Choosing the Right Stretch Wrap

It's time to pack and ship your products, and you're unsure which stretch wrap is right for you. Have no fear-- Mr. Shrinkwrap is here! Whether you are packaging products to ship or wrapping equipment for storage, with the proper guidance in this article, you will be able to choose the very best stretch wrap for the job-- ensuring a safe transit for your products, limiting the amount of wrap used/money spent on each pallet or job, and providing maximum safety and efficiency for your company's employees.

What Is Stretch Wrap Gauge ?

Gauge is a measure of a stretch wrap’s thickness. Generally, the higher the gauge, the higher its resistance to breakage. General purpose 80-gauge wrap is the industry standard, and can secure loads up to 2,400 lbs.

Higher gauge wraps tend to be more expensive, but are thicker and do not need to be wrapped around as many times on a job.

Gauge can be converted into mils, microns or other units. Here is a conversion chart:

Popular Stretch Wrap Gauges

37 Gauge: A pre-stretch wrap suitable for light, uniform loads of up to 800 lbs

60 Gauge: A light true-gauged film suitable for light to medium loads up to 1,600 pounds.

80 Gauge: A versatile, medium-duty true-gauged film for loads up to 2,400 pounds. This is the most common stretch film thickness.

100 Gauge: A heavier-duty true-gauged film that can hold loads up to 3,000 pounds. Machine stretch wrap in this gauge can be used to wrap pallets of heavy, irregular objects such as steel beams or 55-gallon drums.

150 Gauge: A heavy-duty true-gauged stretch film for extremely heavy loads, loads with many sharp points or corners, and heavy irregular objects that may shift during transit. Typically must be machine-applied to achieve proper tension.

Types of Stretch Wrap

• Pre-Stretched Stretch Wrap has been mechanically stretched prior to rolling, so it is thinner than its true-gauged equivalent. Pre-stretching 80-gauge film results in a 37-gauge pre-stretch film. This creates a lighter wrap, but with a similar hold to its true-gauge counterpart.
• True-Gauge Stretch Wrap has not been pre-stretched. The thickness it has afte the extrusion process is the thickness it has on the roll.
• Hand Films are great for small shipping and containment applications, and can be used to bundle items, or hold items in place on a pallet. A single operator can wrap a pallet with hand film in just a few minutes by stretching the film while walking around the pallet. Hand wrapping is typically ideal for those who unitize less than 10 pallets per day, have decentralized warehousing or need a backup to powered stretch wrapping equipment.

• Opaque/Product Concealing Wraps are completely solid in color, not clear or tinted. These wraps provide privacy, conceal shipments, and help to prevent theft.
• Corrosion Inhibiting Wraps protect shipments that are prone to corrode from moisture.
• Anti-Static Wraps protect shipments that contain sensitive electronics from static discharge.
• Machine Film is used with powered stretch wrapping equipment. There are several different types of powered stretch wrapping equipment available today. The most common are rotary spiral pre-stretch machines. The Rotary Spiral Pre-Stretch machine wraps the pallet load in a spiral fashion using film widths of 20” or 30”.
• Colored/Tinted Stretch Film is used to organize and identify pallets and products.

Things to Consider When Choosing Your Stretch Wrap

• The weight of the load. The heavier the load, the stronger your stretch wrap gauge will need to be.
• The shape of the load. Uniform loads, such as pallets of same-size boxes, require less holding power and durability (and a lower gauge) than highly irregular or unstable loads with lots of sharp corners and edges.

• Do you and your staff have the proper tools and training? Large, heavy, and oddly shaped items that require high-gauge stretch wrap may require the use of stretch-wrapping machines in order to be wrapped safely and efficiently. These machines unfortunately are not typically cheap, and you want to make sure that any staff using such machines is properly trained in order to maximize the machine's benefits and prevent any workplace incidents. (For wrapping of any kind, proper training is also highly recommended to save money long-term; if an employee is over-using stretch wrap on each load, or using a thicker and more expensive wrap than is needed, over time these costs will add up!)
• Do my products have special needs? Some products need added protection from one thing or another, and this needs to be put into consideration when wrapping. For example, certain electronics might benefit from anti-static wraps, and more expensive products may benefit from opaque wraps to better conceal their value. Consider everything before finalizing your stretch wrap purchase.
• Do I need a stretch wrapping machine? You will need to evaluate your shipping volume, staff size, and product types in order to answer this question. There are all types of machinery you can purchase to help apply your stretch wrap thoroughly and efficiently. Certain large, bulky, and oddly shaped products will highly benefit from the uniform tension of machine-applied stretch wrapping.

It is not an easy nor risk-free decision to choose and purchase the right stretch wrap for your company. If you are still undecided, have additional questions, or are in conflict between a few options, don't hesitate to call Mr. Shrinkwrap today at 800-847-5290. At Mr. Shrinkwrap, we care about our customers and want you to use the very best solution for your company's individual needs!