A number of PVC's properties recommend it for a wide variety of applications. It is biologically and chemically resistant, making it the plastic of choice for most household sewerage pipes and other pipe applications where corrosion would limit the use of metal. It is also a suitable material for greenhouses, small home playgrounds, furniture, pool toy frames, foam weapons, custom truck toppers, or even giant building sets for kids.
With the addition of impact modifiers and stabilizers, it becomes a popular material for window and door frames. By adding plasticizers, it can become flexible enough to be used in cabling applications as a wire insulator. It is also used to make vinyl records.
Clothing
PVC has become widely used in clothing, to either create a leather-like material or at times simply for the effect of PVC. PVC clothing is common in Goth, Punk and alternative fashions. PVC is cheaper than rubber, leather, and latex and so it is more widely available and worn.
PVC fabric has a sheen to it and is waterproof. It is commonly used in coats, skiing equipment, shoes, jackets, aprons, and bags because of this.
Electric wires
PVC is commonly used as the insulation on electric wires; the plastic used for this purpose needs to be plasticized.
In a fire, PVC-coated wires can form HCl fumes; the chlorine serves to scavenge free radicals and is the source of the material's fire retardance. While HCl fumes can also pose a health hazard in their own right, HCl dissolves in moisture and breaks down onto surfaces, particularly in areas where the air is cool enough to breathe, and is not available for inhalation.[13] Frequently in applications where smoke is a major hazard (notably in tunnels and communal areas) PVC-free cable insulation is preferred, such as low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) insulation.
Pipes
PVC pipes in use with intumescent firestops at Nortown Casitas, North York, Ontario.
Roughly half of the world's polyvinyl chloride resin manufactured annually is used for producing pipes for various municipal and industrial applications.In the water distribution market it accounts for 66% of the market in the US, and in sanitary sewer pipe applications, it accounts for 75%.[15] Its light weight, high strength, and low reactivity make it particularly well-suited to this purpose. In addition, PVC pipes can be fused together using various solvent cements, or heat-fused (butt-fusion process, similar to joining HDPE pipe), creating permanent joints that are virtually impervious to leakage.
In February, 2007 the California Building Standards Code was updated to approve the use of chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) pipe for use in residential water supply piping systems. CPVC has been a nationally accepted material in the US since 1982; California, however, has permitted only limited use since 2001. The Department of Housing and Community Development prepared and certified an environmental impact statement resulting in a recommendation that the Commission adopt and approve the use of CPVC. The Commission's vote was unanimous and CPVC has been placed in the 2007 California Plumbing Code.
In the United States and Canada, PVC pipes account for the largest majority of pipe materials used in buried municipal applications for drinking water distribution and wastewater mains.
Signs
Polyvinyl chloride is formed in flat sheets in a variety of thicknesses and colors. As flat sheets, PVC is often expanded to create voids in the interior of the material, providing additional thickness without additional weight and minimal extra cost (see Closed-cell PVC foamboard). Sheets are cut using saw and rotary cutting equipment. Plasticized PVC bag is also used to produce thin, colored, or clear, adhesive-backed films referred to simply as vinyl. These films are typically cut on a computer-controlled plotter or printed in a wide-format printer. These sheets and films are used to produce a wide variety of commercial signage products and markings on vehicles, e.g. car body stripes.
Joining
PVC cements are available at plumbing supply houses. The cement softens the material to a gel state until the adhesive layer cures. This has another practical application of being able to hand-machine PVC pipe with a razor blade to change the wall thickness to allow assembly of nonstandard radius arc segments of electrical conduit large radius elbows. Buried PVC pipes in both water and sanitary sewer applications that are 4 inches (100 mm) in diameter and larger are typically joined by means of a gasket-sealed joint. In gasket-sealed jointing systems, an elastomeric gasket is seated in a groove within the bell (female end of pipe). When the spigot (male end) of the adjoining pipe is inserted into the bell, the gasket forms a positive seal that prevents leakage of fluid within the pipe and also keeps water and other contaminants from surrounding soils from entering the piping system. The most common type of gasket utilized in North America is a metal reinforced elastomer, commonly referred to as a Reiber sealing system.
Ceiling tiles
PVC ceiling tiles are an alternative ceiling tiles that are easy to install over any flat surface. They can be glued onto an existing ceiling with a reasonably flat surface.
Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride (uPVC)
Modern "Tudorbethan" house with uPVC gutters and downspouts, fascia, decorative imitation "half-timbering", windows, and doors
uPVC or rigid PVC is often used in the building industry as a low-maintenance material, particularly in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and in the United States where it is known as vinyl, or vinyl siding.[18][19] The material comes in a range of colors and finishes, including a photo-effect wood finish, and is used as a substitute for painted wood, mostly for window frames and sills when installing double glazing in new buildings, or to replace older single glazed PVC window. It has many other uses including fascia, and siding or weatherboarding. The same material has almost entirely replaced the use of cast iron for plumbing and drainage, being used for waste pipes, drainpipes, gutters and downspouts.
