The Cork most distinguished and useful properties are: low density, resiliency, impermeability, insulating and fire retardant properties, low conductivity, high resistance to wear and tear, warm and soft touch and anti-static. All those characteristics make cork becomes the raw material for insulation, flooring and products for areas as diverse as construction, fashion, design, health, energy production and the aerospace industry.
What can cork be used for?
As cork material has innumerable properties, it’s a perfect choice for various products across different industries. Here are some of the most popular cork applications:
Bottle Stoppers – The most common use of cork material is in wine bottles, where it works as a stopper (or wine cork). Cork material is elastic, so the wine cork is very easy to squeeze into the top of the bottle. Also, it does not allow any air to pass through it so the wine is protected from oxidation.
Pinboard / Cork Board – With so many of us spending more and more time at home – remote working/learning or otherwise – keeping an organized workspace is more important than ever. It may seem cliché, but a cork pinboard is an economic and elegant way to update and organize your home office or remote learning space. Use fabric, tape, or paint to grid a memo board and step up your organization, or use it as a place to display children’s art and school projects.
Upcycled Vase, Caddy, or Pencil Holder – Don’t throw away that used can just yet! By attaching a fitted sheet of cork to a clean can, you can easily make an upcycled vase, caddy ,or pencil holder. Not only is this DIY upcycling project stylish, it is also highly sustainable. Instead of cutting down a tree to produce cork, the bark is thoughtfully harvested, preserving the tree for later harvests. Plus all you need to class up your home is some cork, a pair of scissors, and a hot glue gun.
Tabletop / Countertop Items – Because cork absorbs so little water and can withstand high heat, it’s ideal for making DIY tabletop / countertop items. Simply use scissors or a razor and cut cork to size to make coasters, trays, or trivets (stand for hot pot or other cookware).
Planter Mats / Furniture – As mentioned above, cork is water resistant and easy to cut to shape, making it a sustainable and economical DIY plant mat. Just cut the cork to shape, leaving a small diameter around the planter for extra moisture absorption. As always, be sure to not overwater!
Purses, Bags, Wallets, and Jewelry – Cork has low thermal conductivity. This means that it is able to resist a wide range of temperatures. It’s also a naturally vegan fabric, which is a growing concern with consumers today. Because of these amazing properties, cork material is used to make every day useful products like cork vegan purses, jewelry, wallets, makeup bags, hats, sunglasses and more..
Life Vests and Floats – Cork is very lightweight so it never sinks. This makes it useful to create life vests and floats for fishing nets.
Shoes – Cork is ideal for orthopaedic and comfortable shoes! Being solid,lightweight, it is used to create insoles and footbeds in different types of shoes. Also, it absorbs the impact on your feet while walking or running. Cork can be compressed and then slowly regain its original shape, which makes it extra comfortable when it comes to shoes. of the entire feet and thus adds extra comfort to any pair of shoes.
Floor Tiles – The cork material is tough and durable, so it’s a great choice for flooring. The toughness of cork material allows it to be walked on without any damage or tearing. In addition to this, cork material is a heat insulator so it is comfortable to walk on it even bare feet in both hot and cold weather. Since cork can easily bounce back to its original shape, it’s comfortable to walk on as well.
Floor Underlayment – To reiterate, cork is comfy! Cork’s aforementioned honeycomb structure of air-filled cells absorbs weight and provides a natural cushion. Adding it under your tile, hardwood or even carpet flooring is an excellent way to add cushion, and adds strength to your flooring tiles, which helps to prevent stress cracks. It also provides sound insulation as well as fire protection. What’s not to love about that?
Wall tiles – These tiles look quite pleasing to the eyes and they also provide heat insulation and absorb sound. In addition to this, they are also highly scratch resistant. Because of this, they are often used on public buildings like schools, government offices, and hospitals. Their distinctive look and durability make them perfect for such places.
