Tag Archives: shrink bags

What is a Shrink Wrap Machine?

Posted on by Standard Respond

Most people interested in shrink wrapping know you must have a shrink wrap machine to shrink wrap products. What is a shrink wrap machine? Some people are unsure, some people think of the sealer and others think of the shrink tunnel as the shrink wrap machine. Both machines, the tunnel and the sealer should be considered a shrink wrap machine. They both work together to produce professional looking packaging that will protect products from dust, moisture, and tampering. As well as provide a see-through packaging to display the product.

Most shrink wrap operations require two shrink wrap machines to function. Below is a brief description of each element needed to properly shrink products for retail packaging.

Heat Sealer- Most all shrink wrap operations use a heat sealer to seal the open ends of the shrink wrap material. There are some exceptions when a sealer is not required or used, but most applications use a heat sealer. Shrink wrap sealers can come in a variety of sizes and forms depending on production needs. The two most common heat sealers are I-Bar sealers and L-Bar sealers. Below are pictures and descriptions of each sealer type.

I-Bar Sealers- These sealers are named I-Bar because of the single sealing bar they have. I-Bar sealers areI-Bar Shrink Wrap Machine found in many low output operations. There are high speed shrink wrap applications that use I-Bar sealers with shrink tubing and shrink bags. The single sealing bar works great for shrink bags and shrink tubing in high speed operations.

Shrink-Tubing-required-sealsea-here-shrink-bags

As you can see with the pictures, the single sealing bar works great with the tubing and the bags because they require a seal or two running in the same direction. The L-Bar sealer works great with the more common centerfold shrink wrap. See the description and pictures below for a better explanation.

L-Bar Sealers- These sealers cost more, but are often more efficient for higher speed production. The L-Bar sealer hasSealing-Bar L-B Shrink Wrap Machine two sealing bars in the shape of a backwards L. They are designed to seal centerfold shrink film rolls. The centerfold shrink film rolls are folded in half length ways. The product is placed in the crease of the fold and the other three sides need to be sealed. After the first seal, only two sides need to be sealed. The ending seal on the first product is the beginning seal for the next product.L-Sealer-Combo-Arrows

Product Placed in Centerfold Crease

Product Placed in Centerfold Crease

Heating Element- Once the shrink film is sealed, heat needs to be applied to the film to shrink it down to conform toShrink Wrap Heat Gun the product. Different shrink wrap materials require different heat temperatures. Most lower output operations use a heat gun to apply heat to their products. They are inexpensive, but not efficient when producing a high to moderate number of shrink wrapped products. For medium to higher output products, a shrink tunnel is recommended. The box on the left side of the picture above is the shrink tunnel. Shrink tunnels have a conveyor belt running through them to feed the products through. Adjusting the speed of the conveyor belt and the temperature of the tunnel is important to finding the proper shrink settings.

This post is only a bare bones article to explain and demonstrate what most shrink wrap operations need. As mentioned above, some products do not require a sealer. An example would be a candle maker using a shrink tubing. The candle is slid into the tubing, the tubing is heated and the ends are left open and not sealed. There are a large amount of variables when preparing a shrink wrap operation. Call us (1-800-441-5090) we would be happy to help you set up an efficient and cost effective shrink wrap operation.

Shrink Wrap Savings!

Posted on by Standard Respond

We always strive to offer the best available prices to our customers. We are now introducing a new shrink film specials section online for customers to take advantage of.  We have added several of our best-selling shrink films to this sections for customers to be able to buy and save by ordering online. All specials in this section are two roll specials. Most of our priceShrink-wrap-specials breaks begin at five cases. With the new specials section, customers can save when ordering two to four rolls of shrink film.

All of our shrink film rolls currently on sale are centerfold shrink rolls. Once we have more feedback from customers on specific sizes to add, we may add bags and tubing into the specials section  As always we still offer price breaks at 5 rolls, a quick call to our sales department or a quote request will give you a custom quote specific to your location and quantity you will be ordering.

If you have any questions about the products on special feel free to give us a call. If you would like a price quote for an order of any shrink wrap product over 5 or more products give us a call. We want to help you find the right products at the right price.

Shrink Bags – How To Choose

Posted on by Standard Respond

Many people have heard of shrink bags, but what are they and when are they best used? Shrink bags are common in a large variety of applications including: manufacturing, crafts, printing and publishing, and more. They work great for high and low output operations. In this post we will discuss some different shrink bags and when it may be beneficial to use them.

