Consumer Housewares: Custom Fit Plastic Tubing for Everyday Life

At Inplex Custom Extruders, we believe that it’s important to know about the consumer products you use so that you can choose the best materials for your project. That goes for systems as a whole, right down to the parts that hold them all together. Take the custom fit plastic tubing in your sprinkler system, for example. How much do you know about the extruded plastic tubing that makes up your sprinkler system — or about the piping in your house?

Custom Plastic Tubing Lawn Sprinkler System

When your sprinkler system activates, custom plastic tubing sends pressurized water through piping to the sprinkler heads that water your lawn. This custom extruded tubing needs to stand up to occasional high water pressure and ground freezes, so it needs to be made of flexible and highly durable piping materials. The most common options are as follows:

• Polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, is typically a semi-rigid pipe, but it can be made of more flexible material depending on the user’s needs. Like any piping, it will last longer underground, but it is UV-resistant to maximize its lifespan if used above-ground.
• Polyethylene tube, also known as poly tube, can also be UV-resistant. Because it comes in a number of densities, it can be a useful material for sprinkler systems in more unpredictable climates.
• Linear low-density polyethylene is particularly useful in systems where the ground may freeze since it is the most resistant to environmental stressors.

Using Extruded Plastic Tubing Irrigation Hoses and Pipes

The extruded plastic tubing used for lawn sprinkler systems is also suitable for landscape irrigation. Polyethylene extruded tubing is most common in areas where the weather gets cold as its flexibility allows it to expand as needed in case of freezing. Hoses need to be even more flexible, so a low-density polyethylene is usually a good choice for extrusion. In the case of above-ground use, it can be made with UV stabilizers to reduce degradation from sun exposure. It can even be made in different opaque colors to suit your landscape design and color scheme. Check out our custom extruded plastic tubing to view our custom color options.

Getting Flexible and Rigid Pipes

The pipes inside your home don’t have to endure as much climate variation as outdoor pipes, but they often have to withstand hot water and high-pressure flow. Many people use PVC piping indoors as well as outdoors. It’s both heat and freeze-resistant and is easy to work with because of its flexibility.

If you don’t need as much flexibility, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) piping can also be a good choice. It is appropriate for high-impact uses and is available in transparent or opaque, making it versatile from a design standpoint as well. It does, however, have the drawback of being more vulnerable to sun damage than PVC piping, so protective dyes or paints should be used when ABS piping is laid above ground.

Matching the Piping to the Extruded Plastic Tubing Project

The piping options we’ve just reviewed give you a number of options for your home piping needs, but not every kind will be right for every extruded plastic tubing project. At Inplex Custom Extruders, we understand the properties of every extrusion material that we manufacture. We can help you to decide which materials are best for your needs and produce them in a variety of stock or custom colors.

Contact us today for a quote or consultation.