95A Polyurethane Tubing

Polyurethane was invented in 1937 by German chemist Friedrich Bayer. His first fibers, named Perlon U, gained popularity during World War II as a replacement for rubber. Its first commercial application was as a thread to make a lightweight, stretchable fabric, called spandex.* Polyurethane is comprised of two basic materials, isocyanate and polyol. There are two general classes of polyurethane and both are commonly found in the market: Ether-base and Esterbase. Chemically, these are made from two different polyol alcohols that cause similar, but different reactions in the isocyanate. From the user’s standpoint, the Esterbase polymer is less expensive. However, it degrades when exposed to moisture. Because of this, we manufacture our FreThane® polyurethane tubing using the Etherbase material. Freelin-Wade’s Fre-Thane® has a high resistance to abrasion while being highly flexible and kink resistant. Its most notable quality though is its “memory.” FreThane®will stretch and flex but always return to its original shape. Freelin-Wade began manufacturing polyurethane tubing in 1980. It remains our flagship product today. It is available in 23 standard colors and a virtually infinite number of color variations. Fre-Thane® is Freelin-Wade’s most versatile product, with more options and variations available than with any other tubing.