Plastic Lamp Shades

Vanessa Weber Interior Design Expert

Vanessa is a New York-based designer specializing in architectural lighting. Whether you are planning an event, want to illuminate your backyard retreat or simply need advice on what lamp to purchase for your bedroom, Vanessa will be more than happy to share her knowledge and expertise.

Updated 03/10/2022

Get away from the easily-breakable glass lampshades and give one of these plastic lamp shades a try. Versatile, hardened plastic is a smart and safe way to shade your lamps, of all sizes. In many styles and colors, there is sure to be a single shade, or set of plastic lamp shades, to meet your needs. Look in this collection and find one that is perfect for you.

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Our Picks

Plastic Clip On Lamp Shade

Latitude Run®

The drum shape of this plastic clip-on lamp shade is 17” round. Simply clip the shade on the bottom or top of a slightly larger shade. The shade is white and has a fitter to keep it in place.

Designer Advice:

This plastic lamp shade acts as a diffuser for lamps where the glare from the bare light bulbs hurts your eyes. When placed on the top of a drum shade, it also helps to reflect more light down to help with tasks like reading, knitting, or other handcrafts. It can also work at the bottom of a ceiling-mounted light fixture and cut light from overhead.

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Multi Colored Plastic Lamp Shades

Jutom

Five plastic replacement lamp shades come in this set. Each lamp shade is a different vibrant color: pink, orange, yellow, green and blue. The shades fit standard bulbs and are made with strong, sturdy and odorless plastic, which is not easily broken.

Designer Advice:

These plastic lampshades are 4” by 4.5 and would work well in a child’s bedroom or playroom. The primary colors are bold and bright and won’t fade. Attach the set to a floor or table lamp with five flexible arms, or add the shades to five different lamps throughout the room. Adds lots of the same colors to the decor scheme to create a cheerful space.

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Set of Two Plastic Lamp Shades

Poceacles

This set of two plastic lampshades comes as a DIY kit. Each kit includes metal frame strips, transparent connecting tubes, two bulb holders, and two sheets of shade covers. The shade sheets are connected with velcro strips. Choose from small, medium or large sizes.

Designer Advice:

Choose from 10 different color options and patterns for these plastic lampshades. Pink birds and butterflies sit alongside cherry blossoms on a white background for a pretty little girl’s room. The other patterns are suitable for fun and playful room designs. A set of black lampshades with muted tropical flowers would suit a sophisticated guest room.

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Black Plastic Lamp Shade

TOPOB

The steel frame on this plastic lamp shade creates a sturdy cage for the black acrylic covering. The shade measures 5.11” wide at the bottom, 3.5” wide at the top, and 4.75” tall. The inside of the shade is covered with a metallic bronze color.

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Plastic Lamp Shades for Torchiere Floor Lamp

GANAZONO

Five plastic replacement shades for floor lamps are included in this set. Each shade measures 5.5” by 3.5” and weighs less than half of one pound. They come in two color waves: jewel tones of green, cranberry, grape, navy, and white or neon tones of green, yellow, red, blue, and orange.

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Plastic Replacement Shades for Floor Lamps

Hortsun

This set of white replacement plastic lamp shades contains four shades for floor lamps. Two are bowl lamp shades, and two are horseshoe lamp shades. The bowl shade measures 10” by 4.72”, and the horseshoe shape is 5.7” tall.

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Plastic Lamp Shades

Buying Guide

Plastic lamp shades come with their own sets of advantages that are appealing to certain groups of people. For example, plastic lamp shades are more durable compared to paper-based or fabric lamp shades. Lamp shades made of plastic also come in more varieties in terms of color and design.

While the countless varieties mean you don't have to settle for something that is just "okay," your options can also be a source of confusion. Too many choices often lead to analysis paralysis. To make your shopping experience easier and more enjoyable, this article is going to help you by providing you with a buying guide for plastic lamp shades.

What types of plastics are used in lamp shades?

For many, the term plastic describes one type of plastic. In reality, there are plenty of plastic types and knowing the common ones will give you a better idea of the kind you want or need. The typical plastic types often used for lamp shades include:

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) - Less durable compared to other types of plastics, but very economical.
High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) - Very durable and resistant to strong chemicals. It's also easy to recycle, which is something to take note if you want something eco-friendly.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) - A very versatile plastic that can be very soft or very hard. The costs depend on how hard or soft it's made.
Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) - A plastic that can resist temperatures nearing 100 degrees Celsius. It's an excellent plastic type if you're worried about the heat generated by the bulb or simply worried about fire hazards.
Polypropylene (PP) - A plastic that is also very durable and comes with very low toxicity levels. It's even considered as a "food safe" material.

What purpose will your plastic lamp shade serve?

The primary purpose of your lampshade will also have a significant impact on what kind you need to get. There are two major categories for lampshade use. There's ambient lighting and task lighting.

The primary purpose of an ambient light is for providing overall lighting to a room. On the other hand, task lighting's primary purpose is to give you illumination to help you with a certain task (i.e., reading, sketching, writing).

If you're buying plastic lamp shades for ambient lighting, then you want the light to go out from the sides and top. This means that you'd want the plastic to be more translucent so more light can pass through. Also, you'd want a shape that won't direct most of the light downwards like a drum-shape or reverse empire.
If you want a plastic lamp shade for task lighting, then you'd want to block the light from going out from the sides and top. Instead, you want it to be redirected downwards. To achieve this, you'd want a lampshade that is more opaque. A dark-colored plastic on the outside and light-colored on the inside works even better. You'd also want a shape to help you direct the light to the bottom like the coolie, empire, and bell.