What Is a Release Liner?

What do diapers, roofing shingles, and postage stamps all have in common? They all use release liners to preserve their adhesion potential for their desired end use.

Release liners use polymer- or paper-based material to keep adhesive materials unstuck while simultaneously holding them in place until their final intended application. Think of the backing material for stickers: liners keep the stickers sealed to the roll without affecting their adhesion when users peel them off. 

Two Types of Release Liner Suppliers

In the adhesive and sealant industry, release liner suppliers fall into two basic categories: liner producers and in-house producers. What are the differences between the two?

• Liner producers manufacture standalone release liners intended for a wide variety of uses and work with a broad range of backing materials and release agents. Liner producers can tailor their products to their customers’ requirements, and once the contracted liner has been produced, customers can further modify the liner with their specific product and branding requirements.
• In-house producers don’t consider themselves liner producers, but their products still incorporate liners that they produce in their own facilities. Generally, these companies use a limited amount of substrates and release agents because they only intend their liners for specific end goals.

Release Liner Uses

Companies can use several different varieties of liners depending on their desired end products, budgets, and preferences.

To produce most kinds of liners, workers apply a coat of silicone on one or both sides of the base material. However, even though most companies use silicone-coated release liners, others rely on specialized materials according to their product’s needs.

Below are some of the most effective types of release liners:

• Polypropylene liners provide increased strength due to their biaxial orientation, resulting in high tensile strength and dimensional stability. These liners come in different thicknesses.
• High-density polyethylene liners provide higher heat resistance than other liner types. They also come in varying thicknesses according to customer specifications.
• Polyester liners resist heat better and are tougher than all other liners, and therefore, many heavy-duty applications rely on them for increased support.
• Paper liners are one of the most cost-effective liner solutions available. They provide a wide range of adhesion strength, from low adhesion for sticker rolls and display racks to high adhesion for home and vehicle insulation.

These categories contain many sub-varieties and incorporate many different kinds of material. For example, paper release liners include Super Calendered Kraft paper, used for labels in the United States, which differs from Glassine paper, which incorporates a PVOH polyvinyl alcohol coat on top and appears on European labels.

Release liners have come a long way over the years in both their manufacture and their applications. For example, the medical industry relies on them for wound dressings, EKG monitors, and dermal patches. The shipping and mailing industries use liners to better seal packages, and homes and vehicles use them to section off insulation materials.

Release Liners for All Occasions

Tee Group Films provides our customers with high-quality release liners tailored to their needs. We’ve provided customized liners for clients across the country from our Illinois plant for years, and we’ve helped rubber manufacturers, automotive manufacturers, construction businesses, and aerospace assemblers achieve the sealing solutions their products need. 

If you would like to learn more about release liners and their applications, contact us and request a free quote today.