General properties:

• Excellent moisture barrier properties
• Excellent chemical resistance
• Hard to semi-flexible
• Strong
• Soft waxy surface
• Permeable to gas
• HDPE film crinkles to the touch
• Pigmented HDPE bottles generally have better stress crack and chemical resistance than bottles made from unpigmented HDPE

Common uses:

The excellent chemical resistance of HDPE makes it ideal for packaging household and industrial chemicals, such as detergents, bleach and acids. Its moderate stretch and high strength characteristics make it especially suitable for grocery bags, as found in most supermarkets. Other common uses include film, especially snack food packages and cereal box liners, milk and non-carbonated drinks bottles, margarine tubs, toys, buckets, rigid pipes, crates, plastic lumber, garden furniture, flower pots, and signs. As HDPE is permeable to gas it is not suitable for applications requiring an oxygen or CO₂ barrier.