What is Celophane made out of?

Question

Is it plastic or organic? If so, what specifically?

Answer 1

plastic

Answer 2

Celophane..I believe the english equivalent is Cling FIlm, plastic wrapping used in cooking??


Plastic wrap, known as cling-film in the United Kingdom, is a thin polymer material, approximately 0.13mm (0.003in) thick, typically used for sealing food items in containers to keep them fresh. The wrap, typically sold on rolls in boxes with a cutting edge, clings to many smooth surfaces and can thus remain tight over the opening of a container with no adhesive or other devices.

Commonly known brands of plastic wrap in the United States include Saran wrap, Glad wrap, and Stretch-Tite. In Australia and New Zealand, Glad wrap is the leading brand, known well enough to make its manufacturer concerned about its trademark becoming genericized.[1] In Hong Kong, a company named Fine Vantage Limited is the major private label LDPE plastic wrap manufacturer.

A similar material can also be made at home by spreading clear glue on a smooth flat surface and allowing it to dry. Depending on the thickness of the layer of glue, it may tear easily, or it may be tougher and more difficult to stretch

Answer 3

Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of processed cellulose.

Cellulose fibres from wood, cotton or hemp are dissolved in alkali to make a solution called viscose, which is then extruded through a slit into an acid bath to reconvert the viscose into cellulose. A similar process, using a hole instead of a slit (a spinneret), is used to make a fibre called rayon.

Cellophane was invented by Jacques E. Brandenberger, a Swiss textiles engineer in 1908. After witnessing a wine spill on a restaurant tablecloth, Brandenberger initially had the idea to develop a clear coating for cloth to make it waterproof. He experimented, and came up with a way to apply liquid viscose to cloth, but found the resultant combination of cloth and viscose film too stiff to be of use. However the clear film easily separated from the backing cloth, and he abandoned his original idea as the possibilities of the new material became apparent. Cellophane's low permeability to air, grease and bacteria makes it useful for food packaging.

Whitman's candy company initiated use of cellophane for candy wrapping in the United States in 1912 for their Whitman's Sampler. They remained the largest user of imported cellophane from France until nearly 1924, when DuPont built the first cellophane manufacturing plant in the US. In 1935 British Cellophane Ltd was established, a joint venture between La Cellophane SA and Courtaulds, which opened a major factory producing cellophane in Bridgwater in 1937. Cellophane is also used in gift baskets and flower bouquet.

Cellulose film has since been manufactured continuously since the mid-1930s and is still used today. As well as packaging a variety of food items, there are also industrial applications, such as a base for self-adhesive tapes like Sellotape and Scotch Tape, a semi-permeable membrane in certain types of battery, and as a release agent in the manufacture of fibreglass and rubber products. Typically, however, the use of the word "cellophane" has been genericized, and is often used informally to refer to a wide variety of plastic film products, even those not made of cellulose.

Cellophane sales are now dwindling heavily, through use of alternative packaging options, and the fact that Viscose is becoming less common because of the polluting effects of carbon disulfide and other by-products of the process.