Thermoformable Plastic Materials

Acrylic is a widely used thermoformable plastic material, often chosen as a lightweight and durable substitute for glass. Known for its clarity, stiffness, and UV stability, acrylic is easy to thermoform and fabricate. It’s available in many stocked shapes, sizes, and colors, making it a flexible option for custom products.

Common applications include signage, product displays, aquariums, light diffusers, car light lenses, and even cosmetic products like artificial nails.

Advantages – UV stability, excellent clarity, stiffness, good thermoformability, scuff/mar resistance, can be rigidized with fiberglass

Disadvantages – Lower impact strength, higher cost, less chemical resistance, limited ductility

Acrylic Capped ABS is a popular thermoformable plastic material that combines the structural strength of ABS with the UV stability and surface finish of acrylic. Since ABS is not naturally UV resistant, it’s often capped with a UV-stable film like Korad® or a coextruded acrylic layer like Solarkote® to meet outdoor durability requirements.

In vacuum forming applications, the cap layer must be compatible with the forming process. Korad® offers thin, cost-effective UV protection and is available in clear or a range of standard colors. For deeper gloss or enhanced scuff resistance, Solarkote® provides a thicker, more protective layer. While thicker acrylic layers improve durability and finish, they can also slightly reduce the impact strength and increase notch sensitivity.

Acrylic Capped ABS is a versatile option for parts requiring a balance of formability, UV resistance, and visual appeal. Other materials such as ASA may also be used to cap ABS where more elasticity or flexibility is required.

Advantages – Improved UV resistance, enhanced scuff resistance, visual appeal, cost-effective, available in many colors

Disadvantages – Reduced impact resistance (with thicker caps), notch sensitivity, balance between flexibility and hardness

ABS is one of the most widely used engineering-grade thermoplastics and a highly versatile thermoformable plastic material. Though priced slightly higher than commodity plastics like polyethylene, ABS offers excellent performance for its cost. It’s readily available in sheet form and easy to fabricate and thermoform.

Commonly thermoformed ABS parts include dashboards, machine covers, appliance panels, children’s toys, luggage shells, and instrument enclosures.

Advantages – Good heat deflection, chemical resistance, impact strength, formability, stiffness, and compatibility with additives like flame retardants

Disadvantages – UV instability, moderate cost, degradation from repeated heating, moisture absorption, and reduced impact performance in cold conditions

Engineering polymers represent a broad category of thermoformable plastic materials used when specific physical or regulatory requirements must be met. These include materials like TPO, Polysulfone, and Polyetherimide (Ultem™), which offer varying levels of chemical resistance, stiffness, and flame retardancy.

While some of these materials are easy to form (e.g., TPO), others require high-end tooling and precise controls, making them suitable for advanced aerospace, transit, and electrical components.

Advantages – Tailored performance, regulatory compliance (e.g., ASTM, FAA), and strength-to-weight advantages

Disadvantages – Varying formability, high cost (especially for high-end grades), specialized tooling required

FR plastics are thermoformable plastic materials modified with additives to meet specific fire safety standards, most commonly UL 94 ratings. These are often required for aerospace, automotive, and electrical enclosures. Fire retardant versions of thermoformable materials are generally more expensive than standard versions and often require minimum purchase amounts. Contact us to inquire about minimum quantities.

Common FR materials include FRABS, FRHIPS, TPO, polycarbonate, and acrylic/PVC blends (Kydex®). While effective, FR versions tend to cost more and may require minimum order quantities.

Advantages – Available across many plastic types, tested fire resistance (UL94 5VA to HB), widely used in regulated industries

Disadvantages – Higher cost, limited fire rating options for some plastics, and potential availability constraints

HIPS is a popular, cost-effective thermoformable plastic material known for ease of forming and affordability. It’s frequently used for disposable or short-term consumer products where high impact resistance is not critical.

Common uses include drinkware, retail displays, packaging, toys, and promotional products.

Advantages – Easy to form and paint, good stiffness, decent heat resistance (~180°F), available in custom colors

Disadvantages – Low impact strength, poor chemical resistance, and slightly higher cost than some other commodity plastics

Polycarbonate is a tough, impact-resistant thermoformable plastic material used in demanding applications across medical, transportation, and industrial markets. It’s often selected for its clarity, stiffness, and high heat tolerance.

