How much stretch wrap a pallet takes

The method

1. Distance round the load. Add the four sides. A 48 by 40 inch pallet is 176 inches round, about 14.7 feet.
2. Turns. Base turns + top turns + the climb. The climb is the load height divided by how far each pass rises, which is the film width less the overlap.
3. Film on the load. Turns x distance round.
4. Film off the roll. Film on the load ÷ (1 + stretch). Film stretched 100 percent puts two feet on the load for every foot off the roll.
5. Pallets per roll. Roll length ÷ film off the roll.

A worked example, by hand

This is arithmetic on example settings, not a promise about your loads. Take a 48 by 40 inch pallet, the load 60 inches tall, wrapped by hand with an 18 inch roll, overlapping each pass by half (so each pass climbs 9 inches), with three base turns and three top turns.

• Climb: 60 ÷ 9 = about 7 turns. Total: 3 + 7 + 3 = 13 turns.
• Film on the load: 13 x 14.7 ft = about 191 ft.
• Stretch by hand: say 50 percent, inside the 25 to 100 percent hand film manages.¹ Off the roll: 191 ÷ 1.5 = about 127 ft.
• A 1,500 ft roll² ÷ 127 ft = about 11 pallets a roll.

The same pallet on a machine

On a turntable with a 20 inch roll, a 50 percent overlap climbs 10 inches a pass, so the climb is 6 turns and the total, with the same base and top, 12 turns: about 176 feet on the load. At 250 percent stretch, which one listed machine film is rated to,³ that is 176 ÷ 3.5, about 50 feet off the roll. A 5,000 foot roll would then cover about 100 such pallets. Machine film runs 150 to 350 percent on a powered carriage,¹ so your figure could be well above or below that.

From pallets to a monthly quantity

Multiply pallets a day by working days, divide by pallets per roll, and round up. Add a margin for wasted tails, roll changes and the occasional load that needs more. That figure, rolls or cases a month, is the one we quote on. If you would rather not do the sums, send pallets a day and the load size in the request and we will work it out with you.

Where the estimate goes wrong

The sum assumes every load is the same size and gets the same wrap, which is rarely true. Three things push real use above it. Operators wrapping by hand vary a great deal: one may stretch the film twice as far as another on the same pallet. Odd loads, such as tall racks of parts or short single tiers, take more or less than the typical one. And waste adds up: tails cut long, a roll dropped and damaged at the edge, the last few feet left on a core. Compare the estimate with what you actually opened last month before trusting it.

Weighing instead of counting

For a quick check on a turntable, weigh a full roll, wrap a set number of loads, and weigh it again; the difference divided by the number of loads is film per pallet by weight. A roll's weight and length on its label turn that into feet. It is a simple way to compare two films, or two wrapper settings, on the same loads without doing any geometry.

What cuts the figure

On a wrapper, more pre-stretch, the right overlap and no unnecessary top turns. By hand, steady tension and a lighter or pre-stretched roll. In both cases, measure containment force after the change: the cheapest pallet is the one that arrives intact, not the one with the least film on it.

Related: 20 in x 5,000 ft machine rolls and how buying works.

Budgeting for the year

Film use follows shipping volume, so a year's budget starts from the shipping forecast. Multiply forecast pallets by film per pallet, convert to rolls, and price it on the latest quote. Add a line for seasonal peaks, which often bring rushed wrapping and more waste, and for any change of film you plan to trial. Review the figure each quarter against what was actually ordered; a gap that grows usually points at a wrapper drifting out of adjustment or a new product line that takes more film.

Hand docks

Without a counter, track cases opened per week against pallets shipped. A sudden rise means someone has changed how they wrap.

Converting feet to pounds

Some buyers think in pounds of film rather than rolls, because film is priced by weight at the mill. A roll's label weight divided by its length gives pounds per foot; multiply by feet per pallet to get pounds per pallet. Using the listed machine roll as an example, about 32 pounds for 5,000 feet is roughly 0.0064 pounds per foot, so 50 feet off the roll is about a third of a pound.

Tails, starts and roll ends

Each pallet starts with a few feet tied on and ends with a tail; a careless operator can waste several feet on both. Over hundreds of loads, trimming tails to a hand's length saves a surprising number of rolls each quarter.

Questions readers ask

Our estimate says 11 pallets a roll; we get 7. Why?

Usually less stretch than assumed, more turns than counted, or long tails. Watch a few loads being wrapped and count turns; that tends to explain the gap at once.

Does pallet size change much?

Yes. A 48 by 48 inch pallet is 192 inches round against 176 for a 48 by 40, so each turn uses about 9 percent more film. Taller loads add turns.

Is it worth weighing the film per load?

For a machine running hundreds of loads a week, yes: a small change per load adds up across a year, and weighing is the simplest way to see it.

Should we count film on returned or rewrapped pallets?

Yes. Rewraps after inspection, damaged loads re-stacked and returns rebuilt all consume film that a shipping forecast misses; a dock with many rewraps can see its real use run well above the estimate.

Facts on this page last reviewed 2026-11-13.