The most common type of shrink bag is a PVC shrink bag. The PVC stands for Poly Vinyl Chloride. PVC shrink wrap rolls, shrink tubing, and bags have played a large roll in the shrink film industry for years. It is a versatile film and offers manyDomed Shrink Bags After benefits. PVC film becomes harder and more crinkly after heat is applied. It works great with high speed machines. PVC shrink wrap also has a low required shrink temperature. It also offers a high shrink rate, in some cases up to 40%.

PVC shrink bags are used all over the world for a variety of products. One common and easily identifiable use of PVC shrink bags is on gift baskets. Almost any time you see a gift basket that has been shrink wrapped it is with the use of PVC domed shrink bags. Below is a short list of products that often use shrink bags for packaging.

Books

Magazines

Homemade Soap

CDs

DVDs

Gift Baskets

Boxes of Chocolates

Obviously these are not all of the uses for shrink bags, but some of the more common uses. Shrink wrap bags offer several benefits, two specific benefits are extremely helpful to appearance and efficiency.

One Required Seal

Shrink wrap bags only have one open end and only need one side sealed. For larger operations with fully automatic machines this is not an issue. For smaller operations with only an I-bar sealer, this means much much more efficient packaging. With a normal centerfold PVC or polyolefin shrink film three sides must be sealed. L-Bar sealers are made for this and work great, but small operations often can not afford L-Bar sealers. The less expensive I-Bar sealers work great, but you can only seal one side at a time. This is why we almost always try to get smaller start-up operations fit to a shrink bag. Bags help with less frustration and time spent making seals.

Consistent Fit

Once you find the right size of bag for your product, they offer a consistent fit every time. This helps to increase the packaging appeal to your products and allows a tighter and more uniform fit. A great option to have and consider when packaging products of the same size.

As mentioned above, there are several other benefits that shrink bags have to offer. The two we specified are the most common reasons for users to consider using shrink bags.

Types of Shrink Bags

As mentioned above, PVC shrink wrap bags have been the most commonly used shrink bags for years. One large drawback they have is not being able to come into direct contact with consumable products. If the PVC bags are used to package a consumable product, another form of primary packaging must be used.

Polyolefin shrink bags are becoming more and more popular. They offer some advantages over PVC bags. The main advantage they offer is the ability to come into direct contact with consumable products. Many bakeries and confectioners have waited for years for a polyolefin shrink bag to wrap consumable products in. The polyolefin shrink film has a different consistency than PVC film. It is a softer more pliable film. Because it does not contain chloride, it also puts off less odor when sealing and applying heat.

Cost

Both types of shrink bags are affordable compared to many other packaging applications. The exact cost depends  on the size and quantity ordered. The PVC shrink wrap bags are always less expensive than the Polyolefin bags. To offer an idea of the cost and cost difference between the two, below are the cost of a couple of sizes. The price is for a case containing 500 bags.

Polyolefin

4′x6′ Case of 500= $20 or .04 per bag

8′x12′ Case of 500= $42.70 or .085 per bag

PVC

4′x6′ Case of 500= $14 or .028 per bag

8′x12′ Case of 500= $31 or .062 per bag

We offer discounts for multi-case orders, but both types of shrink bags are reasonably priced with single case orders. If you have any questions about how to measure for shrink bags or questions about quotes, feel free to call us at 1-800-441-5090 or visit us online at www.shrinkwrapandstretchfilm.com

Shrink Wrap Instructional Videos

Posted on by Standard Respond

We want to apologize to our clients for the delay of our instructional videos. We have instructional video requests come in all the time from customers who want to know how to use certain products we offer. Currently we offer a lot of instructional text, diagrams, and charts, but a limited amount of “How to” videos. We feel the ability to educate, inform, and offer the proper products to our customers helps to set us apart from the competition.

We  have recently dedicated a team to put out informative videos on a weekly basis. They will begin with a large variety of instructional shrink wrapping videos. These videos are to inform, educate, and display the products we offer and show how they can protect and display our customers products.

This first video is an instructional video of how to wrap multiple products with a shrink wrap bag, an impulse sealer, and a heat shrink gun. Many of our clients want to shrink multiple products together and use the shrink wrap to hold the products to one another as well as display the products. You will see in the video that the shrink bags do just that as well as offer a professional look to the package. The next couple of shrink wrap videos will include: using shrink tubing to professionally wrap and seal books, &  using shrink tubing without a sealer to hold electrical wires in place.

What Heat Shrink Wrap To Use?

Posted on by Standard Respond

The shrink wrap products we sell include: PVC and polyolefin centerfold shrink wrap, shrink tubing, shrink bags, and perforated flat shrink wrap. All of these products come in different widths, thicknesses, and lengths.  To someone who is not familiar with shrink wrap and the variety of types, it can be overwhelming.

