ESA Inc. - Elliott Schultz & Associates, Inc.

United States

The right solution is not just finding the proper the coating but also finding the right substrate to put that coating on. We ask a lot of questions so we can narrow down which substrates will have the best chance to work in your process. Questions that will help us learn about your process and the conditions that the liner will face such as temperature ranges, pressures and chemical exposures There are a lot of plastic films that are used in release liner applications. Actually too many to list (that's not completely true but the list is really boring to read), but in broad categories, polyethylene, polypropylene and polyester films can be coated with a variety of release coatings to solve many release liner requirements. Films can range in thickness from 0.5 mil to 14 mil thick. There are also a number of paper substrates that that can be coated to make release liners that are extremely versatile and are used in far ranging applications. Paper liners can range from 2 mil to over 15 mil in thickness. Papers can be supercalendered grades, glassines and clay coated as well as board stocks. Polycoating the paper adds even more versatility to the liner by giving the paper liner stay-flat and water resistant capabilities.

We have developed several unusual release liners over the years. The EnduraLease™ liners are all thick, very tough liners that work in applications that need a robust liner. These liners range from 10 mil thick to over 15 mil. Some are designed to handle temperatures over 400°F. We have 5 "flavors" of EnduraLease™ liner currently. If you are in need of a liner that is out of the ordinary, one of the EnduraLease™ family of liners could be the solution you are looking for.

Running release liners often requires the need to splice those liners. This can’t be done with traditional splicing tapes since those tapes can’t stick to release liners. We have several splicing tape options so we should have the tape to solve your processing challenge. Typically, we are selling 24 roll cases of 2” x 72 yard rolls of silicone adhesive splicing tape. Blue is a favorite color, but we can also supply these tapes in red. Other colors are possible, but we’ll ask you why you want to do that. These tapes have a polyester backing and an aggressive silicone adhesive. There is a version of this tape that has a heavier version of the adhesive which helps the tape grab onto liners faster. This tape is also 2’ x 72 yards. It costs a little more but it is worth it if it solves a problem. This tape is typically green. If you would like to do flying splices of release liners, it might make your life a lot easier to use a double sided splicing tape. Our version of this tape does have a polyester liner that you will need to remove to expose the second side of adhesive. This tape is normally produced in green. The last category of silicone splicing tapes is functional splicing tape. This tape does not need a liner, which makes it pretty unique for a functional splicing tape, but it does have a release coating on the backing. This release coating allows the tape to function as part of your release liner. This tape is thinner than competitive tapes which helps it in casting operations. This tape is normally run in red. Other splicing tapes that are not for release applications are available as well.

At ESA, we like to think of ourselves as frugal, but some might say we are cheap. We save trim rolls from the converting operation and we inventory them. These trim rolls or overruns are ESA's One-Eyed Horses. We have customers that have found their liner solutions in the One-Eyed inventory, but most of the time, the One-Eyed Horse rolls are a way of trying out liner options to help better understand our customer's processing needs. This inventory changes often, and we will try to keep an up-to-date list on the website, but if you don't see what you want, give us a call. New rolls could have been added to the inventory that are not yet on the website.

Not every liner situation requires a custom solution. At ESA, we have a number of liners that we keep on our floor. These broad specification liners can be the most cost-effective way to satisfy your release liner requirements. These papers are direct coated or polycoated. We do not currently run a stock liner program with films. If these liners work for your application, this will be the most cost-effective solution for you.

For some applications, you just need some liner that stuff won't stick to. Maybe this liner is needed to protect table tops in a laboratory environment or perhaps you need a release liner in your prototyping lab. For these applications, we keep an inventory of rolls that we call LabLease. The rolls are boxed up and ready to ship via UPS. Lablease rolls can be coated on one-side or on two-sides. We stock a medium weight paper and a heavy weight paper.