New Plastic Materials Have Many Advantages

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26413, 18 March 1947, Page 2

New Plastic Materials Have Many Advantages

“ The drudgery of constant cleaning, the fear of the moth, the tragedy of the muddy dog on the sofa, the child who spreads jam on the wall, the cigarette-dropping husband—these and many other small dreads and crises of householding are on the point of vanishing.” This statement by Roger Williams in an article “ Living in the Future,” will not appear so extravagant after a brief introduction to the material world of to-morrow. Most of the new materials are plastics; a vague name for a large and growing family with the family traits of cleanliness, toughness, adaptability and a healthy scorn of the elements.

Virylite, a vast versatile plastic may eventually cover your walls, furniture, floors, and the working surfaces in your kitchen. It will hang as curtains, and will be used for translucent doors and as wire insulation all through the house. It can be used as' a shower curtain or as a coating for other materials. Virylite is water proof, flame-resistant, crack-resistant, alkali-resistant, insect-proof and shrink-resistant. Chemists can incorporate various combinations of these qualities necessary to the final product they have in mind. Koroseal, derived from coal, limestone and salt, can be made immune to almost- anything unpleasant. Its tensile strength was tested recently in America when a man weighing 12 stone stood on a little air-filled cushion made of a film of this material five-thousandths of an inch thick without bursting its heat-sealed seams. New fabrics woven of Velon plastic filaments are extremely handsome in bright stripes and mottled designs as well as plain colours. Recent tests in America failed to detect a sign of wear in Veion subway seats afjer a year of heavy wear. In another experiment Velon covered furniture was scrambled over day in and day out by children in a public nursery and hosed down every night without any discernible ill effects. Dirt, ink, spilled food, even paint can be wiped away with a damp cloth. Still in the testing stages are Koro-seal-treated wall coverings of paper and fabric which can be smeared with butter, oil pafnt, jam, lip stick and axle grease and yet can be wiped clean with a damp cloth. The woodpanelled walls are guaranteed hard wearing and crackproof.

Floors coated with the strong new plastics should prove popular in the future. The new ingredient, Neoprene, which was used on navy decks during the war, proved to be skid-proof, fireresisfent, resilient, non-cracking and a good insulator against sound and heat Mixed with marble chips this new plastic makes a most impressive terrazo.

Table tops made of a plastic sheeting called Textolite can withstand boiling water, steam, ammonia, food acids, alcohol and burning cigarettes. Added to these advantages Textolite can be made in a limitless number of patterns.

Experiments are now being made in America by carpet manufacturers to incorporate plastics in carpets. Plastic backed carpets would have the distinct advantage of being both moth and mildew proof. Before very long such names as Koroseal, Virylite, Nelon and Textolite will be familiar words to New Zealanders.