Quick answer: Tyvek® comes in two structures, and the difference is how the fibres are bonded — not quality. Hard structure (Type 10) is area-bonded: paper-like, smooth and stiff, and it holds a folded or sewn three-dimensional shape. Soft structure (Type 14 and Type 16) is point-bonded: fabric-like, drapeable and foldable. If your bag must stand up, print sharply and stay rigid, specify a Type 10 style such as 1073D. If it must fold flat, sit against the body or simply feel like textile, specify a soft-structure style such as 1443R. Everything below explains how to tell them apart and what each choice does to your bag.
What “Hard” and “Soft” Really Mean: The Bonding Difference
Tyvek® is made from high-density polyethylene fibres that are spun into a sheet and then bonded with heat and pressure. DuPont’s own product documentation states the consequence plainly:
“Depending on the bonding process, Tyvek® has paper-like styles (hard structure) or textile-like styles (soft structure).”
That single sentence is the whole reason two Tyvek bags can look, feel and behave like completely different products. The difference sits in the bonding step:
| Hard structure | Soft structure | |
|---|---|---|
| DuPont classification | Type 10 | Type 14 (and Type 16) |
| Bonding method | Area-bonded | Point-bonded, embossed pattern |
| Hand and behaviour | Paper-like, smooth, stiff | Fabric-like, flexible, drapeable |
| DuPont’s own wording | “paper-like, smooth and stiff” | “soft, fabric-like and drapeable” |
| Distinctive trait | Retains a three-dimensional shape when folded or sewn (dead-folded) | Sewing, gluing and, to a limited extent, ultrasonic seaming and heat sealing can be used |
Read the bottom row of that table twice. It is the most operationally useful line in this article: a hard-structure style can be dead-folded and will hold the shape; a soft-structure style behaves like a textile. Those two facts, more than any weight figure, determine what kind of bag you can actually build.
The practical point buyers miss: this is not a premium-versus-budget split. Soft structure is not a downgraded hard structure. They come off two different bonding processes and are built for different jobs. Choosing soft structure for a bag that must stand up is the same class of mistake as choosing hard structure for a bag that must fold into a pocket — and it is a mistake that shows up late, after the sample arrives. (If you need the material basics first — what Tyvek is, how it compares to paper, plastic and cotton — see our note on what a Tyvek bag is.)
How to Read the Style Numbers: 1073D vs 1443R
Here is something almost no supplier page explains: the style number tells you the structure before you read a single specification.
DuPont identifies hard structure as Type 10, “identified by style numbers beginning in 10 or 41.” Soft structure Type 14 is identified by style numbers beginning in 14, and Type 16 styles sit in the same soft family. So:
- 1073D, 1056D, 1082D, 1085D → the leading figure points to Type 10, hard structure
- 1443R, 1442R, 1473R → Type 14, soft structure
- 1622E → Type 16, soft structure (pin-perforated family)
The suffix is not decoration. It encodes a surface treatment, and surface treatment is what decides whether inks, adhesives and laminations behave on that sheet. From DuPont’s Tyvek handbook:
| Suffix | Structure family | What it denotes |
|---|---|---|
| D | Type 10 (hard) | Contains an antistatic agent and is corona treated |
| B | Type 10 (hard) | No antistatic agent — used where barrier performance matters most |
| R | Type 14 / Type 16 (soft) | Corona treated and antistatic |
| A | Type 14 (soft) | Contains an antistatic agent but is not corona treated |
| E | Type 16 (soft) | Type 16 pin-perforated family |
Why should a bag buyer care? Corona treatment raises the sheet’s surface tension to 40 to 42 dynes/cm² per DuPont’s handbook — that is the property that lets ink and adhesive actually anchor to the surface. When a decoration step fails on one style but works on another, the suffix is usually the first place to look. If your logo has to survive washing, abrasion or lamination, confirm the suffix with the mill before you commit — and check how the decorating method behaves on Tyvek itself.
Hard Structure Grades (Type 10): What Each One Is For
DuPont lists the following hard-structure styles in its design documentation: 1025D, 1056D, 1057D, 1070D, 1073D and 1082D. The official handbook additionally references 1058D, 1085D, 8740D, 1059B and 1073B.
