Primer on Shrink Wrapping

Our latest blog post is a quick primer on shrink wrapping and the full line of equipment Sealer Sales offers for shrink wrapping.

Shrink wrapping is an ideal solution for many types of products in a whole host of industries.  Shrink wrapping provides your package with a crystal clear tamper proof package while protecting your product from moisture and dust.

Shrink wrapping a product

• Provides a protective barrier from dust, moisture, fingerprints, etc
• Provides products with a professional and factory fresh appearance
• Bundles products together if selling multiple items as a set

What is Shrink Wrapping?
Shrink wrap is a plastic film that you can wrap around any object.  Heat is then applied to the surface (via heat gun or shrink tunnel), which causes the plastic to shrink. As it shrinks, it conforms to the shape of your object and seals itself.

How to Choose a Shrink Wrapping Machine?

Sealer Sales carries a full line of shrink wrapping systems (L-Bar sealers and shrink tunnels) to help you with your shrink wrapping needs.  When it comes to choosing the right machine, there’s a few easy questions to answer to help us identify which machine will work best for your application.

• What are you packaging? Will this be a retail or industrial application?
• What are the dimensions of your package – length x width x height?
• What is the weight of your package?
• What is the speed you need? Think of how many packages you will need to run.
• What type of shrink film will be used?
• What is the gauge of the shrink film?

Download our shrink wrapping machine survey which has a complete list of questions you will want to answer.  Answering these questions will help us identify the appropriate shrink wrapping system and film for you.

How to determine the right film size?

• Measure the width and height of your product and add 5-10% to the measurement.  This provides you with your minimum shrink bag width.
• Measure the length and height of your product and add 5-10% to the measurement. This provides you with your minimum shrink bag length.
• For shrink film (usually sold as centerfold film), take the smallest figure of the two to determine the shrink film size needed.
• If the size you needs is not available, a larger size can be used because shrink films will shrink up to 40% in all directions

Having these measurements will also now help you what size shrink wrapping machine will work for your product.

We carry a wide variety of machines from the starter units to more automatic systems.   See our comparison guide below of our most popular machines.

Table-Top L-Bar Shrink Wrapping
An L-Bar sealer are designed with two sealing sides which allow you to seal and cut centerfold shrink film in one step.  Our table top L-Bar sealers (YC-series and W-series) are both easy to use.  The L-bar sealers are ideal for small production sizes such as start up businesses. Once you seal your package closed using an sealer, you will need either a heat gun or shrink tunnel in order to complete the shrink wrapping process.

Combo Shrink Wrapping Units
Our combo shrink wrapping units allow you to seal and shrink with one machine.  This is ideal for smaller foot print locations which cannot accommodate larger units.  Our combo units will tend to be a little slower than our other free-standing L-bar sealers.  Please note most of our larger machines will require 220V.  Our SS-48ST unit is a combo unit that is offered in 110V voltage for smaller facilities that do not have 220V available.  Please note that we always prefer 220V for shrink tunnels as this will allow the machine to be more productive and efficient.

Free-Standing Semi-Automatic L-Bar Machines
Our free-standing L-Bar Combo machines will be the most efficient and quickest way to shrink wrap.  We recommend these machines for heavier duty applications.  Our free standing machines are equipped with a dual magnet hold down which removes operator error when correct seal and cool times are selected.  A power discharge conveyor will push the product into the shrink tunnel once sealing process is completed.