Foam Services have a wide range of PE, PU and PVC foams, in different thicknesses and densities, to suit every possible industrial and domestic application.

Confor foams are ergonomic, urethane semi-open cell foams with numerous advantages over other PU materials. Available in a range of densities and flexibilities, they provide superior damping abilities and are used in a wide range of applications. These include furniture, medical equipment, sports protection and aircraft seating.

Confor foams are linked to products designed for the NASA Space Shuttle program, which demanded ultra-lightweight, comfortable and long-lasting seating material with good shock absorbance. Their superior damping properties, shock absorbency and resistance to G-forces has made them the padding of choice for aircraft ejection seats.

Confor products are memory foams, meaning they can self-adjust to provide cushioning and support for a wide range of different weights. Their energy absorption capability both enhances physical comfort and provides impact protection. For this reason, they are widely used for airplane, automobile and motorcycle seats, and mattresses and cushions in hospitals, offices and homes.
Engineers find Confor foams superior to other PU foams in many respects. Where cushioning and impact absorbency is essential to a product design, they find they can achieve their goals while at the same time simplifying the structure, design profile and mechanical make-up of the product. Since they achieve the comfort level of thick foam blocks with less cushioning, costs are kept down too. And, of course, this makes them lighter – ideal for aeroplanes and helicopters.

Some engineers use Confor foams alongside other foam products, to improve impact absorbency and comfort in key areas. We at Technical Foam Services offer a wide range of flexible, closed and open cell foams to meet all your requirements.

Products such as polyether foams often have to be manufactured to very exact specifications. It’s not enough for foam rubber suppliers to say they supply PE foams with a high tensile strength – that strength has to be quantifiable.

Similarly, the absorbency of open cell and sponge foams needs to be accurately known, especially where the products are used for medical or filtration purposes. In scientific research, those parameters become very fine indeed.

A common specification for engineered foam is bulk density. Also called apparent density, this is quoted as the theoretical density of the foam versus its actual porosity following packaging. Tensile strength is another issue, quoted as the maximum tension that can be applied to the product before it fails or breaks. Closely allied to this, elongation is the amount of deformation that occurs during mechanical testing, while tear strength is self-explanatory. The tensile modulus, or Young’s modulus, is a constant value indicating the variation in strain of the product, under a constantly applied tensile load.

Thermal conductivity is an important consideration for shaped foams used in temperature-sensitive areas, such as packing around electrical components or in automotive parts. It is defined as: “the linear heat transfer per unit area through a material for a given applied temperature gradient” or, in simple terms, the amount of heat insulation the product supplies. Dielectric strength refers to the maximum voltage that can occur before electrical breakdown occurs – important where foam products are used for electrical insulation.

We at Technical Foam Services are leading foam rubber suppliers, supplying closed and open cell foams for UK medical, industrial and domestic use to extremely high specifications.

Synthetic elastomers (rubbers) like silicone, Neoprene, Nitrile and PU (polyurethane) continue to be popular – nitrile is particularly effective at repelling petroleum and other fuels. Other engineered foam products include ethylene copolymer, expanded polyethylene, polyetherimide, polyimide, polyolefin, polypropylene, phenolic, polyurea, vinyl polycarbonate, polyether and polyester (PE) foams.

However, the endless variety of synthetic machined foams is balanced by eco-friendly production methods such as sustainable energy sources and recycled plastics, as well as a growing number of natural products. These include natural rubber, also known as polyisoprene, which is often derived from recycled sources these days, owing to the effect of rubber exploitation on the natural environment. Another alternative is vulcanised plant fibre. Perhaps the most “foamy” of all natural packaging materials is unflavoured popcorn, which is widely used in place of polystyrene chips by environmentally and budget-conscious companies.

The other approach UK foam exporters use is to supply products which, while artificially engineered, are not harmful to the environment. These include water-based latex and resin materials in which VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are absent.

Foam materials used for manufacturing, industrial and medical applications must, by necessity, have very specific physical properties, for which synthetically engineered foams are often the only choice. Such specifications may include tensile strength, bulk density, filtration size, thermal conductivity, dielectric strength, temperature resistance, tear strength and resistance to chemical and biological fluids.

We at Technical Foam Services place great emphasis on responsible sourcing of products, and work hard to manufacture solid, rubber and flexible foams exactly to our customers’ specifications. We aim to create the highest performing products with the smallest impact on the environment.