What has actually been published about them:
| Style | Published thickness | Published basis weight | Print sides |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1025D | 140 micron ᴰ | Not published | Not stated |
| 1056D | Not published | Not published | Not stated |
| 1057D | 165 micron ᴰ | 55 gsm ᴰ | Not stated |
| 1073D | 210 micron ᴰ | 75 gsm ᴰ | Single-sided only ᴾ |
| 1082D | 275 micron ᴰ | 105 gsm ᴰ | Not stated |
| 1085D | Not published | 108 gsm ᴰ | Recommended for two-sided printing ᴾ |
| 1025B | Not published | 42.5 g ᴰ | Not stated |
| 1059G | Not published | 65 g ᴰ | Not stated |
| 1073B | Not published | 75 g ᴰ | Not stated |
Source key: ᴾ = DuPont official handbook (first-party) · ᴰ = distributor technical listing (third-party, reproduced as published)
Two things worth noticing. First, the thickness range is wide — from 140 micron at 1025D to 275 micron at 1082D — which is why “Tyvek bag” can describe anything from a light envelope to a stiff, board-like tote. Second, print sides are not uniform across the family: DuPont recommends 8740D and 1085D for two-sided printing while noting 1058D and 1073D are recommended for single-sided printing only. If your design carries artwork inside and out, that single line eliminates or selects grades for you.
For a bag that needs to hold its shape — a structured retail bag, a rigid document or sample wallet — the heavier Type 10 styles are the natural starting point. Be aware of the trade-off: hard structure starts stiff and, in the words of field users, noisy when new. It is not a hand-feel problem to be fixed; it is the property you were buying.
Soft Structure Grades (Type 14 and Type 16): What Each One Is For
DuPont lists 1443R, 1442R, 1473R and 1460C as soft-structure styles. The handbook also covers Type 16 styles, including 1622E.
| Style | Published basis weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1442R | 43 g ᴰ | Type 14 soft structure |
| 1473R | 73 g ᴰ | Type 14 soft structure |
| 1443R | 1.25 oz/yd² ᶜ | Type 14; widely used in apparel and bag applications |
| 1622E | 1.15 oz/yd² ᶜ | Type 16; pin-perforated family |
| 1673 | 2.10 oz/yd² ᶜ | Type 16 family |
Source key: ᴰ = distributor technical listing (third-party) · ᶜ = field/trade community reference (not manufacturer-published)
The functional split between Type 14 and Type 16 is documented by DuPont and matters for bags:
- Type 14 is described as being used “where barrier, durability and breathability are required”, and DuPont notes it offers an excellent barrier against particulate matter.
- Type 16 styles are pin perforated with holes in the 5–20 mil (0.13–0.51 mm) range, which gives higher air permeability at the expense of barrier properties. DuPont’s stated typical uses for Type 16 include “disposable, general-purpose industrial garments, bags and packaging.”
That last quotation is significant for this topic: DuPont itself lists bags and packaging among the typical Type 16 applications. So if your bag has to breathe — a garment bag, a laundry or travel bag where trapped moisture is the enemy — Type 16 belongs in the conversation rather than being dismissed as an industrial-only material. Where the bag does not need airflow and you want the better barrier, Type 14 is the appropriate soft family, and its end-of-life route is covered separately in our note on whether Tyvek bags can be recycled.
One caution: not every soft-structure style appears on DuPont’s public design page. 1622E is documented in the official handbook and is in commercial use, but it is not listed among the “soft structure styles” on the design site. Confirm the specific style with the mill rather than assuming it sits in a particular public list.
The Grade Data Table: What Is Published — and What Is Not
This is where most Tyvek guides quietly fail. They present comparison tables full of ratings — “Very High”, “High”, “Moderate” — with no measurement behind them. We would rather tell you exactly what is published and what is not.
