With the burgeoning billion-dollar personal care appliances market driven by consumers who are becoming more aware of their appearance and the need for grooming and personal maintenance, consumer appliance companies are developing more sophisticated products to attract customers, with the use of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs).

Personal care is very personalized and intimate to an individual seeking to enhance his or her appearance. The selection of products for use for hair, face and oral care, thus, depends on the quality, aesthetics and convenience of personal care products and appliances.

Technology-enabled hair care and grooming tools such as hairbrushes, curlers, hair dryers, epilators, and oral irrigators, to name a few, are becoming essentials in the current lifestyle. Thus, these appliances are required to be user-friendly, more efficient and compact in size, yet durable.
 

THERMOLAST® K for a caliber performance
Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) meet the demand for high performance functionality of personal care appliances, regardless of the size and use.

KRAIBURG TPE, a global TPE manufacturer of a wide range of thermoplastic elastomer products and custom-engineered TPE solutions, offers the THERMOLAST® K range, which has the properties to  
accommodate specifications as required, as well as deliver the functionality needed in personal care appliances.

THERMOLAST® K is suited for an array of components in personal care devices, including possible applications such as the handles and buttons for oral irrigators, hairbrushes, hair dryers, trimmers, body/face massagers, curlers, epilators and hair dye equipment.
 

Solution for durability, top-notch design
Consumer appliance brand owners are seeking to convey high durability, safety, and design standards sought by discerning consumers. As such, the THERMOLAST® K series delivers these requirements, enabling excellent mechanical properties, as well as high elasticity, scratch resistance and silky surface features. For the latter, THERMOLAST® K provides a pleasant soft touch surface and comfortable grip experience in the handles of appliances.

As well, a selection of the THERMOLAST® K series exhibits good chemical resistance against sebum, which is vital for personal care appliances.

Underscoring the safety of use, a selection of the THERMOLAST® K series is certified in accordance to the UL94 HB flammability test.

KRAIBURG TPE has also taken into account the established market requirements such as Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, FDA – Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 21, California Proposition 65, and Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 as well as the REACH and RoHS directives.

Adding value to versatility
KRAIBURG TPE offers comprehensive solutions that enable customization of compound colorization, according to a desired color, and in the most economical and optimal way possible; at the same time assuring the customer a globally consistent color quality.

In addition, the thermoplastic elastomer compounds can be processed by multi-component injection molding, manifesting good sealing functionality for the finished goods.

The TPEs also exhibit good adhesion to most common polar and non-polar thermoplastics materials such as PC, ABS, PC/ABS, PETG, PP, HIPS, PE, etc.