What Is Closed Cell Foam?
There are two main types of foam. Some foam manufacturers make both, some only one. We supply all kinds of foam for all kinds of applications, from novelty items to bath and cleaning sponges. Different foams can be used in medicine, packaging, mattresses, toys, insulation, and countless other places all around us. If you look around the room, you’ll probably see at least one or two products that contain some kind of foam.
Closed and open cell foams are produced using different methods, and with very different (in fact, often almost opposite) aims in mind. What they share is a flexible base material and a construction method that introduces lots of small bubbles into that stuff, which is almost always a plastic of some kind. The size of the bubbles varies from those that are almost too small to see, to those big enough to stick your thumb into.
That’s not the differentiating factor though: what sets open and closed cell foams apart from one another is the connectivity between the bubbles. Open cells have open paths between them, closed cells don’t. In practical terms, that means that you can use open cell foams to soak up liquids, while closed cell foams are waterproof and won’t absorb water even when punctured or otherwise damaged. So one kind is used to make cleaning sponges and the other is used to make buoyancy aids for canoeists, to give two of the many examples. We could list plenty more for both types of foam, but most foams are of the closed cell variety.
Tags: cleaning sponges, closed cell foams, foam manufacturers, open cell foams
