How many pallets does a roll of stretch film wrap? Film use and cost per pallet

Why per pallet, not per roll

Two rolls with the same price can wrap a very different number of pallets: one may be shorter, thinner or applied with less stretch. What you really pay for is the film that ends up on each pallet. Once you know that figure, comparing films, suppliers and wrapping methods becomes simple.

The quickest method: weigh it

1. Weigh a full roll.
2. Wrap ten typical pallets with it, the way you normally do.
3. Weigh the roll again. The difference, divided by ten, is your film use per pallet.

From there:

• Pallets per roll = net film weight of a full roll ÷ film use per pallet
• Film cost per pallet = film use per pallet (kg) × price per kg of film

Weighing captures everything at once: the number of wraps, the overlap, the stretch and the operator's habits. Repeat it when you change the film, the wrapping settings or the operator. To find the net film weight of a roll, see roll length and weight.

Estimating before you wrap

To compare options on paper, calculate in three steps.

1. Film on the load (m) = number of wraps × pallet perimeter

Count the wraps at the base, the spiral wraps up the load and the extra wraps at the top. For the spiral: load height ÷ (film width − overlap).

2. Film taken from the roll (m) = film on the load ÷ stretch factor

The stretch factor is how many metres of film on the load come from one metre on the roll. You can measure it: draw two marks 10 cm apart on the film before it is applied, and measure them again on the wrapped pallet. If they are now 25 cm apart, the stretch factor is 2.5.

3. Film weight (g) = metres taken from the roll × width (m) × thickness (µm) × 0.92

The last step is the roll weight formula, with 0.92 g/cm³ as the density of polyethylene stretch film.

Worked example

A 120 × 80 cm pallet (4.0 m perimeter), loaded to 1.5 m, wrapped with 50 cm film at 50% overlap: 3 wraps at the base, 6 spiral wraps (1.5 m ÷ 0.25 m) and 2 at the top, so 11 wraps and 44 m of film on the load.

In this example machine wrapping uses about a third less film per pallet, even with a thicker film, because the wrapper stretches the film much further. At the same price per kilogram, the cost per pallet follows the same ratio.

What changes the result

• Number of wraps: each extra wrap adds film. It also adds holding force: in a 2025 laboratory study (Tkaczyk et al., Sensors) the holding force grew in a straight line with the number of wraps.
• Overlap: more overlap means more spiral wraps.
• Stretch: the further the film is stretched, the fewer metres you take from the roll. Pre-stretched film and wrappers with powered pre-stretch make the biggest difference here.
• Thickness and width: they set the grams per metre.
• Load size: a taller load or a larger pallet needs more film.

The European Commission's cargo securing guidelines (2014) list the same settings (stretch, overlap, number of wraps, wrapping speed, roping and film type) as the factors that decide how rigid a wrapped load is. Cutting film use is only a saving if the load still arrives intact.