Published by DuPont (first-party data, material level):
| Property | Published value |
|---|---|
| Fibre diameter | 0.5–10 µm |
| Density (Type 10) | Approximately 0.38 g/cc — about half that of paper |
| Melting point | 275°F (135°C) |
| Shrink onset | Begins to shrink at approximately 270°F (132°C) |
| Auto-ignition temperature | 750°F (400°C) |
| Low-temperature performance | Toughness and flexibility retained down to −100°F (−73°C) |
| Flex endurance | Easily exceeds 20,000 cycles on an MIT flex tester (TAPPI method T-423) |
| Dimensional stability | Sheet dimensions change less than 0.01% between 0 and 100% relative humidity |
| Web tension limit (converting) | Should not exceed 0.75 lb/in (1.4 N/cm) width |
| Sheet temperature limit (converting) | Should not exceed 175°F (79°C) |
| Tensile behaviour, style 1073D | Withstands 1.5 lb/lineal in (2.6 N/cm) at room temperature; at 225°F (107°C), tension above 0.6 lb/lineal in (1.1 N/cm) causes permanent deformation |
| Surface tension after corona treatment | 40–42 dynes/cm² |
| pH | Neutral (pH = 7) |
| Flammability rating | Type 10: class “A” per ASTM E-84-89a · Types 14 and 16: “Class 1 — Normal Flammability” per 16 CFR-1610 |
| Lightweight threshold | Styles below 2.2 oz/yd² (76.3 g/m²) are classified as lightweight |
| Air permeability | Low compared with most textile fabrics (qualitative — no numeric value published) |
Not published, by anyone we could find:
- Per-grade stiffness — no numeric value in DuPont’s design documentation, its handbook, or any distributor listing we reviewed
- Per-grade puncture resistance — no published figure found anywhere, including on the manufacturer’s own pages
- Per-grade coefficient of friction — only qualitative statements (hard structure is described as having a lower coefficient of friction than soft)
- A complete per-grade basis weight or thickness table — the figures in sections ④ and ⑤ above come from distributor listings and trade references, not from a single official table
Three commitments about how we handle this in every Tyvek specification we quote:
- We label the source of every figure — DuPont, distributor, or field experience. You can see which is which above.
- We do not convert units to fill a gap. Where a source published oz/yd² and another published gsm, we report each in the unit it was published in rather than multiplying by an assumed factor.
- We do not estimate missing properties. If stiffness or puncture data does not exist in the public record for your grade, we say so — and we measure it on your sample instead. If you need those numbers to make a decision, that is a reason to request a sample, not a reason to accept a guess.
Which Grade for Which Bag
Structure decisions are best made from the job backwards. The table below is the mapping we use in practice; the reasoning column is the part worth keeping.
| Bag type | Structure | Starting styles | Why this fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat tote, retail bag that must stand | Hard (Type 10) | 1073D, 1082D | Dead-foldable, holds a three-dimensional shape, crisp print |
| Foldable shopping bag kept in a pocket | Soft (Type 14) | 1443R, 1442R | Drapeable and folds down without stiff creasing |
| Drawstring event or sports bag | Soft (Type 14 / 16) | 1443R, 1622E | Fabric-like hand, packs flat, lower handling noise |
| Garment or apparel bag | Soft (Type 14) | 1443R, 1473R | DuPont positions Type 14 where barrier, durability and breathability are all required |
| Laundry or travel bag | Soft (Type 16) | 1622E, 1673 | Pin-perforated, higher air permeability — DuPont lists bags among typical Type 16 uses |
| Mailing and shipping bag | Fork — hard or Type 16 | 1057D for print-led · 1622E where airflow matters | Hard structure gives a stable print surface and stiffness; Type 16 gives breathability |
| Cosmetic or toiletry pouch | Either | 1025D (structure) · 1443R (textile feel) | Decide from whether the pouch must hold a shape or squash into a case |
| Insulated or cooler bag outer | Either | Type 10 or Type 14 shell | The grade sets the shell’s hand and print — cold retention comes from the lining and closure, not the grade |
Two notes on reading this table. First, “either” is a real answer when the shell’s job is only to look right and resist moisture; the grade choice then follows the brand’s feel preference and the print requirement. Second, when a bag carries a liner, the liner and the closure are doing the performance work — do not expect a grade change to fix a temperature problem.
If two rows both look plausible for your project, that is a normal outcome rather than a failure of planning: it means your bag can be built either way, and the deciding factors become print sides, packing volume and target cost. Bring both options to the sampling stage and compare them physically. Our custom Tyvek bag manufacturing team quotes both variants against the same specification so the comparison is apples to apples.
How Grade Choice Changes Manufacturing
Fabrication methods. DuPont states that for soft-structure styles, “sewing, gluing and, to a limited extent, ultrasonic seaming and heat sealing, may be used.” Note the qualifier — “to a limited extent.” Ultrasonic seaming and heat sealing are process-window operations on Tyvek, not general-purpose joining methods, and a converter who offers them without asking about your grade is a converter you should question. (Our own ultrasonic bonding capability is scoped the same way.)
