Plain-English definitions of the stretch wrapping terms that come up when you buy or run pallet wrapping equipment. Bookmark it, and if a term you need isn't here, just ask us.
Stretch film. A thin, elastic plastic film (usually polyethylene) tensioned around a pallet load to hold it together for storage and transit. Also called stretch wrap or pallet wrap. See our stretch film options.
Gauge. A common measure of stretch film thickness in the US. Higher gauge means thicker film, though modern high-performance films hold more with less gauge. More in our gauge chart.
Mil. A unit of film thickness equal to one thousandth of an inch. As a rough rule, gauge divided by four gives mils (80 gauge is about 0.8 mil).
Micron. A metric unit of film thickness (one thousandth of a millimeter). About 25 microns equals roughly 1 mil.
Cast film. Stretch film made by the cast extrusion process: clear, quiet to unwind, with good cling. The most common machine film.
Blown film. Stretch film made by the blown process: stronger and more puncture-resistant for heavy or sharp loads, but louder to unwind and hazier.
Cling. The tackiness that makes film stick to itself so wraps hold. Most films cling on one side so wrapped pallets do not stick to each other.
Core. The cardboard tube at the center of a film roll. Machine film cores are sized to fit a wrapper's film carriage.
Machine film. Film on longer rolls with machine-sized cores, engineered to be power pre-stretched. See stretch film.
Hand film. Film on shorter rolls for manual wrapping with a handheld dispenser. Best for low volume and touch-ups.
Pre-stretched film. Film stretched during manufacturing so it arrives lighter and easier to apply by hand with less effort and waste, without a machine.
Turntable wrapper. Rotates the pallet on a spinning table while a film carriage travels up and down. Best for standard, stable loads. See turntable wrappers.
Rotary-arm wrapper. Keeps the pallet stationary while a powered arm carries the film around it. Best for very heavy, very light, or unstable loads. See rotary-arm wrappers.
Semi-automatic wrapper. The operator loads the pallet and attaches the film, then the machine wraps automatically.
Automatic wrapper. Attaches and cuts the film automatically, so the operator mainly stages pallets. Higher throughput than semi-automatic.
Inline wrapper. A fully automatic system built into a conveyor. Pallets flow in, are wrapped and cut with no operator, and flow out. See inline systems.
Film carriage. The part of a wrapper that holds the film roll and, on powered machines, pre-stretches the film as it travels up and down the load.
Roping. Gathering film into a rope to add localized holding force, often around the base of a load for extra stability.
Containment force. The total holding force the film applies to a load, from film tension and the number of wraps. It is what actually keeps a pallet stable, more than film thickness.
Pre-stretch. Stretching film before it reaches the load. Powered pre-stretch can reach about 250 percent, so far less film is used per pallet than hand-wrapping. See reduce film cost.
Necking (neck-down). When film narrows into a band as it stretches. Some is normal; excessive necking reduces coverage and containment.
Tailing. A loose tail of film left at the end of a wrap cycle. Consistent cut-off and attachment prevents tails that snag or unravel.
Unitizing. Combining individual cases into a single stable unit load on a pallet, which stretch wrapping accomplishes.
Wrap pattern. The programmed sequence of wraps (base wraps, up-and-down travel, top wraps, reinforcement) that balances load security against film use.
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