Tyvek envelopes are envelopes manufactured from DuPont's Tyvek brand of synthetic material. Tyvek has the advantage of being very strong and tear-resistant while easy to cut with scissors. Tyvek envelopes thus keep their contents ultra-safe, withstanding almost anything that human beings and nature might throw at them. As the DuPont Tyvek website says, “In fact, it [Tyvek] is virtually indestructible because it isn’t paper... it’s Tyvek®!  And when you’re sending something important, that’s exactly what you want your envelope to be.” We couldn't have put it better ourselves (so we won't).

Tyvek envelopes are ideal for sending bulky and awkward items because of the strength of the packaging. For the same reason, sensitive and confidential documents enjoy safe transit in Tyvek envelopes. And as they are lightweight and flexible, significant savings can be made on postage.

The Tyvek envelope advantage:

• Tear resistant
• Burst resistant
• Puncture resistant
• Water resistant
• Lightweight
• Printable
• Recyclable

Tyvek envelopes are “indestructable”. Their protection ensures important or confidential documents arrive in good nick. They are suitable for sending financial and annual reports, contracts, personnal files, insurance documents, catalogues, medical reports, certificates and heavy or bulky items. Because they are lightweight, you save on postal costs too. They are also gentle on the environment – recyclable, they are made from 100% HDPE fibres.

Tyvek envelope sizes

Paperstone stock Tyvek envelopes in the following sizes

• 250x176mm
• 254x381mm
• 318x326mm
• 324x229mm
• 330x254mm
• 343x250mm
• 381x254mm
• 406x305mm

What is Tyvek?

Tyvek is a brand of synthetic material used in a number of applications including waterproof covering, construction and lovely Tyvek envelopes. It is also used in medical packaging contexts because it is 'breathable': water vapour can pass through Tyvek but not liquid water. Tyvek is formed by the random and nondirectional distribution of very fine high-density polyethylene fibres. First the fibres are flash spun, then laid as a web on a moving bed and finally bonded together by heat and pressure. Technicians can vary the production processes, producing, for example, harder or softer Tyvek.

Tyvek was discovered at DuPont by a researcher there, Jim White, in 1955. It was first used for commercial purposes in 1967.

Tyvek is manufactured at the Spruance plant in Richmond, Virginia, and in Luxembourg.

Who are DuPont?

DuPont is a large American chemical company, second in the world in size only to BASF, The company was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill in Delaware by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont who had raised the capital in his home country, France. He and his family had fled France two years previously to escape the French Revolution.

DuPont grew very quickly as a gunpowder supplier and provided as much as half of the powder used by the Union Army during the American Civil War. In the twentieth century, the company diversified into chemical research and manufacture. Some of the chemicals DuPont worked on though not necessarily invented – and with which you might be familiar – include:

• Cellulose in the early decades of the twentieth century (e.g. early film)
• Teflon, 1930s (non-stick frying pans)
• Nylon which they invented in 1935 (tights)
• Lycra, or “spandex”, 1960s (leggings)
• Kevlar, 1960s (bullet-proof jackets); and
• Tyvek, 1955 (yippie!!)