Can you produce elastic coated webbing?

Currently, it is not possible to produce elastic coated webbing with existing technology. Although elastic materials offer significant advantages in various applications, coated webbing faces several technical challenges that prevent it from having elastic properties.

Firstly, let’s understand the production process of coated webbing. The production of coated webbing mainly involves an extrusion process. The specific steps are as follows:

1. Core webbing: The core material, typically nylon or polyester webbing without elasticity, is prepared.

2. Coating layer: TPU or PVC material is melted at high temperatures and coated onto the core webbing, forming an integrated coated webbing.

3. Extrusion shaping: The coating process occurs inside a high-temperature die, and the coated webbing is pulled through an extruder and then cooled to shape.

Why it is currently impossible to produce elastic coated webbing? During the production of coated webbing, the core webbing must maintain a stable shape and size during pulling. If the core webbing is elastic, the tension during pulling will narrow it, making the final product dimensions inconsistent with standards. This affects product uniformity, reduces production efficiency, and increases the defect rate.

Although TPU material has some elasticity, it cannot match the stretch and rebound performance of specialized elastic webbing. Elastic webbing has high elongation and rebound capabilities, but TPU, due to its thickness and structure after coating, cannot provide the same level of elasticity. Thus, the coated webbing cannot achieve sufficient rebound and elastic effects.

Coated webbing typically has a thick outer layer to provide waterproof, abrasion-resistant, and durable characteristics. This thick TPU or PVC coating layer restricts the elasticity of the core webbing. Even if the core webbing is elastic, the heavy coating layer diminishes its effect.

For coated webbing, dimensional stability is crucial. Many applications require the coated webbing to maintain consistent size and shape under various conditions. If the core webbing is elastic, the product will stretch under force, changing its dimensions, making it unsuitable for applications requiring precise sizing.

In summary, it is currently impossible to produce elastic coated webbing due to the challenges in the pulling process, insufficient elasticity of TPU material, and limitations of the coating layer. If you don’t have request of water resistance, just use elastic woven webbing; if you need waterproof elastic band, you can try rubber elastic tape.