Stretch film, explained.

Stretch film is a thin, highly elastic plastic film, usually made from LLDPE, that is stretched around goods and holds them together as it tries to return to its original length. It keeps pallets stable, clean and tamper-evident during storage and transport.

Hand stretch film comes in small, light rolls that people apply by hand; machine stretch film comes in larger, heavier rolls made for pallet wrapping machines. Both are usually LLDPE; the differences are roll size, core, how far the film is stretched and how it is applied.

Pre-stretched film is stretch film that has already been stretched, typically by 300–500%, during rewinding, before it reaches the user. It is thinner and lighter, takes far less effort to apply and uses less film per pallet, but it has little stretch left, so it suits standard loads better than very sharp or irregular ones.

Coreless stretch film is wound without a paper core, so the whole roll is usable film. It removes the cost and waste of cores, makes rolls lighter to ship and to dispose of, and is usually applied with a simple reusable handle or dispenser.

PE stretch film is a polyethylene film made to secure pallets and bundles. PVC cling film is a thin, clear film made from polyvinyl chloride, used mainly to wrap food. They are different materials for different jobs, and PVC cling film, as a food-contact material, has to meet food-contact legislation.

Yes. Stretch film is polyethylene, marked with recycling code 4 (LDPE), and can be recycled where used film is collected clean and separately from other materials. New packaging rules in the EU and Türkiye push in the same direction: less packaging, recyclable packaging and responsibility for the packaging you place on the market.

Slit stretch film is ordinary stretch film cut into narrow rolls. Narrow rolls are easier to handle on small, long or round products (profiles, cables, hoses, pipes) and are used for bundling and surface protection, from building-product plants to car workshops.

Most stretch film is clear, but black, white and coloured films exist for good reasons: hiding and protecting the load, colour-coding pallets or showing a brand. Colour also affects how easily the film can be recycled.

Most film breaks start at the load (sharp corners and edges), in the roll (nicks, damaged edges, flaws) or in the settings (too much force or pre-stretch). Poor cling usually comes from cold, very fresh or badly stored film. Check the load, the roll and the settings, in that order, before you change the film.

Fasten the film to the pallet, wrap the base several times so the load is locked to the pallet, spiral up with an even overlap and finish with extra wraps at the top. The holding force comes from the film's tension and the number of layers, so the right number of wraps depends on the load. For loads that travel by road, machine wrapping gives far more holding force than wrapping by hand.

The fastest way to find out is to weigh: weigh a roll, wrap ten pallets, weigh it again and divide. To estimate before you wrap, multiply the number of wraps by the pallet's perimeter, divide by how far the film is stretched, and convert metres to grams. Compare films by cost per pallet, not by price per roll.

Stretch film is applied cold: it is stretched around the load and holds it as it tries to contract. Shrink film is applied loose and then heated, so that it shrinks tightly around the product. Stretch film is the usual choice for pallets; shrink film is used for retail packs and for some pallet loads such as bricks, where it is applied as a hood and heated.

A coreless roll has a hole where the core would be. By hand, it is used with a reusable handle or dispenser that fits into that hole, so the roll is easy to hold and its last metres can be used too. On pallet wrapping machines, a reusable adapter takes the place of the core. Match the handle or adapter to the roll's inner diameter and the whole roll can be used.

Pre-stretched film saves film and effort when pallets are wrapped by hand or on simple wrappers. It is not the right tool for holding heavy or unstable loads together by hand, and it is not meant for wrappers with powered pre-stretch, which stretch conventional machine film themselves. Choose by the load, the wrapping method and the cost per pallet.

Pre-stretch is given as the percentage by which the film gets longer: at 250%, one metre of film from the roll becomes 3.5 metres. To check it, draw two marks 10 cm apart on the film before it is stretched and measure them again afterwards. Measure whenever you change the film or the settings: the stretch decides how much film each pallet uses.

A stretch hood is a film sleeve, smaller than the load, that a machine stretches and pulls over the pallet; stretch wrap is film wound around the load in layers. Hoods are fast, fully automatic and protect well against the weather, but each load size needs its own hood. Stretch wrap adapts to almost any load, by machine or by hand.

A wrapped pallet is tested by pushing it sideways with a known force, usually 0.5 g, and measuring how far it deforms. The European guidelines describe a tilt test and two acceleration tests; the pallet-level acceleration test follows EUMOS 40509. A pallet passes if it springs back within set limits and nothing is damaged.

Stretch film counts as plastic packaging, so plastic packaging taxes and recycled-content rules apply to it. The UK taxes plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content, Spain taxes the non-recycled plastic in single-use packaging, Türkiye charges a recovery contribution per kilogram, and from 2030 the EU will require 35% post-consumer recycled content in most plastic packaging. Check the details for your country with an advisor.

