Films made of HDPE are noted for their characteristic rustle and milky colouring and they are odourless.

By adding colour concentrates a lot of colour variants can be achieved and by means of additives films with the desired properties can be produced. Unlike LDPE films, their structure is duller, their strength is higher, they are hazier, and they are not shrinkable. The thermal endurance of HDPE films is from −50 °C up to +110 °C. Under everyday conditions of use HDPE films are resistant to most chemical substances, they do not cause corrosion of the products packed in them, and they can be welded. They have minimum permeability of water vapours and smells, and they transmit oxygen, fats, and aromatic substances in a very limited amount. Generally, HDPE films are more chemically resistant, which is given by their structure.
In the natural variant, HDPE films are suitable for direct contact with foodstuffs, the colour variants only if the pigment content is within the concentration defined by the producer. HDPE films are environmentally unobjectionable and recyclable, and they can be disposed of in landfill or by combustion in which no substances harmful to the environment are released.