TPE is a Better Chewelry Material Choice than Silicone
When designing our first chewable pendants, we researched lots of chewelry material. Natural rubber, silicone and various plastics. Over the past few years there has been a rise in food-grade silicone chewable necklaces and pendants flooding the market and we wanted to address the reasons why we chose NOT to use silicone.
Each KidCompanions Chewelry Hearts and Circle has two parts, two textures.
TPE is the acronym of Thermo-Plastic Elastomer.
THERMOPLASTIC is a material that becomes liquid (melted) when it’s heated, then returns to solid form when cooled at room temperature. Importantly, this process is reversible.
ELASTOMER simply means a material with “elastic behaviour”.
We tested food-grade silicone and found that TPE is a better chewelry material alternative, for the following reasons:
Soccer Ball and Chubby Star SentioCHEWS and made from FDA approved food-grade TPE, made in the USA.
✓ TPE is better for environment (easier recyclability) than silicone (cannot recycle silicone).
✓ Our TPE had better weather and environmental resistance than silicone
✓ There is better tear resistance in our TPE (especially the thick SentioCHEWS Chubby Star)
✓ TPE is more stretchable, can have a “grippy/rubbery” feel (like our SentioCHEWS) and can be easily reused. That’s right, excess or left overs can be reused and made into other cool things!
The TPE we chose has excellent characteristics, our KidCompanions Chewelry materials are even approved for medical device implants and blood contact. It is used in hospitals because it is hypoallergenic. Our SentioCHEWS material is approved for food contact. Both are FDA approved and both are our products are manufactured in clean, regulated facilities in Canada!
References:
Silicone Vs. TPE: How To Make The Right Choice – Walsworth
What’s TPE-S – valid alternative to silicone, rubber and PVC
Thermoplastic elastomer – Wikipedia
TPE Compounds are the right touch for many products
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