Store stretch film indoors, away from sunlight and moisture, at about 10–30 °C and 25–60% relative humidity, and use it within a year. Let it adapt to the room where it will be used for at least 24 hours. Cold film is stiffer and stretches less, and very fresh film may not cling fully yet.

Cling is what makes the layers of stretch film stick to each other. It can be built into one side of the film, both sides, or both sides at different levels. One-sided cling film keeps neighbouring pallets from sticking together, but the cling side must face the load. You can find the cling side by sticking the film to itself.

Standard stretch film is not UV-resistant: in sunlight it yellows, weakens and loses its cling and stretch. UV-stabilised film contains an additive that slows this down, and producers state protection for about 9 to 12 months outdoors. Clear UV film protects the film itself; to protect sun-sensitive goods too, use an opaque UV film.

Stretch film is one of the handiest materials for a move: it keeps drawers and doors shut, bundles loose parts and protects surfaces from dust and scratches. Clean and dry everything first, and never wrap wood, antiques, leather or upholstery directly: put blankets or paper underneath so that moisture is not trapped.

For light bundling, a narrow roll of stretch film is often the simplest choice: it clings to itself, covers and protects the surface and leaves no adhesive residue. Straps are cheap and very good at stopping loads from tilting, but they need corner protection and plastic straps lose tension over time. Tape closes boxes but can leave residue on the goods. Heavy loads often need film and straps together.

Slit rolls are cut from a jumbo roll into equal widths: a 50 cm jumbo roll gives 25, 16.6, 12.5 or 10 cm rolls and so on down to 5 cm. As a rule, the thinner and rounder the item, the narrower the roll. A handle or dispenser that fits the roll's core makes narrow film faster and easier to apply.

Cast and blown stretch film are made from similar polyethylene on different production lines. Cast film is cooled quickly on a chilled roll, which makes it clear and quiet and lets the line run up to about four times faster; blown film is inflated into a bubble and cooled by air, which makes it tougher and more resistant to punctures.

Modern stretch film is co-extruded in several layers, so that each layer can do a different job: cling on the outside, strength in the core. Layer counts have grown from three to dozens; a "nano" film is one in which most layers are thinner than one micron. More layers allow thinner, tougher film, but the materials and the line matter as much as the number.

A stretch film rewinding machine unwinds the large jumbo rolls that come from film producers and rewinds the film onto smaller rolls ready for sale, in the length, weight and core size the market needs. Depending on the model it can also slit the film, pre-stretch it or wind rolls without a core.

A stretch film rewinding machine makes rolls of stretch film; a stretch wrapping machine uses those rolls to wrap pallets. They sit at different points of the same chain: film production, then rewinding into sellable rolls, then wrapping at the end user.

A semi-automatic rewinder winds the film by itself, but at every roll change an operator has to cut the film, take off the finished roll and fit a new core. A fully automatic rewinder does all of that on its own, without stopping. The difference shows in output per shift, labour, roll consistency and price.

Start from the rolls you want to sell, not from the machine: the roll type, the widths, your volumes and the jumbo rolls you can buy decide which rewinder fits. Then compare speed, tension control, core sizes and after-sales support, and look at the total cost, not only the price.

The net film weight of a roll is length × width × thickness × density. With LLDPE's density of about 0.92 g/cm³, a 50 cm wide, 20 µm film weighs about 9.2 g per metre, so a 300 m hand roll holds about 2.8 kg of film. The formula lets you compare offers and check what you are actually buying.

Thickness decides how many metres of film you get per kilo, how well the film resists punctures and what it costs per pallet, but it does not decide on its own how well a load is held. Film quality and how far the film is stretched matter just as much.

Theoretical hourly and monthly output of Öncümak's rewinding machines, with every assumption behind the figures, and the factors that make real production higher or lower.

A rewinding business buys jumbo rolls from film producers, rewinds them into the rolls its market buys and sells them under its own name. To start, you need customers who buy a clear set of roll types, a steady supply of jumbo rolls and cores, a rewinding machine that matches those rolls, a 400 V three-phase supply, storage space, trained operators and simple quality checks.

The jumbo roll decides what your finished rolls can be. First check that its width, weight and thickness fit your machine; then look at cast or blown film, cling, stretch performance and roll quality. Buy to a written specification, inspect every delivery and run a trial before you order in volume.

Stretch film is sold by weight, so the price of a roll comes down to how many kilograms of film it holds and what each kilogram costs. The cost per kilogram depends on the raw material, the film grade and any extras such as colour, UV protection or recycled content; the roll format and the order size add to it. Compare offers by the price per kilogram of net film and by the cost per pallet, not by the price per roll.