Category Archives: Packaging

U.S. Packaging & Wrapping to Sell Polyethylene Sheeting

Posted on by Standard Respond

We are excited to add a large variety of polyethylene sheeting to our product line. Poly sheeting is often referred to as “Visqueen” or even plastic drop cloths. They are used by a variety of packaging, industrial, agricultural, and construction companies.

Polyethylene is the most common plastic available. It differs from the PVC and Polyolefin shrink wrap we sell. Polyethylene comes in a large variety of forms in the world we live in. The different forms of polyethylene are referred to as the density of the polyethylene. High density (HDPE), medium density (MDPE), low density (LDPE), and linear low density (LLDPE) are the most common polyethylenes.  Below are a couple of examples of different products made with polyethylene.

High density polyethylene- Garbage containers & milk jugs

Medium density polyethylene- gas pipes & heavy duty shrink films

Low density polyethylene- Plastic Bags & Poly Sheeting

Linear low density polyethylene- Saran Wrap & Stretch Film

We already sell a large amount of linear low density polyethylene products. The main product we sell that uses LLDPE is our stretch film products. Our polyethylene sheeting uses a low density polyethylene. The low density polyethylene does not have the amount of stretch the LLDPE does.

This lack of stretchability makes the plastic drop cloths more durable and thicker. All of our poly sheeting comes in thicknesses of 2 mil up to 6 mils thick. The thicker poly sheets are commonly used in construction settings for vapor barriers and lining. The other poly sheeting thicknesses are used for painting drop cloths and covers to protect products.

We offer a large selection of widths available as well as custom made products upon request. All of our poly sheeting rolls come with with our quantity based pricing starting at 5 rolls. Call our sales department at 1-800-441-5090 Ext.45 for details.

 

Perforated Shrink Film and Meat Film to Wrap Food Trays

Posted on by Standard Respond

In all supermarkets and stores around the country food products are placed on trays and wrapped for display, storage, and protection. Normally the products being wrapped are wrapped with a clear plastic wrap to allow easy display. Different foods and consumable product trays are wrapped with different plastic wraps. These plastic wrap vary in width, thickness, color, and other specifications. In this post we will look a couple consumable food trays and what type of shrink film or plastic wrap they are commonly wrapped with.

Meat Trays- These are probably the most common trays that everyone can easily recognize. Every deli or meat section offers meat placed on a Styrofoam tray and wrapped with a plastic film. Some deli’s and butchers differ on the type of film they choose to wrap their meat with as well as the way they wrap the meat.

Most use a plastic wrap with a heat tray to heat the bottom of the meat film. This low heat helps the film to stick together and provide a better seal. Some deli’s and butchers simply use a cling film to wrap their meat products. The extra cling is supposed to help provide the seal to protect the meat and prevent liquids from spilling out of the tray.

Normally the type of film supermarkets and butcher shops use for this is a meat film. The meat film has cling, but is often used on heat pads to apply heat and allow the film to stick together. Sometimes a perforated cling film is used if the trays are of uniform size. The perforated film offers perforated edges on a specified length throughout the roll. This allows for easier and more efficient film cutting.

Produce Trays- Produce trays are not as common as meat trays, but they can be found in produce sections and front isle displays of supermarkets. Many supermarkets will offer a mixed produce tray. These will have a variety of different fruits on a tray, then wrapped with a plastic film to protect and display the produce. Another common produce tray is ears of corn that have already been shucked. Supermarkets often offer these trays of corn in packs of three or five ears of corn.

Many supermarket use a meat plastic wrap for the produce trays as well. This helps save on costs because the meat film is clear and often cheaper than the alternative. The other film used for wrapping produce trays is a produce plastic wrap. The produce film has a green tint to it to help protect the product from light and allow it to last longer. The produce film is a great option for supermarkets, delis, and farmers markets that are wrapping a large amount of produce trays. Another great option for wrapping individual product objects is perforated shrink wrap. Our perforated shrink wrap is food safe and made for wrapping food items. It has a low shrink temp to provide quick and efficient wrapping.

If you have any questions about the food wraps mentioned in this post, feel free to contact us. We offer a variety of sizes and thicknesses as well as quantity based discounts for your order. Call us at 1-800-441-5090 Ext.1 for sales.

 

Using Stretch Film To Bundle Fire Wood

Posted on by Standard Respond

With winter around the corner, all of our customers that sell firewood are beginning to start cutting and bundling. We sell a large variety of stretch film products to different firewood companies. Some firewood companies we sell too palletize large quantities of wood on pallets that have steel racks too hold the wood in place. Most of the firewood companies we sell too split wood and bundle small quantities together for retail sales.

