Material Guide
As a leading OEM/ODM drink bottle manufacturer, we offer a variety of metal, plastic and silicone materials to manufacture your custom design water bottle/cup/flask/jug/food container/beverage vessel to meet requirements
Main Material List of Water Bottle/Cup/Flask/Jug/Food Container/Beverage Vessel
Water bottle/drinking cup/tumbler/cup/vacuum flask/lunch box/dog bowl have a long list of materials available, ranging from stainless steel, titanium and other metals, plastics (PP, AS, Tritan) to wheat straw, sugarcane straw, recycled ocean plastics and more.
| Main Material Type | Advantages | Disadvantages | FDA Compliant | BPA Free | Applications for Drink Bottle / Flask / Tumbler / Cup / Mug / Jug / Container | Material Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminum | Al | Low density; Light weight; Anti-corrosion; Fast heat conduction | Low hardness and easy to deform; Toxicity of aluminum can cause metabolic disorders in the human body | No | Yes | KingStar has stopped making aluminum drinking bottles since 2005. | Low |
| Stainless Steel | SS201 (Stainless Steel 18-1, Japan JIS: SUS201, USA AISI: 201) | Easy to shape; Easy to be welded; Durable | Metal ions will be precipitated when heated, which is harmful to health; Low corrosion-resistant; Easy to crack | No | Yes | Outer wall of double-walled container / vessel | Low |
| SS304 (Stainless Steel 18-8, Japan JIS: SUS304, USA AISI: 304) | Food grade material; High tensile strength; Good weldability; Good formability; Good corrosion resistant; Durable | Poor sulfur resistance; Poor reduction resistance; Difficult to process | Yes | Yes | Both inner wall and outer wall of double-walled kitchen food grade drinkware/container/vessel, bottle cap, handle | Middle | |
| SS316 (Stainless Steel 18-10, Japan JIS: SUS316, USA AISI: 316) | Medical grade material; Excellent heat resistance, acid resistance and alkali corrosion resistance; Good weldability; Good formability; Excellent corrosion resistant; Less Durable than SUS304 | Poor sulfur resistance; Poor reduction resistance | Yes | Yes | Both inner wall and outer wall of double-walled food grade drinkware/container/vessel, bottle cap, handle; Container for medical equipment; Medical grade container | High | |
| Titanium | Ti-6Al-4VEli | High strength; Titanium alloys have excellent corrosion resistance in harsh environments; Good bio-compatibility; Low density; Light weight | Pure titanium cannot be heat treated | Yes | Yes | Medical equipment / implants; Drinkware; Food container; Beverage vessel | Very High |
| Plastic | Polypropylene (PP) | High strength plastic resin, extremely high resistance to heat, moisture, and chemicals | High strength plastic resin, extremely high resistance to heat, moisture, and chemicals | Yes | Yes | Lid; Cap; Cover; Plastic bottle/tumbler | Low |
| Acrylonitrile-Styrene (AS) | Solvent resistance; High Strength | Insufficient toughness; May gradually turn yellow after prolonged use | Yes | Yes | Lid; Cap; Cover | Yes | |
| Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) | Good mechanical and thermal properties; High hardness; Easy metal plating on the surface; Fatigue resistance and stress cracking resistance; High impact strength; Chemical corrosion resistance such as acid and alkali; Easy to process and form | Poor weather resistance; Not UV resistant; Easy to age under hot oxygen conditions; Poor dissolution resistance | Yes | Yes | Parts with hardness and wear resistance requirements such as buttons and gears of the cup lid/lid/cover | Low | |
| Polyoxymethylene (POM) | High tensile strength; Fatigue resistance; Creep resistance; Less water absorption; Good dielectric properties; Normal use at 120 °C; Small friction coefficient; Excellent elasticity | No self-extinguishing; High molding shrinkage | Yes | Yes | Parts with hardness and wear resistance requirements such as buttons and gears of the cup lid/lid/cover | Low | |
| Acrylic | Good toughness; Not easy to break | Not wear-resistant, easy to scratch on its surface; Can not contact with organic solvents, such as alcohol will make acrylic sticky | Yes | Yes | Plastic bottle/tumbler/cup | Middle | |
| ThermoplasticElastomer (TPE) | Environmentally friendly; Wide range of hardness; Excellent colorability; Soft touch; Weather resistance, fatigue resistance and temperature resistance; No vulcanization; Can be covered and bonded with base materials such as PP, PE, PC, PS, ABS, etc. | Poor heat resistance; Physical properties decrease greatly as temperature rises; Easy to deform under pressure; Poor resilience and durability | Yes | Yes | Sealing gasket; O ring; Overmolding for lid handle part | Middle | |