The majority of this entire blog has been dedicated to educating and informing our clients and potential clients of the variety of shrink wrap and packaging products available and using them properly and efficiently. This specific post will be dedicated to a specific set of problems a client was having and how the proper adjustments assisted in efficiency and a better overall shrink wrap experience.

We recently had a call from someone using small boxes for packaging their products and then shrink wrapping the box to help preserve the contents in it. It was a small scale operation not doing many boxes per day, but they were still having problems with efficiency.

Issue #1 The first efficiency problem they were experiencing was using an impulse sealer with a centerfold shrink wrap. L-bar sealers are by far more efficient and a better option for centerfold shrink wrap. The L-bar sealer allows sealing for all open sides of the centerfold wrap.

Issue #2 The impulse sealer being used was a flat wire impulse sealer. Flat wire sealers have their purpose, but not ideal for what they were being used for. Flat wire sealers seal the film, but do not trim excess film. They were having to seal all open sides of the film, then trim the excess film with scissors.

Issue #3 They were also using a lighter gauged PVC shrink wrap and experiencing seals opening up during the packaging process.

Issue #4 Another issue they were experiencing was ballooning from the shrink wrap. Once the seals were made and heat was applied the shrink wrap would balloon up and trap air.

Based on the information given to us we were able to help determine some solutions to the problems they were experiencing and offer other potential options.

Solution #1 There are a couple of different options to choose from with the first issue they were having. The first option would be to upgrade to an L-bar sealer. These vary in price depending on the type of output desired. The other option that is possibly cheaper if it works is opting for shrink bags. Shrink bags only have one open end and work great with an I-bar sealer.

Solution #2 The only option for this issue is to purchase a round wire impulse sealer. The flat wire sealers are great when you use them with shrink tubing or shrink bags and you want to separate the bag or tubing with a seal and not cut excess film. The round wire sealer is what they needed for sealing and trimming in one motion to help stay efficient.

Solution #3 A couple of options could be considered to address the third issue they were experiencing. A thicker shrink film could help to form a stronger seal. The other option is to have a thicker sealing wire on the impulse sealer. A thicker seal will be stronger and possibly allow the use of the same size of film without the busted seals.

Solution #4 Most all shrink wrap products experience ballooning without proper air vents. There are shrink wrap sealers that offer a hole punch to provide a vent hole on centerfold shrink wrap as it comes off the roll. Another option is using shrink bags with vent holes.

What did they do?

For the first issue they decided they were not producing enough products yet to justify a new L-bar system. They decided to use a shrink wrap bags with vent holes.

They did buy a new round wire impulse sealer. This enabled them to cut and seal the open end in one motion. It was also a fairly economic choice only costing approx. $150.

The new round wire sealer helped to address the third issue they were having with busted seals. They chose a round wire sealer with a thicker sealing wire to help gain a stronger seal.

The bags with vent holes helped to address the ballooning issue they kept experiencing and allow air to escape the film after heat was applied.

There are a variety of issues that can arise when shrink wrapping products. We like to think we can help with most issues, if you have any questions about any issues you may be having with your shrink products feel free to call us. You can reach us at 1-800-441-5090 or visit our website at www.shrinkwrapandstretchfilm.com

Protect Car Parts and Accesories From Shipping and Storage Damage

Posted on by Standard Respond

Protecting car parts from storage and shipping damage is important for businesses who resale car parts or individuals who want to preserve a variety of car parts and accessories. Many resellers find it important to use a packaging for car parts that will contain all of the screws, nuts, bolts, etc. Individuals and collectors like to use something to preserve car parts and accessories from exterior elements that may cause the parts to lose value. Along with the ability to preserve these parts, something that allows display of the parts is important as well.

Shrink wrap is a great option for both resellers and individuals looking for a way to preserve, contain, and display a variety of parts and accessories. Shrink wrap protects form exterior elements such as: moisture, dirt, and grease. It also offers an ability to display a variety of products.

Users can use centerfold shrink film rolls, shrink bags, or shrink tubing depending on the need. Shrink bags are great for products that include a variety of parts that need to be contained. All parts can simply be put into the shrink bag, the bag can be sealed, then heat applied to contain the parts and prevent them from shifting during transport.  Tubing works great for cylindrical shaped car parts and centerfold rolls work with most any parts or accessories.

Shrink wrap is easy to use and great for many car enthusiasts and resellers. It is a product that should be considered when preservation and display are important.