Thickness Conversion for Gauge to Mil to Micron

Industrial packaging suppliers are accustomed to different terms for describing the thicknesses of plastic products. To help navigate the differences and thickness conversion factors, here is a quick breakdown of the terminology, what it means, and how to convert it quickly.

What is Gauge (ga)?

This unit of measure is most commonly recognized for wiring. When it comes to packaging products, the rule of thumb is that the higher the gauge, the thicker the product. But don’t make the mistake of assuming the higher the gauge, the stronger the product. With increased innovations and multi-layered films, the hot term “down-gauging” has allowed customers to save big on thickness conversion by taking advantage of cutting-edge technologies.

What is Mil (mil)?

This is probably the easiest unit of measure to understand, as a mil is 1/1,000th of an inch.  Common household products like zipper-closure lunch bags will be about 1.5-2 mils thick, but your construction-grade trash bags might reach 4 to 6 mils thick.

Converting from mils to gauge is easy – just multiply the mil thickness by 100. For example, a 2 mil thick bag has a gauge of 200.

What is Micron (mu)?

Where mil is a US measurement, micron is a metric unit of measure. To convert gauges to microns, divide gauge by 4. To convert microns to millimeters, divide microns by 1000.

Thickness Conversion Chart

Sometimes you just need a quick conversion chart to see the difference between mils to gauge, or gauge to mils. Check out the following chart as a quick reference guide.

For further clarification and to fully understand what a thickness conversion means for your problem or goals, contact Colony Packaging & Machine. We’ll talk about multi-layer film, overall strength/containment properties, and more.

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