Heat is a real constraint, and it is published. Tyvek melts at 275°F (135°C) and begins to shrink at approximately 270°F (132°C). Any step that applies heat — heat-sealed seams, heat-transfer decoration, lamination — has to be planned against those numbers rather than dialled in by feel. The converting limits are published too: web tension should not exceed 0.75 lb/in (1.4 N/cm), and sheet temperature should stay below 175°F (79°C).
Stiffness changes with temperature. For style 1073D, DuPont publishes a room-temperature tension figure of 1.5 lb/lineal in (2.6 N/cm), but at 225°F (107°C) a tension above 0.6 lb/lineal in (1.1 N/cm) causes permanent deformation. In plain terms: the same handling that is safe on a cold line can permanently stretch the sheet on a warm one. This is the kind of detail that separates a predictable production run from a batch of bags that no longer match the approved sample.
Print sides. Some hard-structure styles are single-sided only (see section ④). If the artwork appears inside and out, the grade list narrows before any other decision is made.
Washing and shrinkage. Field users report that washing a hard-structure sheet on a gentle cycle can soften it toward a fabric-like hand — and that washing can also shrink it, with a 5% dimensional allowance recommended in long-running trade discussions. Treat this as field experience rather than a manufacturer specification, and test it if your bag will be laundered. We do not publish a shrinkage figure for any grade because DuPont does not publish one.
Seams. In the same trade discussions, users report adhesive transfer tapes producing a joint that is stronger than the Tyvek itself and stronger than a sewn seam on lightweight styles. That is a useful data point when a bag is thin and perforation risk is high — and a reason a converter’s first question should be about your load case, not their machine list.
Five Things Buyers Get Wrong About Tyvek Grades
1. Treating Tyvek as one material. “Tyvek” spans two bonding families and dozens of styles. Two quotes submitted as “Tyvek bags” can describe sheets that differ by roughly double in thickness and behave nothing alike.
2. Assuming soft structure is the cheaper option. It is a different process family, not a lower grade. Framing the choice as premium versus budget leads to specifying a stiff bag for a use case that needed drape.
3. Assuming every style prints. Print sides vary within the hard family, and at least two styles circulated in trade discussions are described as not suitable for printing at all. Confirm this before your artwork is finalised, not after.
4. Ignoring the wash allowance. If the bag will be laundered — laundry bags, some promotional bags — a dimensional allowance may be required. There is no manufacturer-published figure, so it has to be tested and specified deliberately.
5. Expecting a new hard-structure bag to feel soft. It will not. It starts stiff and, in field descriptions, noisy when new. If the brand wants a soft hand from day one, that is a soft-structure brief — not something to be fixed after production.
Grade × Order Size: What Drives the Quote
Once the structure is settled, four things drive the price of a Tyvek bag, and all four are traceable to the grade:
- Basis weight — more material mass per unit area means more material cost. This is why a 1025B at 42.5 g and a 1082D at 105 g cannot carry the same unit price.
- Structure and handling — hard-structure sheets are stiffer and crease-sensitive in handling; soft-structure sheets drape and behave differently on the line. The converting method and the handling time both change.
- Print sides and colour count — every additional pass adds setup and line time, and single-sided-only styles close off some designs entirely.
- Print method fit — the decorating method has to suit the surface treatment, which is where the suffix in section ③ comes back into the conversation.
This is also why a quote that looks cheaper gram-for-gram can cost more per finished bag: if the grade forces extra print passes, a lining change or higher handling losses, the material saving disappears before the first carton is packed.
To quote a Tyvek bag, we need seven inputs:
- Bag style and finished dimensions
- Intended use — must it stand up, or must it drape and fold?
- Grade, if you already know it
- If the grade is open: the use case, so we can reverse-engineer the structure
- Print method and colour count
- Single-sided or double-sided decoration
- Target quantity, packing and delivery terms
You do not need to have chosen a grade to ask for a quote. Most buyers arrive with a bag and a purpose, not a style number — and reverse-engineering the style from the purpose is the part of this job that we do every week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 1073D or 1056D better for a tote bag? It depends on whether the tote must hold its shape. 1073D is published at 210 micron, compared with roughly 140 micron for 1025D, so it sits at the stiffer end and holds a folded or sewn shape well — which is why it suits structured retail totes. Note that 1073D is also recommended for single-sided printing only, so a two-sided design can rule it out. If your tote has to fold flat and soften with use, neither is the right family — go to Type 14.