With this being the time of year for wood production, our calls have increased. Many of those calls are re-orders from past customers, but some of them are from new customers. These new customers are often new to the firewood business and have a large variety of questions about which stretch film products to use for their firewood. We actually sell a multiple products to different firewood companies to help them with production. Below is a brief explanation of the different products we sell that work great for firewood production.

Bundling Stretch Film- We consider bundling stretch film any stretch film between 2″-5″ width. We offer a large variety of thicknesses depending on the size and weight of  the firewood bundles. This is by far the most used product by our firewood customers. It is commonly used to wrap bundles of wood for retail use. The picture to the right comes to us compliments of Burnswell Firewood. It is a great display of how to properly use bundling film to bundle a large amount of firewood. They choose to use a 90 ga. bundling stretch film. The 90 ga. costs a little more than a lighter gauge, but offers good stretch, tear resistance, and a great hold.

Extended Core Stretch Film- We offer our extended core stretch film in widths of 5″-20″. The extended core is essentially a built-in handle on the stretch film roll. The majority of the firewood companies we sell the extended core film to are running machines. The extended core stretch film comes on a smaller core than the 3″ bundling stretch film core. Several of our customers say the extended core stretch film fits their bundling machines perfectly.

Vented Stretch Film- Airflow & Wrapnet  are for our clients that sell wood in large quantities at one time. They normally palletize the wood in advance and then ship it away upon request. The reason they prefer the airflow pallet wrap or the Wrapnet pallet wrap, is because both products allow the wood to breathe after being placed on a pallet. This means they can load wet wood on a pallet and it will dry after being stabilized with pallet wrap. Regular stretch film lock the moisture in and does not allow the wood to dry.

The primary difference between the Airflow pallet wrap and the Wrapnet pallet wrap is the material they are made from. The airflow pallet wrap is a stretch film with multiple holes to allow ventilation after products have been wrapped. It offers stretch and tear resistance like a normal stretch film. The Wrapnet pallet wrap is not a stretch film and does not offer stretch. It is made from a mesh material that offers more ventilation than the Airflow, but no stretch.

If you have any questions about the products mentioned in this post or would like to place an order, feel free to contact us at 1-800-441-5090 or visit us online at www.shrinkwrapandstretchfilm.com.

Eco Freindly Shrink Wrap, Void-fill, & Stretch Film Options

Posted on by Standard Respond

Environmentally friendly packaging options should be considered if they are cost effective and perform as well as other options. There are a variety of environmentally friendly options that perform as well as other packaging option available. Let’s look at a few of these options, and how they can possibly save on packaging costs while reducing harm to the environment.

Void-Fill Options

Companies use multiple void-fill materials when shipping products. Common void-fill materials are bubble wrap and packaging peanuts. Bubble wrap is commonly made out of polyethylene plastic that has a very slow breakdown process. Polyethylene is used for a variety of packaging materials and plays major roles in everyday life, but reduction in the use of this plastic helps to lessen harm to the environment. Packaging peanuts are commonly made from polystyrene foam that is also very slow in the break down process. The good news is there are other void-fill options available!

Recycled Kraft paper is a great void-fill substitute for bubble wrap. Kraft paper can also be close to the same cost or less than bubble wrap. Some companies prefer added cushioning to protect their products from shifting during transport. We recommend using an indented Kraft paper for added cushioning if needed. If packaging peanuts are preferred, there are a large variety of starch peanuts that have been introduced to the market. These starch peanuts are made from corn starch and offer a rapid break down process that makes them extremely environmentally friendly. Starch packaging peanuts are often close to or slightly higher than the price of virgin packaging peanuts. Another option to starch peanuts is recycled packaging peanuts instead of virgin peanuts.

Bundling & Load Protection Options

Different companies choose to do different things when bundling multiple products together or unitizing large product loads. We recommend using a micron of a hybrid stretch wrap. Traditional stretch wrap is thicker and uses more plastic resin than the new hybrid and micron stretch wraps. They are strong stretch films that use less plastic, therefore reducing environmental harm. They are available in a variety of strengths and widths. Widths range from 2 inches up to 80 inches wide. The 2-5 inch bundling wrap works great for bundling 2-5 products together for shipping. Wider films are ideal for unitizing larger book loads for shipment or storage.

These are only a few environmentally friendly options to packaging supplies and material available that are cost effective and work well. Everything from tape to boxes should be considered to help preserve our environment.

Protect Books From Shipping & Storage Damage

Posted on by Standard Respond

Preserving Books for Shipping and Storage

For shipping or storing valuable or important books, preservation and damage protection are important. Many book owners and companies selling books of value feel it is important to preserve books from exterior elements. These elements can vary depending on the situation. We are going to look at some ideas for protection and preservation in shipping and storing books of value.

