Looking into the origins of LDPE to find out why this pond liner offers such great value for money over other pond lining options.
LDPE stands for Low Density Polyethylene which is the core component of this product. Due to continuous development we now believe that polyethylene pond liners offer the best value.
Polyethylene pond liner history
This man-made pond liner material was discovered in 1933 by Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett at the British industrial giant Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). Polyethylene is cheap, flexible, durable, and chemically resistant.
Three-ply polyethylene pond liner Benefits
In it’s simple form at the cheaper end of the market there are a few issues with polyethylene in its base form. The material as it is a bit ‘crinkly’, shiny and tough to work with. Flexiliner overcomes this problem via a clever construction technique. The liner’s inner core is tightly woven LDPE that is then sandwiched by two layers of lamination. This lamination makes the fabric stronger and contains UV inhibitors to prevent sunlight from breaking down the core material. The inner weave makes the liner more flexible, allowing it to be easily manipulated and folded into any corners. Due to it’s tightly woven construction the pond liner also has ‘rip-stop’ properties – ie, it is almost impossible to tear. This is a very useful characteristic when building ponds. For instance, during installation a pond liner is probably at its most vulnerable. It is not unusual for a liner to take a small nick, tear or puncture. Such micro-abrasions can be easily fixed but problems can occur if they aren’t spotted and water is introduced to the pond. Water weighs in at 1 tonne per square metre and so the pond lining can be placed under significant pressure. This can lead to a small tear running and becoming a real rip. Rest assured this will not happen with Flexiliner pond liners and this is the main reason that it has become the pond liner of choice for professionals.
Though in some ways tougher than rubber pond liners with a greater tensile strength this material is thinner than rubber or PVC. This means it is lighter in weight so easier to transport and move into position once on site.