PE Soft Touch (PE matte / silky surface)

The Soft Touch finish on PE bottles is actually a surface treatment process, rather than a special PE material. It creates a “soft, silky, rubber-like touch” on the surface of regular PE bottles.
There are mainly three ways to achieve this effect:

🧴 1. Spray Coating (Most Common Method)

Principle:
A Soft Touch coating (also known as “rubber coating” or “silky finish paint”) is sprayed onto the surface of the finished PE bottle.

Process:

Clean the bottle →

Apply primer (to enhance adhesion) →

Spray the Soft Touch topcoat →

Oven drying or UV curing

Features:

Smooth and soft touch with a high-end matte effect

Available in matte, semi-matte, or silky finishes

Compatible with various colors

Can be combined with silkscreen printing, hot stamping, or heat transfer

Disadvantages:

Slightly higher cost

The coating layer may be removed by alcohol (a more chemical-resistant coating is recommended)

🧪 2. Modified Material Method (Less Common)

Principle:
Add a certain proportion of elastomers (such as TPU or TPE) or matte masterbatch into the PE material, and achieve the soft-touch surface directly through injection or blow molding.

Features:

The entire bottle has a built-in soft touch, no coating layer to peel off

Better abrasion and chemical resistance

Slightly firmer touch compared to the spray coating method

Higher material cost and limited color options

⚙️ 3. Mold Etching / Sand Texture Finish

Principle:
Etch fine matte textures onto the mold surface, so that the bottle surface naturally forms a micro-matte texture upon demolding.

Features:

Permanent matte finish, no coating to peel off

Low cost (only mold surface treatment needed)

Dry and slightly rougher touch, not as silky as the spray coating