What is "bubble wrap"

n. Cushioning material consisting of small spheres of air trapped in plastic, sold on long rolls for tearing off, and used as packaging for fragile items.

__NOTOC__ Bubble wrap is a pliable transparent plastic material used for packing fragile items. Regularly spaced, protruding air-filled hemispheres (bubbles) provide cushioning for fragile items.

"Bubble wrap" is a generic trademark owned by Sealed Air Corporation. In 1957 two inventors named Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes were attempting to create a three-dimensional plastic wallpaper. Although the idea was a failure, they found that what they did make could be used as packing material. Sealed Air Corp. was co-founded by Alfred Fielding in 1960.

The term is used generically for similar products, such as bubble pack, bubble paper, air bubble packing, bubble wrapping or aeroplast; Sealed Air denotes its product as a brand of "cushioning material".

Bubble Wrap (originally Air Cap) is a trademarked brand of Sealed Air Corporation that includes numerous cushioning products made from bubble wrap. The brand is produced by the Product Care division of Sealed Air. Both the Bubble Wrap brand and product were introduced in 1960, with the launch of Sealed Air. Although the brand was originally used for the packaging of IBM computers, Sealed Air now does most of its Bubble Wrap business in the food packaging industry.