Polypropylene or polycarbonate chairs, which one to choose?

The advent of plastic materials has represented a revolution in the field of seating and furnishing in general: new, lightweight and resistant materials that allow even the most innovative designs to take shape in a simple way.

We at tavolisedie.com have different styles and models of chairs that you can choose to buy according to your personal taste.  

While chairs in classic materials, such as wood and iron, still retain their charm and are perfect to complete certain furnishing styles, chairs in polypropylene or polycarbonate have very important advantages, first of all the possibility of being used both for indoor and outdoor use.

To this must be added the fact that the chairs made with these materials do not need any particular maintenance and that, thanks to the characteristics of the plastic materials, they are particularly light and therefore can be moved or even stacked without any particular effort.

For this reason, when you decide to choose a chair for your home, office or garden, the models of polypropylene or polycarbonate chairs take the lion's share in the various catalogues, especially if you are looking for a chair with a modern, resistant and handy line.

What is the difference between polycarbonate and polypropylene?

Which material can be considered the best?

Polypropylene is a synthetic material obtained from petroleum, which can be processed in a simple and effective way to obtain the desired shapes.

This characteristic has contributed to its success and diffusion in various sectors, including the furniture industry. In fact, polypropylene allows to obtain furnishing objects, such as chairs and tables, also characterized by very particular shapes, able to catch the attention and to become icons of modern design.

It is a light, odourless and non-toxic material.

To these characteristics must be added that of an important resistance: working with polypropylene it is therefore possible to obtain seats suitable both for indoor and outdoor use, which can also be dyed in different colours.

Moreover, it is a particularly elastic material, which can therefore adapt to very different shapes without breaking or damaging itself and which can resist without suffering damage to even very important stresses.

This is an important aspect to take into account, especially if intensive use of chairs is expected (as can happen in a public place).

Obviously polypropylene is a very practical material, but it is not free from defects, among which the fact that it is a flammable material should be noted and therefore care must be taken when it is used for chairs that are close to open flames, such as a fireplace or a barbecue.

Furthermore, if we consider the more strictly ecological aspect, which has acquired a great deal of importance in recent years, we must consider that it is in any case an oil derivative, therefore linked to one of the most polluting production chains in the world.

Ecological polycarbonate and polycarbonate

Very different is the nature of polycarbonate, another material that has known a great diffusion since the sixties (and this despite its discovery in the thirties of the last century).

Also in this case it is a material that is used in many different fields, including industry, but which is more widespread, also thanks to its particular characteristics, in the field of building and furniture construction.

If, in fact, the first use of polycarbonate was as a material used to create infrastructures for large buildings (such as the parapets of buildings), since the nineties it has been decided to make the most of the characteristics of this material to produce furniture and furnishings.

Polycarbonate is in fact a light material, naturally transparent (but which can be easily coloured), has high thermal resistance, which allows it to be used even in the presence of open flames in complete safety, and is particularly resistant to impact: for this reason chairs and polycarbonate furniture in general are very successful and widespread.

As for the chemical nature, polycarbonate is a polymer obtained from carbonic acid: the origin of this material is natural and it is not a derivative of oil, so we can speak to all effects of an ecological material.

Moreover, thanks to the latest discoveries in modern technology, an important step forward has been taken which has made it possible to produce an ecological polycarbonate in the true sense of the term, using limonene (hydrocarbon found in the peel of citrus fruits) and carbon dioxide as a base.

Are polypropylene chairs easy to clean?

A characteristic that these two materials have in common is the simplicity of cleaning: in fact, the chairs made of polypropylene or polycarbonate are very easy to clean and also, if necessary, to sanitise.

This is a very important aspect, which can influence the choice of a chair, especially if it is used for places open to the public (think of a room or an office) and outdoors (with the need to clean much more frequently due to exposure to the weather or even simply smog).

The possibility of simply cleaning chairs made of this material means that it is no longer necessary to put them away when they are not in use: a great comfort, which saves time especially when you have a large number of chairs to use.

Coloured polypropylene or polycarbonate chairs

The possibility to choose between different colours is an important feature for a chair: in fact, in this way it becomes easier not only to adapt the chair to the environment in which it is inserted, but also to find the colour that best suits one's taste.

Both polypropylene and polycarbonate chairs are available in a wide range of colours, from classic pastel ones to those that are decidedly more modern and up-to-date. Moreover, a particular style is offered to the transparent polycarbonate chairs.

Among the characteristics of this material there is in fact a natural transparency, which can be used to obtain chairs with a particularly light line, perfect for modern design furniture. Moreover, it is possible to play with this transparency, obtaining an absolutely unique smoky effect with special processes, as in the Antibes chair: in this model and thanks to the characteristic of polycarbonate, it is possible to effectively combine the elegance and practicality of a chair that can be used both outside and inside a home.

If, on the other hand, you prefer a touch of colour between the polycarbonate and polypropylene chair colours, you are really spoilt for choice: some models, such as the Ronago chair, are able to mix not only the colours, with backrest and structure that can have a different colour, but also the materials (polycarbonate for the backrest, polypropylene for the structure).

Thanks to the characteristics of these materials, the only limit in the choice of a chair is that given by taste and imagination: with the certainty of having in any case a product with a unique and particular design and technical characteristics that allow a long life of the chair itself and a high resistance to wear, even when used outdoors.

The polypropylene and polycarbonate chairs maintain their beauty unchanged over time, to give a modern touch to any environment.