Polyethylene

In our catalog, PE designates a polyethylene bottle where the density grade is selected at quoting rather than fixed in the tooling record. In practice that means HDPE, LDPE, or a blend of the two.

We use this designation because the correct density is driven by the fill and the dispensing requirement, not by the bottle geometry. The same mold can run a stiff HDPE bottle for an industrial chemical or a soft LDPE bottle for a hand-squeezed lotion.

• Density: Higher density gives more stiffness, better chemical resistance, and less squeeze. Lower density gives more flex, better cold impact, and easier dispensing.
• Chemical resistance: Good to excellent across the range.
• Moisture barrier: Very good.
• Gas barrier: Poor across all grades. Specify PET if oxygen ingress is a concern.
• Clarity: Translucent to opaque at any density.

General-purpose bottles across cosmetics, personal care, household chemical, and industrial fills. Tottles and squeeze formats. Any program where the fill is defined before the resin grade is locked.

Process: Extrusion blow molding.

Shrinkage: 1.5-3.5% depending on grade. Because grade selection happens at quoting, tooling is cut to the shrinkage of the intended production grade. Switching density mid-program requires a tooling review, not just a resin swap.

Specify the fill first. Surfactants, essential oils, and solvents all change the grade recommendation. Specifying PE without the fill is how programs end up with stress cracking six months into production.