Why does the "tear resistant non-woven fabric storage box" bought online rot after a few months of use? Most likely to fall on recycled materials

Many people have stepped into the same trap: the online shopping page is labeled as "thick and tear resistant, capable of bearing 50 pounds, and can be used for 3-5 years". It is indeed sturdy for 1-2 months before purchase, and can be pulled or packed with thick cotton quilts without any problems. However, after 3-6 months of use, the box body begins to turn white and small fibers fall off. The corners crack easily with a gentle pull, and the bottom directly powder and falls off. Although it is not exposed to sunlight or used violently, it rots out of thin air. Setting aside usage habits, the core reason for over 90% of these short-term damages is that merchants use recycled PP materials to impersonate original brand new materials.

Recycled material vs raw material

The mainstream raw material of non-woven fabric storage boxes on the market is polypropylene (PP). The appearance of raw materials and recycled materials can almost be the same. Merchants will also camouflage and thicken them through whitening agents and film covering processes. Ordinary consumers cannot directly distinguish between them, but the internal molecular gap is very different.

Native PP new material: The molecular chain is complete and coherent, and after a single hot melt spinning, the fiber thickness is uniform. The tensile strength can reach 45-52MPa, and there are no aging gaps inside the molecules. It is stored indoors in the dark for daily use, and its normal load-bearing service life can reach 2-4 years. It will not quickly become brittle even after long-term bending and friction.

Recycled PP material: Most of the sources are waste mineral water bottles, waste woven bags, and waste non-woven fabric scraps, which are repeatedly melted and recycled 2-5 times. Every high-temperature hot melt will cut off the polypropylene molecular chain, resulting in permanent loss of fiber toughness. Industry testing data shows that the tensile strength of qualified recycled non-woven fabric is only 22-30MPa, which is less than 60% of the original raw material, and the fiber thickness is chaotic, with a disorderly distribution of pores. What's even more deadly is that repeated heating can cause thermal oxidative aging, and the material has hidden cracks inside. In the early stage, the film covers the cracks. Once used for a few months, the film wears off and indoor air oxidizes and infiltrates, and the cracks will spread instantly.

This is also why the storage box is durable in the early stage: the surface film acts as a protective layer, isolating oxygen and moisture, and when the film is intact, no quality problems can be seen; After 3-6 months, the film covering at the corners and creases will wear out first, and the internal aged regenerated fibers will directly contact the air, quickly oxidize and pulverize, resulting in a situation where they will rot at the first touch.

Merchant stealing tricks

Nowadays, low-priced storage boxes rarely use 100% pure recycled materials, and mostly use a ternary mixing scheme of raw materials, recycled materials, and talcum powder fillers, which is more confusing:

1. High and low ratio mixing: The surface layer is made of 30% raw material to ensure its appearance and tear resistance, while the inner and bottom layers are compressed with 70% recycled material. Consumers only pull and test the surface layer when receiving goods, completely unaware of the fragility of the inner layer. After long-term load-bearing, the bottom cracks first.

2. Excessive addition of inorganic filler powder: Add 20% -40% talc powder and calcium carbonate per ton of recycled material to reduce raw material costs. Filling powder has no adhesive force, it will only make the fabric feel thicker and heavier, resulting in a cliff like drop in actual toughness. This type of storage box will exhibit the abnormal phenomenon of "the thicker, the easier it is to rot." After being dampened, it will directly become crispy.

3. False tear resistance labeling: The tear resistance of national standard non-woven fabrics is divided into two categories: dry and wet. Merchants only label short-term tear resistance data in dry state, deliberately concealing wet state performance. In the wardrobe, there is high humidity during seasonal changes, and the molecular chains of recycled materials hydrolyze when they come into contact with water, resulting in a further 40% decrease in tear strength and a high risk of large-scale cracking.

 In addition to recycled materials, there are two secondary reasons for accelerated damage

Recycled materials are the main cause, but indoor use environment will further shorten the service life, and the combination of the two will cause the storage box to be scrapped within 3 months:

1. Indirect aging caused by ultraviolet radiation: Even if not placed on a balcony, the scattering of ultraviolet radiation by indoor windows will continue to damage the molecular structure of PP. The raw material comes with antioxidant additives and is resistant to scattered ultraviolet radiation for more than 1 year. Low cost recycled materials almost do not add antioxidants, and will become significantly brittle after 3 months of scattered light exposure.

2. Repeated folding stress fatigue: The storage box will produce creases every time it is stored or moved, and the extensibility of recycled fibers is extremely poor. The crease position will accumulate stress. After repeated bending dozens of times, the crease will automatically break, which is also the reason why the vast majority of storage boxes are damaged at the crease position.

No need for instruments, 4-second identification of recycled material storage boxes, avoiding pitfalls in online shopping

No need for professional testing, can be distinguished through low-cost practical operation, suitable for receiving inspection and daily selection:

1. Check the color of the section: Cut open the edges and corners of the fabric, and the original raw material section is pure white, transparent, and free of impurities; The cross-section of the recycled material appears gray, yellow, and has small black spots. 99% of the black and dark gray storage boxes are high proportion recycled materials (dark colors cover impurities).

2. Rubbing and peeling test: Rub the inside of the fabric vigorously for 10 seconds, and the raw material should be free of debris and dust; Recycled materials will shed white fine powder, which is the aged fibers and talcum powder that have fallen off.

3. Immersion Pull Test: After wetting the fabric with water, gently pull it, and the raw material will only stretch without breaking; Recycled materials tear directly after being soaked in water, with rough and loose cracks.

4. Price red line: Size 60 * 40 * 30cm with thickened steel frame, raw material cost not less than 18 yuan, the same thickened tear resistant storage box with a full online price below 15 yuan, all made of high blended recycled materials.

Remedial measures to extend the lifespan of existing storage boxes

If you have already purchased a recycled material storage box, there is no need to discard it directly. Simple operation can extend its service life by 1 year.

Firstly, avoid placing it near windows or overhead lights to isolate ultraviolet rays;

Secondly, do not fold and store frequently to reduce crease stress;

Thirdly, place a dehumidification box in the wardrobe of Nantian to prevent the fabric from being damp and hydrolyzed; Fourth, do not store over weight, use with half the load-bearing capacity to avoid fiber overload and breakage.

Summary

The so-called short-term damage is not "normal wear and tear", but a congenital defect in the material. Merchants use the short-term camouflage toughness of film covering to sell recycled products, taking advantage of the blind spot where consumers only look at the appearance and do not conduct wet testing. When selecting, they should remember the three principles of "light color, no powder loss, and no low price", which can avoid 90% of inferior goods.

Dongguan Liansheng Non woven Technology Co., Ltd. was established in May 2020. It is a large-scale non-woven fabric production enterprise integrating research and development, production, and sales. It can produce various colors of PP spunbond non-woven fabrics with a width of less than 3.2 meters from 9 grams to 300 grams.​