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Industrial shrink wrap and the pallet film people mean by it

Searching for pallet shrink wrap? What goes round a pallet is almost always stretch film. Shrink film needs a heat gun or a tunnel.1 We supply stretch film only, and these pages exist so you can tell in a minute which of the two your pallets need, and what to ask for if it really is shrink. If nobody on your dock owns a heat gun, you want stretch film.

Ask for a quote on pallet film
Rows of stretch-wrapped pallets of cartons staged in lanes outside a warehouse dock
Stretch-wrapped pallets staged at a dock: what most people mean by pallet shrink wrapIllustrative image, generated; not a photograph of our stock

Pick your question

Three pages, three searches.

  • Shrink wrap rolls

    Which roll you actually need

    Pallet stretch film, heat-shrink film and heavy boat wrap all get sold as shrink wrap rolls.

  • Pallet shrink wrap

    What holds a pallet

    Why the film round a pallet is stretch film, and when shrink covers make sense.

  • Shrink pallet covers

    Five sides, sealed with heat

    When a cover beats stretch film, and when it doesn't.

Why we only supply stretch

One kind of film, done properly.

Shrink film belongs with sealers, tunnels and heat guns, which we don't sell. Pallet stretch film needs only a dispenser or a wrapper, and it is what most warehouses actually use. Knowing one product well beats selling two badly.

The one-line test

How does it tighten?

Stretch film or shrink film
Tightens by its own pullStretch film. Wrapped by hand or on a wrapper; no heat.
Tightens when heatedShrink film. Needs a heat gun or a heat tunnel.
Stretches in useHand film 25 to 100%; machine film 150 to 350%.

If the case label shows a width, a length in feet and a gauge, and the roll sits on a cardboard core that fits a hand dispenser, you are holding pallet stretch film whatever the invoice called it. Rolls labelled centrefold, tubing or polyolefin belong on a packaging line, and very wide white or blue rolls cover boats and scaffolds.

Stretch film can't go through a heat tunnel, and shrink film won't hold a pallet without heat.1 That's the whole difference that matters at the dock. The full comparison goes further, and the hand film page has the roll most people are after.2

Sources

  1. Industrial Packaging, "Difference between shrink and stretch film" (reviewed 2026-11-13)
  2. Colony Packaging, "4 differences between stretch film and shrink film" (reviewed 2026-11-13)

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

Ask for a stretch film quote

Not sure which film you have? Describe how it goes on, by hand, on a turntable or with heat, and we will tell you.

  • Step 1 asks what you need, how much a month, the delivery ZIP and how to reach you
  • Step 2 asks the film, the width and the gauge; skip what you don't know