Performance & Specification Terms

The values printed on a Flexstone specification sheet and what they mean in use: opacity, whiteness, gloss, grammage, elongation, heat resistance ranges, waterproof rating and dimensional stability.

Opacity

Opacity is the percentage of light a sheet blocks, and it determines whether print on the reverse side or the surface behind shows through. Most specification-sheet grades are specified at ≥90%. FS-2K20, FS-2K25 and FS-2K30 and the FS wall fabric grades reach ≥95%, FM wall fabric grades are ≥92%, and the thin rigid FG-2K15 is ≥85%. Grades listed only in the Label & Hang Tag Solutions brochure have no published opacity value. Flexstone is opaque warm white and does not replace transparent film.

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Whiteness

Whiteness expresses how close a surface is to an ideal white and affects how bright and neutral printed colours appear. Flexstone specification sheets list whiteness in a column headed (wb): ≥82 for most specification-sheet grades and ≥84 for FS-2K30 and FG-2K30; grades listed only in the Label & Hang Tag Solutions brochure have no published whiteness value. The shade is described as warm white, which reads as natural and paper-like rather than the cool white of PP synthetic paper.

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Gloss

Gloss describes how much light a surface reflects in the mirror direction; low values look matte and higher values look satin. Flexstone specification sheets list gloss in a column marked (°). The S-coated grades and the FG digital press grades (NMEQS-MACO 298) are 3–8, giving a matte print surface; the one-side K coating is 9–12; and the FS / FG 2K grades from 0.15 to 0.30 mm (specification sheet NMEQS-MACO 293) are listed as 4–6 / 9–12. No gloss value is published for brochure-only grades.

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Grammage (Basis Weight, g/m²)

Grammage is the mass of one square metre of material, in g/m² or gsm. For unbacked Flexstone the nominal value is thickness (mm) × density (g/cm³) × 1000: about 200 g/m² in FS (density 1.0), 240 g/m² in FM (1.2) and 280 g/m² in FG (1.4) at 0.20 mm. Specification sheets state it with a tolerance (for example 200±10 g/m² for FS-2K20); brochure-only part numbers have the nominal value only. Self-adhesive and fabric-backed grades list the total weight of the construction.

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Elongation at Break

Elongation at break is how far a strip of material stretches, as a percentage of its original length, before it breaks in a tensile test. Specification sheet NMEQS-MACO 293 lists an elongation of 30%–60% for the FS / FG 2K grades from 0.15 to 0.30 mm, together with a tensile strength of 15–20, for which the sheet gives no unit. No elongation or tensile value is published for the FM-2K grades or the 0.35 mm 2K grades.

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Heat Resistance (Long-Term / Short-Term)

Flexstone specification sheets give two high-temperature operating ranges, long-term (days) and short-term (minutes), for two groups of part numbers only. The FS / FG 2K grades from 0.15 to 0.30 mm (specification sheet NMEQS-MACO 293) are rated 80℃ (176℉) long-term and, short-term, 100℃ (212℉) for FS or 120℃ (248℉) for FG. The FG digital press grades (NMEQS-MACO 298) are rated 80℃ long-term and 120℃ short-term. No heat rating is published for other grades. Flexstone is not intended for retort or other very high temperature applications.

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IPX8 Waterproof Rating

IPX8 is the ingress-protection code for continuous immersion in water under conditions stated by the manufacturer. The Flexstone flyer cites an IPX8 waterproof rating based on a 72-hour immersion test with zero delamination. In practice this means menus, maps, tags and labels printed on Flexstone do not need lamination to survive water, wiping and wet handling.

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Dimensional Stability

Dimensional stability is the ability of a substrate to keep its length, width and flatness when humidity or temperature changes. Wood-pulp paper swells and shrinks as its fibres take up moisture; stone paper has no fibres and does not expand or contract with humidity. The Flexstone wallcovering brochure rates it excellent, which matters for register in printing and for seams in kitchens and bathrooms.

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