Shipping

When shipping books of value long distances or across town, choosing the proper container is a great starting point. We recommend a corrugated box slightly larger than the book or books being shipped. Many people prefer to ship in boxes that fit snuggly around the books corners. Boxes that fit snuggly around the book will eliminate the need for void-fill, therefore save in cost.  When concerned with packaging costs this is a great option; but if the box corners become damaged the book corners will more than likely be damaged as well. We recommend a slightly larger size of box for books of value. We suggest using void fill and cushioning coupled with slightly larger box to provide extra protection for books of value.

A standard 200 lb. corrugated box approximately 1-3 inches larger than the book on all sides is recommended. This allows room to wrap the book in a protective cushioning. A common recommended cushioning is bubble wrap or foam. Once the book is wrapped in the proper cushioning, a good void-fill is needed to prevent the book from shifting in the box during transport. One of the most well known void-fill products are packaging peanuts. Peanuts do not pack tight enough and can still allow shifting that can possibly damage book corners. We recommend white newsprint with no ink on it or Kraft paper. If you really want to provide great protection, indented Kraft paper is a little more expensive but provides extra cushioning. Be sure to pack plenty of void-fill in the box before sealing to prevent shifting.

Storage

When storing books of value, the exterior elements differ from shipping. Common exterior elements to consider when storing are moisture, dust, and light. We recommend a heat shrink wrap film to protect from moisture and dust. Shrink films are affordable, easy to use, and do a great job in protecting from moisture and dust.

When protection from light is a concern there are several options to consider. Boxes are an easy and affordable way to reduce light intrusion after being shrink wrapped for storage. Another option that some of our clients use to reduce light intrusion is opaque stretch film. This is a plastic stretch wrap (commonly white or black) that cannot be seen through and protects from UV rays after two complete wraps.

There are several methods and products to protect books of value. The main issues that need to be considered when trying to preserve valuable books begin with exterior elements. If you can protect the books from those elements they will last longer and offer the ability to be enjoyed for years to come.

How Shrink Wrap Can Save Your Business Money

Posted on by Standard Respond

In the past we have highlighted several uses and benefits of the shrink wrap products we offer. One thing we have not broken down is the way shrink wrap can help save you business money. We get calls from companies all the time who are looking for shrink wrap to help reduce their packaging costs.

Many companies use boxes to bundle items together for shipment or retail sales. Many of our clients ship out orders that have multiple packages bundled together. These items can range in size and shape, so they put all of the items in a box or band the items together. Shipping all of the items together in one load helps to reduce shipping costs and allows customers to get all of their orders at once. The issue is that boxes are expensive, especially the bigger boxes.

We are going to use some simple math to show the difference in cost from using corrugated boxes vs. shrink wrap. We always tell customers to bunch the packages together, measure the length from the tallest point down, and then measure the circumference of the all of the packages together.

Stacking the boxes can be useful as well, but bunch them together if you have to. If you stack the boxes on top of each other, measure the circumference of the boxes stacked on top of each other, then the length of the longest box laying down. Out to the right is a great example of two boxes that need to be shipped out together to save on shipping costs.

Measurement for Shrink Bags- The circumference of the boxes stacked together is 40 inches around them and the length of the bottom box laying down is 20 inches. Add 10% to the circumference then divide that number by two. 40×10%=4+40=44/2=22,  Which would be 22. That will be the width of shrink bag you need. The length needed will be the 20 inches of the longest box laying down plus 10%. 20×10%=2+20=22, so 22 inches is the length of the shrink bag needed. For this shipment that weighs less than 40 lbs. a 22×22 inch 100 gauge shrink bag will be needed.

Measurement for Box- We will use the same example of the picture to the right. To measure for a box we need the length, width, and depth. The length is the length of the box laying down which is 20 inches. The width of the box on the bottom is 11 inches. The depth is measured from the top of the two stacked boxes to the bottom, which is 9 and a half inches. A 20x11x10 box will be needed for placing the two products in the box and shipping them together.

Cost Breakdown- To bundle and ship the two example boxes together using a corrugated box would be approximately $1 per 20x11x10 corrugated box. To use a shrink bag to send the same example shipment it will be approximately $.40 per 22×22 shrink bag. Using shrink products costs less than half of what it costs to use a corrugated box.

Another great advantage to using a shrink bag for bundling products together is the fact that shrink bags offer up to a 40% shrink rate. That means you can send out shipments that are smaller than to ones we measured and the shrink wrap will still shrink and conform to the shipment.

Call us if you have any questions, 1-800-441-5090