When it comes to packaging materials, there are lots of different options available and knowing which is the most appropriate one to suit your needs can be difficult. One of the products that you may well have come across in your research to find the right packaging material is aluminium barrier foil. Let’s take a look at exactly what aluminium barrier foil is, the benefits that using it can offer you and what kind of protection it can offer to your products.

Aluminium Barrier Foil Explained

Aluminium barrier foils such as those you can purchase from professional manufacturers such as ProtPack are made up of 3 or even 4 separate layers of different materials. These materials are bonded together using either an adhesive or an extrusion polyethylene. This bonding gives them a stronger construction that can offer a number of different benefits to your products. 

You could think of this as a sandwich, where each layer is vital to the construction and serves a very important function. The polyester later of an aluminium barrier foil is the outer layer. Its role is to be resistant to high temperatures. Polyester has good mechanical strength and is also there to protect the aluminium layer. This is the next layer, and it forms a barrier against water vapor, gases, and oxygen, preventing them from getting into your product and potentially damaging them. This layer can also act the other way not only can it keep certain things out, but it can also keep things like flavor in. The final layer is made of polyethylene and allows the entire sandwich to be sealed with heart or welded for use as a range of different shaped liners. 

The benefits of using aluminium barrier foil

Aluminium barrier foil has a wide range of applications over a number of different industries. It can provide dried product protection and also corrosion protection. Barrier foil protects the integrity of any product where there is a possibility that the packaged product may deteriorate as a result of:

·       UV light

·       Oxygen ingress

·       Moisture

·       Odors

·       Temperature extremes

·       Mold and fungi growth

·       Chemicals

·       Grease and oils

Benefits

There are also a number of benefits to be had from a barrier foil product that can protect your product from all of the above. In most cases these are benefits that can not only help you to save money but will also ensure that you do not lose customers as a result of products deteriorating whilst they are being shipped to them. 

·       They eliminate corrosion 

·       They protects products that are hygroscopic from moisture ingress and any damage this can cause

·       Any products that are atmospherically sensitive are protected from the outside environment

·       They reduce overall use of desiccant which reduces the shipping weight of your product saving you money in terms of shipping cost and also desiccant cost

·       They eliminate the need to re-dry products

·       They eliminate odour transfer, both odours from outside tainting your product and odours from your products leaching out

·       They Reduce the need to invest in forms of modified atmosphere storage

·       They offer outer packaging cleanliness

·       They are suitable for Hot-fill applications

·       They are suitable for Anti-Static Applications

·       They allow outer containers to be re-used which is more cost effective and better for the environment

The benefits of using aluminium barrier foil packaging for products are clear. They offer a much better protection to your items. This will ensure there is much less chance of them arriving with your customers in a less than satisfactory state. When goods arrive damaged with a customer this can create a negative opinion of your company and may even lead to a customer choosing to take their business to a competitor. Therefore, getting your packaging right first time matters.