The material selection of physical dolls is a key factor affecting their user experience and durability. In the market, common materials for physical dolls include all silicone, all TPE, and a combination of head silicone and body TPE. To help everyone gain a deeper understanding of the characteristics and differences of these materials, we will conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis from multiple perspectives.
1. Material characteristics
Silicone and TPE are both elastic materials, with TPE being a thermoplastic elastomer and silicone being a thermosetting elastomer. In addition to the intuitive tactile sensation, we can also distinguish it through the combustion method: when silicone burns, it produces white smoke and leaves gray white residue; TPE is similar to plastic, emitting black smoke and forming black oily impurities when burned.
The basic material of TPE is SEBS, which is hydrogenated styrene butadiene block copolymer. The filling density, oil filling amount, and PP content of SEBS can all affect the softness and hardness of TPE, making it several times lower than that of silicone. In addition, TPE also has the characteristics of high strength, high resilience, injection molding, etc., with a wide range of applications. It is environmentally friendly, non-toxic, soft to the touch, weather resistant, fatigue resistant, temperature resistant, and has excellent processing performance. It can be reused or molded separately. It is worth noting that due to its excellent coloring properties, TPE material is extremely easy to dye.
Shu Ruibao used additive liquid silicone when making dolls. This type of silicone can be cured and molded at room temperature by mixing and stirring evenly in a 1:1 ratio. It has the characteristics of non-toxic, odorless, and anti-aging, providing high-quality material guarantee for the production of dolls.
When comparing silicone and TPE materials, we found that the density of silicone is relatively high. If silicone is compared to hard rubber, then TPE is more like a soft sponge. By zooming in and observing, it can be found that the molecular structure of TPE exhibits a sponge like characteristic with countless small pores. The molecular structure of silica gel is more compact, which also gives it better anti-aging performance.
In addition, the high density of silicone also brings stronger plasticity and provides greater space for weight loss. Therefore, in doll making, silicone has demonstrated superior performance in shaping body curves and skin textures compared to TPE.
2. Touch experience
TPE material exhibits excellent elasticity, far surpassing silicone. Its uniqueness lies in the ability to flexibly adjust the density of various parts of the physical doll, thereby giving each part of the doll a realistic tactile sensation. During the production process, TPE can be designed as hollow for areas that require greater flexibility, ensuring that the curvature, stiffness, and realism of the doll surpass those of silicone. Of course, with the continuous advancement of technology, silicone dolls have also adopted ultra soft silicone with Shore C hardness to enhance the experience, but correspondingly, the cost has also increased.
3. Odor considerations
Dolls made of additive silicone have no odor, while even high-quality TPE materials, such as imported polymer TPE used in Shuruibao physical dolls, inevitably have a slight rubber smell. In order to improve this situation, many manufacturers choose to add essence. These essence can be divided into natural and synthetic ones: natural essence are environmentally friendly and non-toxic, but their costs are relatively high; The synthetic essence is rich in flavor, but contains more chemical components. Therefore, if the scent of the doll is too strong, consumers need to remain vigilant.
4. Touch experience
Due to its relatively hard material, silicone performs better in shaping head details. For example, some fine facial wrinkles and edges can only be vividly displayed with silicone material. In contrast, TPE materials have a more rounded overall appearance due to their soft properties.
5. Tensile performance
The stretching performance of silicone varies depending on the formula, theoretically it can be stretched up to three to five times. In contrast, TPE material has better tensile strength, able to stretch up to six to eight times, making it more suitable for making dolls that require large movements. If choosing silicone to make doll bodies, special care should be taken and large movements should be avoided to prevent tearing.
6. Durability
Silicone is known for its excellent high temperature and acid alkali resistance. Apart from highly corrosive substances, it can coexist peacefully with almost any other substance, which allows makeup to maintain beauty for a longer period of time. In contrast, TPE material's anti-aging performance is slightly inferior to that of silica gel, but its advantage is that it can be re molded, so the price is more user-friendly, providing consumers with more options and replacement possibilities.
7. Price considerations
Due to the much higher cost of silicone raw materials compared to TPE, the price of all silicone dolls is much higher than that of all TPE dolls. Usually, full TPE dolls can be easily owned for only 2000 to 8000 yuan, while full silicone dolls often cost over 10000 yuan. If choosing dolls that combine head silicone and body TPE, their prices are mostly in the range of 4000 yuan to 10000 yuan.
8. Summary
All silicone solid dolls: The head and body of this type of doll are made of silicone material, and its details present a realistic feeling, but the hand feel is relatively hard. Due to the high cost of silicone material, the price is usually between 10000 and 20000 yuan. However, they are more suitable as figurines to accompany photography rather than practical dolls.
Full TPE physical doll: This type of doll is made of full TPE material and has a soft and smooth feel. However, compared to silicone, its detail performance is slightly inferior. Relatively affordable in price, it is the preferred choice among adult dolls with strong practicality. Currently, experience centers mostly use this type of doll.
Silicone Head+TPE Body Doll: This type of doll combines the advantages of silicone and TPE. The silicone head ensures the authenticity of details, making it particularly suitable for head carving production. The softness of TPE body makes the operation more diversified, making it the best combination in the long run. Its price is also within a generally acceptable range.
