Feb
 
17

The 4 things you should check before buying acrylic

Category: Recycle, Working with acrylic
  1. There are a wide range of materials and acrylic brands for all projects and budgets – your supplier should be able to help you make the right choice for your project
  2. Ask for assistance with cutting and shaping to help you produce what you need – your supplier should be able to advise and likely provide you with the exact shape(s) you need and with a professional finish
  3. Check the reputation of the company / supplier you are planning to buy from  – read what  customers are saying about them.  It shouldn’t take long and a company /  suppliers track record can help inform your decision making
  4. Delivery is really important – you don’t want your plastic delivered in pieces (other than those pieces you’ve asked for anyway.  Be sure a supplier will protect plastic with a scratch proof film, adequate protective inner wrap and outer boxing so it reaches you in perfect condition.

Read what our customers say about us here

Posted on February 17, 2012 by a plastic person
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Feb
 
10

6 reasons why we love acrylic

Category: Recycle, Working with acrylic

It’s coming up to Valentines Day and we’re in the mood for loving acrylic !!   It’s the most popular plastic with our customers – and for good reason. Versatile to work with, great to look at and cost effective as a material, acrylic is an all round favourite.  Here’s our top 6 reasons why we love it (though we are a little biased admittedly):

  1. It’s a stronger, safer option than glass. Because it is 10 x stronger, it is much more impact resistant and does not break easily.  If you fall against an acrylic shower door it is unlikely to break.   Footballs crashing through glass windows will, most times, bounce back from acrylic windows.  It’s a good tough option.
  2. It’s weather proof – unaffected by sun or salt spray
  3. It’s so easy to work with – being half the weight of glass using acrylic is much easier
  4. It comes a great range of shades and colours – it works with any colour scheme
  5. It can be bent, cut and shaped to suit
  6. It’s easy to ‘stay new’ – no grouting, scrubbing and any accidental scratches can be polished off

Let us know if you have other reasons for loving acrylic – we always enjoy hearing from you.

 

Posted on February 10, 2012 by a plastic person
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Feb
 
3

Why We Like Polycarbonate For Greenhouses

Category: Recycle, uses of plastic

We think polycarbonate beats glass hands down for greenhouses and cold frames and here’s 6 good reasons why:

It virtually damage-proof – because it is 290 x times stronger than glass footballs can crash into it, birds can zoom into it and they tend to bounce straight back off.   Consequently it’s much safer and more cost effective because you don’t need to keep replacing it.

Insulation properties are also good.  Horticultural glass is usually 3mm thick and a single layer has a thermal insulation value of 0.93 while clear, single-layer polycarbonate retains slightly less heat with a value of 0.83.   Bubble wrap or fleece can be used to tender plants in colder weather or, choose 4mm twin-wall polycarbonate and the thermal insulation value value rises considerably to 1.42.

Twinwall polycarbonate lets light through to areas that glass does not which can be quite an advantage.   3mm polycarbonate has around 96% light transmission compared to 3mm glass which offers 98%; 4mm polycarbonate has around 84%.    However, because the light is scattered as it passes through the twin wall, it becomes more diffuse, meaning it penetrates into areas that light coming through glass does not, so this can be quite an advantage.

Finally,  polycarbonate filters out nearly all harmful UV rays.

If you’re converting your greenhouse or cold frame to polycarbonate www.theplasticpeople.co.uk can deliver panels ready cut to the sizes you need – check it out here.

Posted on February 3, 2012 by a plastic person
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Jan
 
27

How To Remove Scratches From Acrylic / Perspex

Category: Recycle, Working with acrylic

If you happen to get a surface scratch in your acrylic don’t worry –  they can be easily polished out of gloss effect acrylic. Give this tried and trusted method a go and achieve a scratch free look in just a few minutes.  Before you begin, please note it will only work on surface scratches on gloss effect and reflective acrylics (like clear acrylic, acrylic baths and glossy coloured acrylics) but not frost effect.

  1. Rub the scratch with some wet and dry paper of 600 grade, using some water.  Don’t worry if your Acrylic turns frosted and seems to get lots of little scratch marks -  this is normal and they will disappear later
  2. Swap to grade 800 wet and dry paper and carry on gently rubbing the scratch for a minute
  3. Continue rubbing for another minute using wet and dry paper grade 1200
  4. Finally, clean and dry the area – you should see it looks frosty. Use Brasso to buff and remove this frost effect.

Your acrylic should now look like it has never been scratched.

If you are looking to buy a polish for acrylic we’d recommend brasso and xerapol which is a specialist acrylic scratch remover originally designed for industrial use.

If your scratch is a deep one it sadly will not come out :(

 

Posted on January 27, 2012 by a plastic person
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Jan
 
20

How To Make Acrylic Art

Category: Recycle, Working with acrylic

Acrylic is so clear, light in weight with much more impact resistance compared to glass and can be polished to such a high shine that we’d like to celebrate its use in art.  Many museums, galleries and exhibitions around the world use acrylic to showcase their finest and here’s how you can do the same.

  • Print your photographs onto acrylic – choose black and white, sepia or colour.  The finished acrylic print makes a stunning focal point for any wall (and makes a romantic gift on Valentines Day for those of you after hints/ideas…..)
  • Frame your photographs or pictures in crystal clear polished acrylic for a spectacular finish which will prove longer lasting than glass and remain scratch resistant
  • Use acrylic to make a collage or sculpture
  • Acrylic sheets can be adhered to painting surfaces and / or sculptural forms and then painted with acrylic paint or mediums.

