With all the different Stretch Films available on the market it can be tricky to know which one is the best for your pallet. Follow our guide as we unpack the types of Stretch Film.
So, you’re looking to wrap a pallet? Well, the first thing you’ll need (aside from a pallet) is Stretch Film. There are several different Stretch Films to pick from and choosing the right one for your application is essential to ensuring proper load containment and the safety of your product and others on its shipping journey.
Well, we’re here to give you a helping hand with our guide to the different types of Stretch Films.
What is Stretch Film?
Before we get into the nitty gritty, what is Stretch Film? To put it simply, Stretch Film is a plastic film, like what you use to cover food, but much stronger. It’s used to wrap products onto pallets and keep them secure in transit, so that they and other products don’t get damaged. Film can either be applied by hand or an automated pallet wrapping machine.
Hand Stretch Films are best suited for small volume applications, up to around 10 pallets per day. They typically come in smaller rolls, so they are lighter and less strenuous for the operator. Machine Stretch Films are designed to fit an Automated Pallet Wrapping Machine, so are a lot larger to limit the need for roll changeovers.
The efficiency of hand pallet wrapping should be regularly weighed up against the potential benefits of upgrading to an Automated Machine, to ensure you’re operating as productively as possible. Monitor the output of your pallets, and if you’re wrapping more than 10 per day with a high likelihood of increasing, an automated solution may be more suitable for your business.
Types of Stretch Film
If you’ve started looking into a Stretch Film solution, it would look like there are a million and one options to choose from. However, at their core, they’re nearly all based on two types of Stretch Film, Blown and Cast.
Blown Film is a hi-tack, robust Stretch Film that’s best used for heavy or irregular loads. It’s tear and puncture resistant, has a high load and stretch capacity, and a higher degree of memory once stretched, so your packages stay more secure.
Cast Film on the other hand, is a high clarity Stretch Film, ideal for scanning barcodes through or seeing the contents of the pallet. Unlike Blown Film, it doesn’t have any tack but instead ‘clings’ to itself, like cling wrap making it much quieter while wrapping. Cast Film is also typically lower in price than an equivalent sized Blown Film.
You can also get a Pre-Stretch variation of both Blown and Cast Film, that has all the same properties of the conventional films but is stretched close to its breaking point before being wound onto rolls. This makes it much easier and less strenuous for the operator when wrapping a pallet by hand, while achieving the same outcome.
Specialty Stretch Films
There are so many possibilities of what could be packed onto a pallet, so naturally, specialised films have been developed to meet those different customer needs.
Ventilated Stretch Film
Due to the nature of Stretch Film, once wrapped around the pallet it doesn’t allow any airflow to come through to the products. While this is okay for a lot of products, it isn’t ideal when wrapping items such as fruit and vegetables, bakery goods, or even timber.
A Ventilated Stretch Film can be applied and secure you pallet like a conventional Stretch Film but has a grid of holes to allow oxygen to flow through to the products on the pallet once wrapped.
Eco-friendly Stretch Film
Stretch Film is one of the biggest generators of plastic waste in a warehouse and with the push from consumers to be more environmentally conscious, a growing number of businesses are looking for ways to make it more sustainable. To help your business reduce their environmental impact, Signet stock a variety of Eco-friendly Stretch Films.
Our Blown Enviro Stretch Film is made from 100% recyclable polyethylene and contains 20% plant-based plastic produced from sugarcane. Our Blown PCR Film contains 30% Post Consumer Reclaimed material, in line with the requirements of the National Packaging Convenient, APCO.
UV Stretch Film
For pallets of goods, such as bricks and tiles that get stored outside, standard Stretch Film can often start to deteriorate and affect the load containment of the pallet. This poses a risk to safety, both while the pallets are being stored and when they eventually need to be moved. UV Stabilised Stretch Films contain additives that protect them from deteriorating when pallets are stored outside.
Questions to ask yourself when choosing a Stretch Film
Still unsure on where to start? We’ve put together some key questions to help you in choosing the best Stretch Film solution for your pallet.
- What type of cargo needs to be packed? i.e. shape, weight and type of load
- Does your pallet already have stability? i.e. does the load have the potential to fall without pallet wrap? are all the cartons the same shape/size?
- Does the load have sharp or protruding corners?
- Are there any special requirements? i.e. UV resistance? Ventilation? Sustainability? Freezer storage?
- Are you wrapping the pallet for transport or storage?
- Are you using a machine or wrapping by hand?
Choosing a Stretch Film is one small step in your shipping journey, but an important one to ensuring the safety of your products and others throughout the supply chain.
Ready to get wrapping? Browse our range of Hand and Machine Pallet Wraps or reach out to our team by calling 13 7446, emailing sales@signet.net.au, or Live Chat with us at www.signet.net.au.
