Laundry basket

PP is moulded into a light basket with ventilation openings.

Laundry basket, illustrative image

Material

Basket body and handles: PP

Material selection rationale

Low mass
Makes a loaded basket easier to carry.
Mouldable structure
Ribs and handles stiffen a thin-walled body.
Openings and handle loads
Openings reduce mass, while the rim and ribs distribute loads around them. Handles experience higher local loads than the empty wall.

How it becomes a product

  1. Mould the body: Molten PP fills a shaped tool, including the rim, ribs and handle features. Mould filling and cooling must accommodate the thin panels and thicker rim without unacceptable distortion.
  2. Cool and finish: The part cools in the tool, is removed and has any excess material trimmed.

Preparation routes

Propene route

Catalytic addition polymerisation. Propene molecules join into chains. A suitable catalyst controls chain growth and the arrangement of the methyl side groups. Catalyst-controlled arrangement of methyl groups can favour regular packing. The monomer formula alone does not describe this tacticity.

A coordination catalyst system is used; it is not counted as a monomer. A thermoplastic moulding or foam uses already-made PP, not propene reacting inside the final product.

  1. Poly(propene): manufacture and usesChemical Industry Education Centre, University of York

Sources

  1. SLIBB laundry basket: materialsIKEA
  2. Poly(propene): manufacture and usesChemical Industry Education Centre, University of York
  3. A guide to polyolefin injection mouldingLyondellBasell