30 ms·

This is Metacelsus (co-author). Parafilm is really quite fascinating. If anyone knows what the 'M' stands for, I'd be very excited to learn!

kurthr 4y ago
I think that the M stands for Medium (or perhaps moisture controlling?), because there is an eXtreme version X that is thicker and for harsher environments. I only know of it, because it was more difficult to use (stretch) if someone bought the wrong stuff. We used it in chem/clean rooms for decades since it doesn't develop static charge (as badly as cling wrap). Neither deals well with high temperatures or solvents.
- Metacelsus 4y ago
  Hmm, I've never heard of Parafilm X and it doesn't show up in any searches. Do you have a link to it?
  - kurthr 4y ago
    Interesting! Well, it was over 20 years ago so I guess things have changed (or my memory is just fallible). I've found (only M on Aldrich) some floral stuff and a history(1) that claims nobody knows what M stands for. It looks like the product (but not the factory that makes it in Wisconsin?) has been sold a bunch of times since the mid 90s to early 00s I last remember. 1) yours! Damn, lost in the mists of time. It's still used by SEM eBeam folks so I'll ask around the old coworkers.
    - fuzzfactor 4y ago
      This has all the signs of a loss of corporate knowledge. I don't think anybody is going to find type X any more, and you may very well personally have a better recollection of its previous existence than anybody working at the factory any more. You never know. This factory has changed hands so many times over the decades, always as a small part of a larger portfolio since it was acquired the first time, there's no way it could have been as prosperous as possible the whole time. I can only imagine there was some executive, maybe even an engineer who knew everything about every product, who had to cut back production of everything but the single best-selling type for financial reasons at some point. Maybe back when M, X, and who knows how many other types, had a well-known meaning across the factory. And all knowledgable parties involved now long retired decades ago, and the company/factory changing hands so much with all kinds of shareholders, none of them capable of making more of it than it already was.
      - kurthr 4y ago
        I gotta ask around just to confirm I'm not crazy. Post a comment on your history, if I find anything.

kurthr 4y ago

I think that the M stands for Medium (or perhaps moisture controlling?), because there is an eXtreme version X that is thicker and for harsher environments. I only know of it, because it was more difficult to use (stretch) if someone bought the wrong stuff. We used it in chem/clean rooms for decades since it doesn't develop static charge (as badly as cling wrap). Neither deals well with high temperatures or solvents.

Metacelsus 4y ago
Hmm, I've never heard of Parafilm X and it doesn't show up in any searches. Do you have a link to it?
- kurthr 4y ago
  Interesting! Well, it was over 20 years ago so I guess things have changed (or my memory is just fallible). I've found (only M on Aldrich) some floral stuff and a history(1) that claims nobody knows what M stands for. It looks like the product (but not the factory that makes it in Wisconsin?) has been sold a bunch of times since the mid 90s to early 00s I last remember. 1) yours! Damn, lost in the mists of time. It's still used by SEM eBeam folks so I'll ask around the old coworkers.
  - fuzzfactor 4y ago
    This has all the signs of a loss of corporate knowledge. I don't think anybody is going to find type X any more, and you may very well personally have a better recollection of its previous existence than anybody working at the factory any more. You never know. This factory has changed hands so many times over the decades, always as a small part of a larger portfolio since it was acquired the first time, there's no way it could have been as prosperous as possible the whole time. I can only imagine there was some executive, maybe even an engineer who knew everything about every product, who had to cut back production of everything but the single best-selling type for financial reasons at some point. Maybe back when M, X, and who knows how many other types, had a well-known meaning across the factory. And all knowledgable parties involved now long retired decades ago, and the company/factory changing hands so much with all kinds of shareholders, none of them capable of making more of it than it already was.
    - kurthr 4y ago
      I gotta ask around just to confirm I'm not crazy. Post a comment on your history, if I find anything.