What is a µm?

The µm is an abbreviation for the unit of measurement known as a micrometre.

It is also sometimes referred as a micron, but this term is outdated. It is also sometimes displayed as um, which is incorrect. The "µ" symbol means micro (it's also the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet).

So 1µm is one millionth of a metre, or one thousandth of a millimetre. That's very small!

In the packaging industry, this measurement is commonly used for the thickness of plastics.

A special tool known as a micrometer is used to measure the thickness of plastic to determine how many micrometres thick a sample of plastic is. You can see a photo of one below.

In many jurisdictions throughout Australia, there are laws that regulate single use plastic bags that are less than 35µm thick.

Generally, the higher the micrometre count is for plastic film will mean it is stronger and more durable.

QIS Packaging carries a huge variety of plastic material with a wide variety of thickness.

The following video helps explain what a µm is, and what application various thicknesses of plastic materials can have.

There are many micrometer tools available which can measure the thickness of plastics and other materials. The one pictured below measures in units of µm.