If we can help you with any of your projects, do let us know at www.theplasticpeople.co.uk

Posted on January 20, 2012 by a plastic person
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Jan
 
13

How To Cut Perspex or Acrylic

Category: Recycle, Working with acrylic

Acrylic or perspex sheet can be cut at home using saws which would normally be used on wood.   Some things to remember before you start – always leave protective film on your acrylic/perspex until you have completely finished cutting and put on gloves and safety glasses.

We suggest using a jigsaw with metal cutting blades for curvy lines or a circular saw with a blade with a negative rake for straight lines – best with a coarse blade (we recommend not using a fine tooth blade as it will melt back on itself).   It is possible to buy dedicated acrylic cutting blades for jigsaws and circular saws. Note:  It is difficult to get a good finish using a hand saw!

Clamp your acrylic sheet to your work surface and use a length of 1×3 wood to distribute the clamping pressure and act as a guide for your saw.   When you are finished cutting, remove the protective film to reveal your acrylic.

Or, let us do the work for you!  If you need to buy acrylic for your project, we can provide it ready cut to the size and shape you need. Visit us at www.theplasticpeople.co.uk

 

 

 

clamp the acrylic sheet to the work surface and use a length of 1×3 wood to distribute the clamping pressure and act as a guide for the saw.

 

Remove the protective film once you have successfully cut your acrylic.

 

If you need to buy acrylic for your project, we can provide it ready cut to the size and shape you need. Visit us at www.theplasticpeople.co.uk

Posted on January 13, 2012 by a plastic person
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Jan
 
6

What is acrylic

Category: Working with acrylic

Acrylic is a popular plastic available in clear and a huge variety of colours and tints.  There are 2 types of acrylic – extruded and cast.  Extruded acrylic is softer and can scratch more easily than cast acrylic due to the way it is manufactured.

Acrylic looks like glass and is often used as an alternative because it has properties that make it superior to glass in many ways.

  • It is 10 times stronger than glass making it more impact resistant and safer
  • It insulates better than glass therefore potentially reducing heating bills
  • It is half the weight of glass so it’s easier to work with.  You can saw acrylic – no need to score like with glass
  • It offers excellent resistance to ultraviolet radiation and weathering
  • It can bent, molded, cut, drilled, and formed.  watch out for our blogs coming up on how to do this.

Common brands of high-grade acrylic include Polycast, Lucite, Plexiglass and Perspex. For a great selection of brands to suit all projects and budgets, check out www.theplasticpeople.co.uk/acrylic.

We’d like to hear about the wonderful, amazing things that have been made with acrylic – so let us know what you think. We’ll report back findings in another blog.

Posted on January 6, 2012 by a plastic person
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Dec
 
30

6 easy steps to cheaply doubleglaze your home

Category: uses of plastic

Let us help you heat up your home the easy way without expensive double glazing or energy bills.

Rely on our quick to fit double glazing kit.  Here’s how to do it.

  1. Measure up inside the window panes that you want to double glaze.
  2. Order your magnetglaze kit at theplasticpeople.co.uk – all you need to do is tell us your window pane measurements as you buy and we’ll send everything you need for your windows;
  3. In your kit you’ll find acrylic cut to the size of your window panes and two magnetic strips –one white, one black.
  4. First of all take the black magnetic strip and put this around the edges of your new acrylic double glazing pane.
  5. Next fit the white metal strip to your window frame.
  6. Now you’re ready to lift and connect your new acrylic double glazing frame onto your window.

And, if you want to take it down in summer you can just remove it again and leave the white magnetic strip in place on your window ready for next winter.

Enjoy.

Posted on December 30, 2011 by a plastic person
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Dec
 
23

2011 Reflections On A Plastic Fantastic Year

Category: Recycle

You’ve probably noticed that we’re a little obsessed with plastic around here and every day we love hearing about the amazing things you are doing with your plastic via the emails you send and on our facebook page.  Thanks to you all –  please keep them coming!

This year we’ve enjoyed helping with the cake stands you’ve wanted, the fridge shelves you needed repairing, recycling old tables by joining new shiny polished acrylic tops onto old trestle legs, cutting out the shapes you’ve needed to make your splashbacks, fixing broken windows on boats, cars, sheds and play houses.  The list is endless – there is so much that plastic can help with.  If you ever need help – you know where to come.

Merry Christmas from The Plastic People.

Posted on December 23, 2011 by a plastic person
4 Comments
 
Dec
 
9

Protect Your Walls.

Category: Recycle

Would you like to know how to keep your walls scuff free, clean and protected from muddy pets, careless children, bags, boots and the likes?

Here’s our quick and easy idea which will protect your wall in no time at all. Measure up the area of wall you want to protect. Buy some clear acrylic ideally with holes drilled in so it is easy for you to hang. Place your acrylic against the wall that you want to cover and screw into place.

We did it using 8 by 25mm screws and then popped some caps on them to give a neat finish. Easy as that. For crystal clear acrylic cut to the size you need and with holes already in, let us help you at theplasticpeople.

Choose acrylic and use our handy cut to size tool to type in your wall measurements. You’ll need to choose how thick you’d like your acrylic wall protector to be – we’d recommend 2mm – no need to pay for anything thicker.

Posted on December 9, 2011 by a plastic person
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