How To Choose The Right Stretch Wrap For Your Product
If you need to ship out a brand new product on a pallet, you're going to want to make sure that your product reaches its end destination safely. One way to do this is to use plastic stretch wrap, which is designed specifically to keep any items on a pallet safe and secure. However, there are more types of plastic stretch wrap than many people assume and you might find yourself overwhelmed when you're trying to choose one. In order to narrow down the number of wraps that you have to decide between, look at these three features.
1. What Gauge Wrap Do You Need?
If you're transporting something heavy, like bowling balls, you're going to want to get the higher gauge of stretch wrap, such as 80 gauge or higher. This is because the stretch wrap will be more durable and less flexible with a higher gauge, leaving less of a chance that your product will be able to become dislodged from the pallet. If you are transporting lighter items, such as small electronics that are mostly packed in boxes filled with packing peanuts, then you can get a lower gauge, such as 65 gauge and be fine. You want to decide which gauge you need before you make any final decisions because the higher the gauge, the more expensive the wrap is.
2. Do You Want a Handle?
If you are going to be applying the plastic stretch wrap by hand, you're going to want to make sure that you are able to apply it effectively. If you are wrapping medium or small items, you should be able to find a stretch wrap container with a handle that will make it easy to apply. If you are wrapping larger items, then you are going to want to possibly forego the handle. Looking exclusively for stretch wrap with a handle will limit the sizes of stretch wrap that you can purchase and force you to have to wrap smaller stretch wraps many more times, driving up the price and time of shipping your product.
3. Do You Want Pre-Stretched Wrap?
When you receive a normal, blown roll of stretch wrap, then you will have to stretch it yourself around your product. This can be tiring and time-consuming, but is manageable for smaller products. If you purchase the more expensive pre-stretched wrap, then you won't have to worry about stretching it and will be able to apply it easily. Pre-stretched wrap is excellent for extremely large items that would require a lot of force to stretch the wrap yourself.
It might be best to forgo manually applying the stretch wrap. Consider investing or renting a stretch wrapping machine. For more information, talk to a company like SIAT S.p.A.