| Polycarbonate (PC) | High impact strength; Good creep resistance; Good heat resistance; Low embrittlement temperature (-130℃); High transparency; Good dielectric properties; Good dimensional stability | Contains BPA; Poor solvent resistance; Easy to crack; Easy to hydrolyze when immersed in boiling water for a long time; Poor fatigue strength | No | No | Functional part on bottle/tumbler/flask/cup/container and its cover & lid | Middle | |
| TRITAN (PCTG) | Good transparency; Strong impact strength; Hydrolysis resistance; High temperature resistance; Easy processing; Good toughness; Chemical resistance | It will be deformed at high temperature. Deformation and cracking may occur when the temperature exceeds 94 degrees Celsius | Yes | Yes | Bottle/flask/mug/cup/container/vessel jug and its cap, cover & lid | High | |
| PPSU | High hydrolytic stability; High transparency; high temperature resistance up to 207℃; Milk bottles/cups made of PPSU can be repeatedly boiled, microwaved, and steam sterilized; Chemical stability is good; Easy to clean | None | Yes | Yes | baby water bottle/tumbler/cup/flask/jug/container | Very High | |
| Recycled Ocean Plastic | Conducive to reducing marine environmental pollution | High MOQ; Processing technology is complex and difficult | Yes | Yes | Bottle and its cap, cover & lid | Very High | |
| Silicone | Solid Silicone | High temperature resistance; Cold resistance; Solvent resistance; Anti-sticking; Electrical insulation; Chemical resistance; Good elasticity | Vulcanizing agent needs to be added during molding to shorten molding time | Yes | Yes | Gasket; Anti-slip footer; Band; Strap; Collapsible Water Bottle | Middle |
| Liquid Silicone | High and low temperature stability; Odorless; Transparent; Wide hardness range; Chemical resistance; Weather resistance; Excellent sealing performance; Great elasticity | High mold tooling cost | Yes | Yes | Straw; Nipple; Collapsible Water Bottle; Medical part/equipment | High |
Auxiliary Material List
of Custom Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Drink Bottles/Hydro Jugs/Flasks/Cups/Tumblers
| Auxiliary Material Type | Application/Function | FDA Compliant | BPA Free | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | Plating copper on the outside of the inner wall of the thermos bottle cup to enhance the thermal insulation effect | Yes | Yes | |
| Aluminum foil | Wrap aluminum foil on the outside of the inner wall of the thermos bottle cup to enhance the thermal insulation effect | Yes | Yes | |
| Getter | ZrVFe | The non-evaporable getter has the characteristics of large inhalation capacity and high inhalation rate. Remove the residual air between double walls of the vacuum flask. | Yes | Yes |
Need a reliable manufacturer for your custom design water bottle?
Custom Shape Water Bottle Tumbler Mold Tooling Processes
Your Custom-designed Stainless Steel drinkware Manufacturer Factory In China
Step 1: Sign NDA
NDA is the abbreviation of Non-Disclosure Agreement. Before you expose any confidential information (such as drawing or design concepts) about your custom water bottle project, we sign NDA with you.
Step 2: Complete Design drawing
Basing your drawing, our engineering team will release DFM (Design For Manufacturing) report and help revise the drawing. If you only have a design concept but without drawings, our R&D team offers design support to complete the drawing.
Step 3: Quotation & Payment
After having all your requirement, we quote for both tooling cost and product pricing. Payment term for tooling is that, 50% deposit and 50% after sample approved by you. Payment term for mass production is normally 30% deposit + 75% balance before shipment.
Step 4: Tooling Fabrication & Sample Approval
Lead time of tooling fabrication is 5 weeks. You will get 3D printed prototype sample to finalize the design, and T1, T2 samples for final approval on your custom mold design bottle tumblers.
Step 5: Mass Production
After T2 tooling sample approval and receiving deposit payment, we start mass production. The lead time of mass production is 45 days. It’ll be even longer for custom design smart water bottle projects.
Step 6: Final Payment & Shipping
After receiving final payment, we will work with your forwarder to arrange the shipment. If you have no experience in importing from China, we can handle the whole logistics and arrange globally door-to-door shipping.