Soundproof With Cork – Cork’s unique air-filled honeycomb structure makes it an efficient acoustic and vibration insulator. Because of this, cork tiles are an effective and economic soundproofing material. In fact, just 3 mm of cork can absorb up to 10 dB of sound, making cork tiles well suited for sound treatment in a studio or soundproofing a noisy apartment or home. For reference, a vacuum cleaner clocks in at 70db (Temple University Department of Civil/Environmental Engineering -2000).
Cork As Insulation – Not only does cork absorb sound, the air-filled cells are also a naturally effective thermal insulator (double pane windows and down feathers use the same absorptive principle). In fact when corkboard was initially invented in 1892 it was used primarily in insulating cold-storage areas. Adding cork underlayment beneath flooring or even adding cork to ceilings or in roofing systems will effectively help insulate your home. Simply put, cork is cozy.
Cork Accent Wall – Cork is often celebrated for its function and versatility, but not always for its natural aesthetic beauty. Of course cork is routinely used on walls for a pinboard treatment, however, it is also popular simply for its application in design. While we may often think of lava lamps and shag carpets when we picture wooden walls, white walls with a cork accent wall and striking furniture evokes Scandinavian elegance.
Cabinet or Furniture Upgrade – Adding cork to a plain wardrobe or cabinet will create a unique piece to set your room apart. With a hot glue gun or adhesive you can completely change the aesthetic of your cabinet or wardrobe doors.
Housewares – Cork material is a strong material and is produced in flat, nearly fabric-like sheets. This property of cork helps to create a range of accessories and housewares, from placemats to luggage tags to fashion accessories.
Musical Instruments – Cork is used in musical instruments, particularly woodwind instruments. The segments of the instrument are fastened using cork material. This makes the seams airtight, which is needed to produce clear sounds.
Technology – Recently, cork has found an important place in the technology sector. Cork material has become a part of the heat shield in missiles, rockets, and bombs. Cork is also used in warships for insulation of steam pipes and ventilation equipment.
Can cork be a gift and promotional items?
One of the wonders of cork is the diversity of items produced from this environmentally friendly and renewable natural material.
Cork bark being peeled from cork trees is used to produce cork gift items, bark grows back on the trees making it a sustainable raw material.
Cork products are ideal as unusual and creative wedding and party favors, eye catching promotional materials, and for special occasions. Some of the common cork gift items include:
- coasters, hot pads, placemats
- bar accessories including cork ice buckets, figurine stoppers, colorful closures, pourers and more
- cork planters, fruit and nut bowels, unique cork boxes and containers
- cork covered bottles, cork gift bags
- cork games and toys, yoga blocks, decoy carving blocks and kits.
- bulletin boards, visual aids
- cork handbags, wallets, purses and other fashion items produced from cork fabrics.
- cork covered pens, books and binders, and other stationary products
- cork watches, belts, hats, umbrellas
- cork shoes
- bird houses
- wreaths made of recycled wine corks
Many of these items can also be custom printed or branded, for additional gift items and ideas, custom made products, custom printing or branding contact us.
What products are made of cork?
Among the many products made from cork are flooring materials (e.g., linoleum), shoe insoles, roofing panels, gaskets, safety helmet liners, bottle stoppers, dartboards, bulletin boards, and cores for golf balls and baseballs. Numerous artificial materials have been developed to substitute for cork in specific applications (e.g., a synthetic pea in a referee’s whistle, foam insoles for shoes, or Styrofoam life preservers). However, no general substitute has been developed for cork that can be used in diverse applications.
Bur more products than ever before are being produced with cork, or have a cork alternative.
Home furnishings such as cork flooring and tiles are also popular due to the dampening effect cork provides.
Due to cork’s unique elastic and impermeable properties, it is often used as a vegan leather substitute in fashion items such as handbags and wallets.
Footwear is also another area where cork is becoming more prevalent, with cork flip flops, cork moccasins and cork clogs making an appearance.
Other prominent uses for cork include being used as the core for baseballs and cricket balls.