How to Cut Corrugated Plastic Sheets Using Slice Tools

Corrugated plastic sheets can be difficult to cut without the right tools. Slice® makes tools with finger-friendly® blades, in multiple handle configurations, that tackle this material with ease. While our safe-to-the-touch blades protect you from accidental lacerations, they’re as sharp as they need to be to cut corrugated plastic sheets, either with or against the grain. Watch this demo to see which tools are best for different thicknesses of corrugated plastic.

Wondering how to cut corrugated plastic sheets? With so many corrugated plastic cutting tools available on the market, how do you select the best one for the job?

Corrugated plastic sheets are commonly called “twin-wall.” You can identify twin-wall by looking at the sheet from the side. Does it appear to have three different layers, with a ribbed layer sandwiched between two flat sheets? That middle layer allows it to absorb impact and support weight. Twin-wall is most often used in packaging.

How is Corrugated Plastic Made?

Polyethylene and polypropylene are most commonly used. Polypropylene often has additives, which can impart one or more of the following qualities to the finished product:

  • Resistance to chemical spills
  • Neutral pH
  • Stability within normal temperature variances
  • Anti-static
  • UV resistance
  • Fire resistance

The panels are manufactured, primarily, by the extrusion method, where molten plastic is pumped through a die that gives the finished product its shape and thickness.

How is Corrugated Plastic Used?

The impact resistance, flexibility, and versatility of twin-wall make it ideal packaging material, and, since it’s recyclable, it’s eco-friendly too. Twin-wall is also great for signage, such as yard signs.

How to Cut Corrugated Plastic

Tailor your corrugated plastic cutting tools to the specific thickness of corrugated plastic you’re cutting. This material is difficult to cut and quickly dulls metal blades, especially when cutting across the grain, which is one of the advantages of using Slice tools with our engineered ceramic blades to cut this material.

As demonstrated in the video showing how to cut corrugated plastic panels, Slice® makes corrugated plastic cutting tools that quickly and easily cut through twin-wall. When cutting a full panel, stabilize it on a flat surface using duct tape. Avoid stretching the panel and affecting your cut line. Measure and mark your desired cut very carefully. A straightedge is helpful while cutting.

If your twin-wall is less than four millimeters thick, use either the Slice 10513 Manual Pen Cutter shown in the video or the 10512 Auto-Retractable Pen Cutter. Both pen cutters use the same blades. Although they will be shipped using a rounded-tip blade, for safety purposes, the Slice 10408 Box Cutter Blades (Pointed Tip) are slightly better suited to this material.

For twin-wall that is over four millimeters thick, the Slice 10554 Auto-Retractable Utility Knife shown in the video or the 10550 Manual Utility Knife will give you the cutting depth you need. Again, both of these utility knives use the same blade, available in both rounded- and pointed-tip versions, although the Slice 10528 Ceramic Utility Knife Blades (Pointed Tip) are recommended.

Corrugated Plastic Cutting Tools: The Slice Difference

Although many cutting tools on the market will cut twin-wall, Slice tools have a distinct advantage. Our tools are safer. Using 100 percent zirconium oxide, with thicker blades than traditional ceramics, we manufacture our safety blades with a proprietary double-angle grind, resulting in a safe-to-the-touch, finger-friendly® blade edge. Auto-retractable tools give you an added measure of safety.

Not only are Slice blades less likely to cause lacerations if the tool slips, but our blades last up to 11.2 times longer than traditional metal blades. This is important when cutting materials that can dull metal blades quickly, because it means that you’ll have fewer blade changes. Every time you replace a traditional blade, you risk injury.

When you combine our safety blades with our handles, which are easy to grip and comfortable to hold, you can see that the question is not so much one of how to cut corrugated plastic sheets, but rather, which Slice tools will work best for you?