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FOAM-IN-PLACE

Bubble Pack	Packing Paper	Mover's Wrap	Foam Pouches	Foam Wrap
Furniture Pads	Cell Kits	Stretch Wrap	Shredded Paper	Plastic Bags
orrugated Paper	Bubble Pouches	Newspaper	Loose Fill (Peanuts)	Styrofoam Sheets

Foam in place padding is a polyurethane foam generally formed by pumping 2 chemicals through a reactor and into a box containing some properly shaped mold forms. The two liquids react together and expand into a cream colored foam which fills the molds. What results is a couple (or several) foam pillows shaped precisely to fit the item being shipped.

A small scale, but more expensive version of foam in place is available from hardware stores in aerosol cans. (It is sold as a foam insulation.)

Foam in place is commonly used to pack electronic equipment. It provides uniform support over a large area. And, because the foam is a solid, the padding cannot leak out if the box is torn.

A foamed in place box can be used to repack the same item over and over again in the same custom formed pads. Items going to art shows or trade shows may require foam in place packing to allow them to be repacked quickly and easily without much chance of mistakes. (This is probably the only application in which foam in place has a strong edge over all other packing.)

Several years of experience with this material leaves us unenthusiastic about foam in place. (Several years ago, we sold a perfectly functioning foam in place machine for almost nothing.)

There are a number of drawbacks to foam in place:

Foam in place packing is extremely expensive -- several times the cost per cubic foot of peanut packing.

Installation, frequently, requires a heavy duty 220 volt circuit and, frequently, a source of bone dry air or nitrogen.

Doing a single foam-in-place job can be time consuming.

Finally, the formed foam is a bit too stiff and a bit too fragile to offer really good cushioning. (The foam delivered from an aerosol can is a lot more flexible than the foam generated by a foam in place machine.)

A note to the technically inclined:

Foam in place material can be loaded to between 1 and 3 pounds per square inch.
If the loading density is less than 1 pound per square inch, the foam will not flex enough on impact to offer adequate cushioning. If the loading density is greater than 3 pounds per square inch, the foam will tend to collapse too easily.

So:
An item weighing 60 pounds will require an area of at least 20 square inches to support it.
( 60 lb per 3 PSI = 20 square inches )
On the other hand, the supporting area should be no greater than 60 square inches.
( 60 lb per 1 PSI = 60 square inches )
The foam must be covered by a plastic sheet in order to support this load without crumbling.

The operator has to be sensitive to stay within the correct operating range. This is a bit trickey.

We recommend, instead of foam in place, double boxing the item with 3 inches of peanuts between the inner and outer box. This should be a safer and lower cost alternative to foam. Use extra strength corrugated boxes if a bit more safety is required. If even greater safety is needed; use a wooden crate instead of a corrugated box as the outer box.

If you want to try out foam in place here's how to do it.

Buy a few cans of foam insulation at a hardware store. Observe all the safety precautions on the can. (Vapors from some foams may be pretty toxic.) Find a suitable packing box for the item you want to pack. Allow for about 3 inches clearance all around.

Wrap the item to be packed in plastic film. To wrap, set the item in the middle of a large sheet of film and gather up the film like a sack. Use high density polyethylene or saran brand food wrap. Ordinary polyethylene film softens too much during the foaming.

Shoot a little foam into the empty box so as to form 3 or 4 lumps of foam exactly 3 inches high. You can reduce the height of a hill by simply pressing it down while it is still soft. See the first picture at left.

Balance the item to be packed on top of the lumps. The film which wrapped the item being packed should now be spread out over the top of the walls of the packing box.

Shoot in foam between the film and the wall of the packing box until the foam rises up the wall of the box. If the item being packed trys to float, hold it in place. Smooth the top of the foam by pressing on it. (Through the plastic sheet.) Do not wipe the hot, rising foam. See the second picture at left.

After the foam has formed and has cooled, drape a large sheet of plastic film over the top of the item being packed and drape it well beyond the walls of the packing box.

Have a similar size sheet of film standing by.

Shoot foam onto the sheet atop the item being packed. Quickly place the second sheet on top of the foam and close the box. See the third and fourth pictures at left.

After the foam has risen, open the box. You have made a lower cushion stuck to the box plus a removable top cushion. Very likely, the item to be packed has gotten mechanically locked (not glued) into the box by the foam. You can avoid this in the future by forming the foam by hand as it rises. You will quickly learn how to mold the foam by hand as it rises.

You can use all the foam scraps you generate by burying them in the next batch of fresh foam.

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