What is the difference between hard Tyvek and soft Tyvek? The bonding process. Hard structure (Type 10) is area-bonded, which produces a paper-like, smooth and stiff sheet that can be dead-folded and hold a three-dimensional shape. Soft structure (Type 14 and Type 16) is point-bonded with an embossed pattern, producing a fabric-like, drapeable sheet. It is not a quality hierarchy — just different processes for different jobs.
Can all Tyvek grades be sewn? DuPont states that sewing, gluing and — to a limited extent — ultrasonic seaming and heat sealing can be used with soft-structure styles, and hard structure can be dead-folded and holds a stitched or folded shape. In practice, the constraint is usually the grade’s weight and perforation risk rather than whether sewing is permitted.
How do I know which side to print on? Check whether the grade is rated for single-sided or two-sided printing. Some hard-structure styles are recommended for two-sided printing while others, including 1073D, are single-sided only. If the suffix is a D or an R, the sheet has been corona treated — the treatment raises surface tension to 40–42 dynes/cm², which is what helps ink anchor.
Which grade is most commonly available? Availability is a mill-inventory question rather than a material property, and it changes by season and by region. Rather than assume a style is stocked, tell us the bag and the quantity and we will confirm what is available and what the realistic alternative is if your first choice is not.
Can I get samples before ordering? Yes. Because per-grade stiffness and puncture resistance are not published anywhere, physical samples are the only honest way to compare two candidate grades. Ask for both structures on the same bag specification so the difference you feel is the grade, not the pattern.
Which structure should I choose for a folding bag? Soft structure. Type 14 styles are drapeable and fold down without the stiff creasing you get from a hard-structure sheet, and the softer sheet tolerates repeated folding better. Hard structure is the better choice when the bag must return to a fixed shape after being opened.
Does washing affect the structure or cause shrinkage? Field users report that a gentle wash can soften a hard-structure sheet toward a fabric-like hand — and that washing may shrink it, with a 5% allowance recommended in trade discussions. DuPont does not publish a shrinkage figure for these styles, so if your bag will be laundered, we test and specify the allowance rather than assume one.
Is 1622E suitable for bags? Yes. DuPont’s handbook lists bags and packaging among the typical uses of Type 16 styles, which are pin perforated with 5–20 mil (0.13–0.51 mm) holes for higher air permeability. That makes the family a good fit where trapped moisture is the problem. Do note that 1622E appears in the official handbook and in commercial use but is not listed among the soft-structure styles on DuPont’s public design page — confirm the style with the mill.
What do the D, B, R and E suffixes mean? They denote surface treatment. D (Type 10): antistatic agent plus corona treatment. B (Type 10): no antistatic agent, used where barrier performance matters most. R (Type 14 and 16): corona treated and antistatic. A (Type 14): antistatic but not corona treated. E: the Type 16 pin-perforated family. The suffix matters because surface treatment governs how ink and adhesive behave.
What do you need from me to quote a Tyvek bag? Bag style and finished dimensions, intended use (stand-up or drape), the grade if you know it, print method and colour count, single or double-sided decoration, quantity, and packing and delivery terms. If the grade is still open, the intended use is enough for us to work from.
Can you produce Tyvek bags in custom sizes and colours? Yes — size, structure, closure, decoration and packing are all specified per project, and both hard and soft structures are available. Send the bag style and the job it has to do, and we will come back with the recommended structure, a sampling plan and pricing.
Choosing Your Tyvek Grade: The Three-Step Logic
Strip away the style numbers and the decision collapses to three steps.
Step 1 — Stand up or fold down? This single question separates Type 10 from Type 14 and Type 16, and it is the one decision that cannot be corrected later by adjusting weight or print.
Step 2 — Set the mass. Within the family you selected, the published thickness and basis weight figures tell you how much stiffness or drape you are buying. Where figures are not published for your grade, the sample stage settles it.
Step 3 — Plan fabrication and print. Temperature limits, print sides and surface treatment have to line up with your artwork and your seams. Getting this wrong is the most common reason a first production run does not match the approved sample.
If you would like us to work through those three steps against your actual bag — structure recommendation, grade options, sampling plan and pricing — send us your specification or review our custom Tyvek bag range. Tyvek® is a trademark of DuPont.
