Which applications are best suited to Cast or Extruded Acrylic?

When deciding whether Cast Acrylic or Extruded Acrylic is best for your project it’s worth considering the specific application and desired finish you hope to achieve. The table below provides some examples of the most suitable type of acrylic sheet to use for specific applications.

In our experience, whilst some projects/applications will require specific characteristics of either Cast or Extruded Acrylic, in most cases the choice can be made based on either colour, thickness or cost, as below:

• Clear or Colour: Extruded acrylic is generally only manufactured in clear, black and white and therefore if there is a requirement for any other colour, Cast Acrylic is the only choice.
• Thickness: Cast acrylic is commonly manufactured in thicknesses up to 100mm whereas extruded is generally available in a maximum thickness of 20mm (Simply Plastics stock up to 50mm in Cast and 10mm in Extruded).
• Cost: Extruded is marginally cheaper and therefore any requirement for a large quantity of sheets/panels, where the benefits of cast acrylic are not important, is likely to be more cost effective produced in Extruded acrylic.