What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
Around 2010, the emergence of TPE dolls became the pioneer of China's doll industry. Compared with high-end
silicone dolls, TPE greatly simplifies the manufacturing process and reduces the cost of materials, which is why
more than 85% of the world's adult products are made of TPE. TPE is a synthetic material, originally developed
to replace rubber and latex. It has the properties of the high elasticity, high strength, and high resilience of rubber,
as well as the characteristics of injection molding. It is environmentally friendly, non-toxic and safe, with a wide
range of hardness, excellent dyeing ability, temperature resistance, and, more importantly, soft touch.
Due to different molecular structures, the density of silica gel is higher than that of TPE, and the ductility, resilience,
and softness of TPE are superior to that of silica gel. In terms of materials, silica gel is not as soft as TPE. At this
time, you may ask, since TPE has so many advantages, why can't it completely replace silica gel, while silica gel
maintains its high-end status?
The technology of making silicone dolls is also constantly improving. Silicone doll advantages in room temperature
perfusion, as well as the combined design of the liner with silica gel. The inner liner is equivalent to the flesh and
blood of the doll, accounting for 80%, while the silicone is the doll's skin, which is about 2-3cm thick. So the question
is, why use a tank instead of the TPE material used to infuse the whole body like TPE dolls? The bladder exists to
reduce the weight of the doll, and the thicker and more elastic the silicone is, the heavier the weight will be. Generally,
the bladder is made of very light materials such as a foaming agent. This material has a low density and belongs to
a solid filler.
During the production, the key parts of the doll, such as the chest, waist, lower body, buttocks, and inner thighs,
will be set aside. After the inner bladder is completed, soft fillers will be added to adjust the silicone thickness of
the parts. Finally, silicone perfusion will be carried out. Take the breast of a doll as an example. In fact, just like
human breast augmentation, soft material is added. A soft material is put between the inner bladder and silicone,
and then the thickness of silica gel is adjusted to 2-3mm.
The bottom line is that TPE is soft all over. The silicone skin is not as soft as TPE, but it makes key areas softer.
Body texture is only one of the criteria for choosing a doll, the key is to choose a doll that meets your needs.
Re: What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
Re: What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
Suspect there is a translation thing happening here
Silicones are a class of synthetic materials that are polymers consisting of chains of alternate silicon and oxygen atoms, with organic groups attached to the silicon atoms
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- Dolylama
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Re: What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
Yes, always takes the silica gel out of the shoes, otherwise uncomfortable and messy when the bag breaks.
- Colonel Angus
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Re: What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
Re: What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
I like this answer!!Smoker wrote:You buy shoes for the TPE and take the little silica gel packet out of the shoes?
Re: What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
Colonel Angus, absolutely correct
Silicone is a non-porous material, makes it more hygienic and easier to sterilize.
The material is Hypoallergenic, unlikely to cause any sort of allergic reactions.
Excellent material for casting, picks up really fine details
Is also quite durable, hence some preferring the softer TPE
Re: What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
That means you maybe can buy a cheap TPE doll that uses recycled TPE material. The recycled TPE is smelly and harmful to health. I will open a topic to talk about this.
The silicone doll's price is higher than TPE. The reasons include 3 points below:
1) The price of silicone material is higher than TPE.
2) SIlicone doll can't be repaired. Once the doll is failed when it carried out from the mold, that means the factory had lost hundreds of usd.
3) Silicone doll needs better mold than TPE doll need. And the life-time of silicone mold is shorter than TPE mold.
Many fans like to buy the silicone doll due to they needn't worry about the recycled material issue. The pure new TPE material is as safe as silicone, but you can't ensure the doll that you bought made by a new TPE or recycled TPE.
And silicone doll has more detail and texture for its hardness and material character. But if you make a silicone as soft as TPE, it will lose most of this advantage. The soft surface is hard to make the perfect makeup.
Re: What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
I have owned dozens of dolls
So many were tough to use
Re: What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
However you are on the money with some other brands
Re: What is the difference between TPE and silica gel?
Maybe their dolls are very nice smell. I am writing a article for it. The nice smell is not a good thing.seagull wrote:SE Doll, The Kimber doll is among the cheapest on the market yet is nicely scented without any trace of smelly and harmful TPE
However you are on the money with some other brands