Thermoformed polycarbonate parts include skylights, bulletproof windows, equipment guards, safety enclosures, and eyewear lenses. Due to its forming challenges, many thermoformers avoid this material—but Arrowhead has significant experience in successful polycarbonate forming.

Advantages – High impact strength, optical clarity, heat resistance, stiffness, and available in many grades and colors

Disadvantages – Requires precise tooling, sensitive to moisture and chemicals, less forgiving during forming

Polyethylene is a widely used thermoformable plastic material, known for its toughness, chemical resistance, and affordability. It comes in several grades—HDPE, HMWPE, LLDPE, and UHMWPE—each offering unique performance properties suited for specific applications. Typical grades available are:

• High Density Polyethylene: HDPE
• High Molecular Weight Polyethylene: HMWPE
• Linear Low Density Polyethylene: LLDPE
• Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene: UHMWPE

PE is typically selected for high-volume, price-sensitive products where durability is essential. Thermoformed items include packaging trays, gas cans, dunnage, playground equipment, and food containers.

Advantages – Low cost, excellent chemical resistance, high impact strength, modifiable with additives like talc

Disadvantages – Low stiffness, high thermal expansion (CLTE), low heat deflection, longer development cycles, and tooling complexity

PETG is a clear, durable thermoformable plastic material often chosen when visual appearance and impact strength are required. It strikes a balance between the clarity of acrylic and the toughness of polycarbonate, making it popular for display components, machine guards, packaging, and medical devices.

Available in FDA-compliant grades, PETG is relatively easy to form and offers good chemical resistance in light-duty applications.

Advantages – Good formability, clarity, toughness, FDA compliance, and resistance to stress whitening

Disadvantages – UV sensitivity, moderate density, minimum order quantities for cost efficiency (contact us for details), and limited mar resistance

Polypropylene is a lightweight thermoformable plastic material with excellent chemical resistance and fatigue performance. Often copolymerized with ethylene to improve formability, PP is a go-to choice for parts that require flexibility, low moisture absorption, and long-term durability.

It’s commonly used in food containers, medical trays, RF components, and structural parts like chair shells and utility bins.

Advantages – Great chemical resistance, stiffness, fatigue resistance, impact tolerance in cold weather, and low cost

Disadvantages – Can be harder to form, has higher thermal expansion, UV instability, and may require custom tooling

TPO is a rugged thermoformable plastic material that blends polypropylene with EPDM rubber, creating a highly weatherable, chemical-resistant sheet. It’s often used as an alternative to acrylic capped ABS and is ideal for exterior and structural parts that must withstand UV, impact, and thermal cycling.

Arrowhead was one of the first U.S. companies to thermoform TPO successfully and has extensive experience solving the material’s unique challenges, including affordable tooling alternatives for low- to mid-volume runs.

Common products include car bumpers, rocker panels, golf car bodies, and machine enclosures.

Advantages – UV stability, impact strength, chemical resistance, dimensional stability, cold weather performance

Disadvantages – Difficult to thermoform, Difficult for some sheet suppliers to extrude, Aluminum tooling required for higher volume parts (although we have developed an Eco-Tool to get around this need), High minimum quantities in some cases (Contact us for details), Not stocked by distributors, Difficult to paint, Difficult to bond to

Arrowhead was one of the first companies in the USA to start thermoforming TPO successfully. Thus, we have many years of experience working with TPO and know how to deal with the challenges that comes along with the material. These challenges tend to scare away other thermforming companies from making parts utilizing this innovative material. Not only has Arrowhead been able to overcome the challenges that come with thermformed TPO products, but we have also been able to offer some of our customers lower cost tooling solutions as opposed to expensive aluminum tooling which other thermoformers claim is mandatory when vacuum forming TPO sheet.  

Find the Right Thermoformable Plastic Material for Your Project

Choosing the right thermoformable plastic material is essential to ensuring product performance, durability, and cost-efficiency. At Arrowhead, our deep experience with a wide range of thermoplastics—from ABS and polycarbonate to TPO and fire-retardant polymers—means we can help you identify the best-fit material for your specific application, industry, and production goals.

Whether you’re developing a new product or looking to improve an existing one, we’re here to support your success with expert guidance, flexible production capabilities, and responsive service.