Safe to engrave TPE yoga mats?

[Brent Franker]

Hey Guys!

I couldn't find anything saying a definitive YES so asking the experts :)

I know many yoga mats are made of PVC and that's a definite no-go for my CO2 Epilgo laser. However, I noticed these TPE yoga mats. They are advertised as eco friendly with no PVC, latex or other "toxic chemicals". I'm just wondering if it would be safe for me to engrave one of these TPE mats with my CO2 laser? Have any of you tried yourselves and how did they come out? Thanks!

[Kev Williams]

I'm not sure what TPE is aside from 'thermoplastic elastomer' aka thermoplastic rubber, and according to wiki it's injection moldable yet pliable like rubber- So- ever grab onto a rubbery-covered SS cup? I engraved such cups about 2 weeks ago. I'm going to assume they were TPE since they fit the description...

--they didn't 'engrave', as in like engraving away powdercoating from a Hydroflask, or like any other engraving for that matter! But the laser did leave a consistent looking impression, as if the beam shrunk the the stuff away. Was a bit subtle, and anything less than 2 or 3mm tall won't be much good in the detail department. I did some 3/8" tall, rather narrow lettering and it looked okay, my customer liked it. Not sure how something like 1/2" tall arial black or other large areas would look, I've only done the one set of cups.

This is all assuming they WERE TPE :D - I'd get one and try it. I did also find out the smoke wasn't objectionable...

[Brent Franker]

I'm not sure what TPE is aside from 'thermoplastic elastomer' aka thermoplastic rubber, and according to wiki it's injection moldable yet pliable like rubber- So- ever grab onto a rubbery-covered SS cup? I engraved such cups about 2 weeks ago. I'm going to assume they were TPE since they fit the description...

--they didn't 'engrave', as in like engraving away powdercoating from a Hydroflask, or like any other engraving for that matter! But the laser did leave a consistent looking impression, as if the beam shrunk the the stuff away. Was a bit subtle, and anything less than 2 or 3mm tall won't be much good in the detail department. I did some 3/8" tall, rather narrow lettering and it looked okay, my customer liked it. Not sure how something like 1/2" tall arial black or other large areas would look, I've only done the one set of cups.

This is all assuming they WERE TPE :D - I'd get one and try it. I did also find out the smoke wasn't objectionable...

Thanks, Kev! There are a number of YouTube videos of lasering TPE and I didn't see any special ventilation or other equipment and it looked like they just engraved them. :)

I'm more looking into CUTTING them and making them into something different. If the engraving doesn't work out too well, that won't be too terrible. I just wanted to make sure I didn't try to laser something that might mess up my machine. Thanks!

[Chris Thomason]

Just to be 100% sure you may want to do a quick check for chlorine in your particular material.

Do this outside. Get a torch and heat a copper wire to red hot. Melt some of your material to the red hot copper wire and put it back in the flame. If your material has chlorine you will see green in the flame. If there is no green you should be good to go.

[Brent Franker]

Just to be 100% sure you may want to do a quick check for chlorine in your particular material.

Do this outside. Get a torch and heat a copper wire to red hot. Melt some of your material to the red hot copper wire and put it back in the flame. If your material has chlorine you will see green in the flame. If there is no green you should be good to go.

Thanks very much for that info and advice! I will definitely do that before I try to laser it! Just a question though... would the laser itself also cause the flame to have some green in it? I would think so but you might know for sure :) Reason I'm asking is because there are a good number of videos out there of lasers engraving on TPE mats and if no green in those flames coming from the lasering then no chlorine, right? Thanks!

[Gary Hair]

No, the chemical reaction of the chlorine and the copper wire cause the green, nothing you can do in the laser will indicate the presence of chlorine - well that's not exactly true - if you laser enough material with chlorine in it then everything metal in your laser will rust... oh, and your lungs will start bleeding...



Thanks very much for that info and advice! I will definitely do that before I try to laser it! Just a question though... would the laser itself also cause the flame to have some green in it? I would think so but you might know for sure :) Reason I'm asking is because there are a good number of videos out there of lasers engraving on TPE mats and if no green in those flames coming from the lasering then no chlorine, right? Thanks!

[Brent Franker]

No, the chemical reaction of the chlorine and the copper wire cause the green, nothing you can do in the laser will indicate the presence of chlorine - well that's not exactly true - if you laser enough material with chlorine in it then everything metal in your laser will rust... oh, and your lungs will start bleeding...

That's good info for a beginner... and very convincing! LOL!!! Thank you again :)

[Bert Kemp]

No, the chemical reaction of the chlorine and the copper wire cause the green, nothing you can do in the laser will indicate the presence of chlorine - well that's not exactly true - if you laser enough material with chlorine in it then everything metal in your laser will rust... oh, and your lungs will start bleeding...

and you'll die
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