Cushioning Material

Cushioning is a material or system used to reduce the shock, vibrations, or both that transmit to a packaged product from an outside force. In order to cushion, a material must deflect upon impact. This deflection allows the cushioned object to reduce its velocity to zero over a longer period of time than it would if it were not cushioned.

The primary need for cushioning material is to protect from shock impacts during handling and shipping.Several types of polymeric foams are used for cushioning, the most common being expanded polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyurethane.