Shrink wrap rolls: which roll you actually need

Three rolls, one name

"Shrink wrap roll" is used for at least three different products, and the search results mix all of them.

1. Pallet stretch film

The clear, clingy roll on a cardboard core that a warehouse worker walks round a pallet with, or that a turntable wrapper runs. It holds the load by its own elastic pull and never sees heat. It stretches 25 to 100 percent by hand and 150 to 350 percent on a powered carriage.² The common hand roll is 18 inches by 1,500 feet at 80 gauge, four to a case;³ the common machine roll is 20 inches by 5,000 feet.⁴ If your search was about pallets, this is your roll.

2. Heat-shrink film

Film that is loose when it goes on and tightens when heated: the clear skin over a multipack of bottles, a sleeve round a printed product, a sealed bundle from an L-bar sealer and tunnel. It comes as centrefold rolls and tubing, not as pallet rolls, and it is used on a packing line rather than at the dock. Stretch film cannot replace it, because stretch film can't go through a heat tunnel.¹

3. Heavy shrink wrap for boats and buildings

Thick, wide rolls, often white or blue, that are draped over a boat, a machine or a scaffold and shrunk tight with a propane heat gun. It is a covering for things that stay outside for a season, not a pallet wrap.

How to tell from the roll in your hand

Pull a foot of film off the roll. If it stretches easily and clings to itself, it is stretch film. If it barely stretches and doesn't cling, it is shrink film, and it will need heat to tighten. Look at the core too: stretch hand rolls sit on a 3 inch cardboard core that fits a standard dispenser.

Sizes on the label

The three products are labelled differently, which helps. Pallet stretch rolls give width, length and gauge: 18 in x 1,500 ft x 80 ga, say. Heat-shrink film for a packing line is usually described as centrefold or tubing, with a flat width, a thickness in gauge or mil, and a footage; it is often polyolefin or PVC as well as polyethylene. Boat and construction shrink wrap comes in very wide rolls, sold by width and length with a mil thickness several times that of pallet film. If the label says centrefold, tubing or polyolefin, it is not a pallet roll.

Ordering the right one

If your question is really about pallets, the roll to ask for is a stretch roll, by its spec line: width, length, gauge, cast or blown, and how many cases or pallets a month. Mention the loads and whether you wrap by hand or by machine. If you need the heat-shrink kind for a packaging line or for covering equipment, we are the wrong supplier; a packaging distributor that sells sealers and tunnels will help.

Why the names got mixed up

Both are clear polyethylene films, both end up tight round a product, and plenty of catalogues file them side by side. Industrial Packaging, which sells both, puts the difference simply: stretch film holds by tension and is wrapped by hand or machine; shrink film is shrunk with heat.¹ For a pallet, that settles it. If you do need true shrink film, for covers or for a line, see shrink pallet covers; for everything else, stretch wrap rolls are written up by spec.

What each one costs to run

A pallet stretch roll needs nothing but a dispenser or a wrapper. Line shrink film needs a sealer to close the bag or sleeve and a tunnel to shrink it, plus electricity and floor space on a packing line. Boat and building wrap needs a gas heat gun, fuel, strapping, vents and a trained installer. Matching the roll to the job also means matching the equipment, and the equipment is usually what decides which film a site can use. If the search began because of price, check that the cheaper roll doesn't need a machine you don't have.

Polyolefin, PVC and polyethylene

Line shrink films are mostly polyolefin, a clear, strong film that shrinks evenly, or PVC, which is cheaper but gives off fumes when sealed. Heavy covers are polyethylene. Pallet stretch film is polyethylene too, made to stretch rather than shrink.

Buying for a mixed site

A business that both bundles products on a packing line and ships pallets will need two suppliers or one broad distributor: line shrink film with its sealer and tunnel parts on one side, stretch rolls on the other. Keep the purchase codes distinct, label the storage racks, and train receiving to tell the cartons apart, because a case of centrefold shrink film delivered to a wrapping station is a morning lost. Our part is the stretch side, quoted on monthly quantity.

Hand-held heat tools

Small electric heat guns shrink sleeves on single products at a bench; propane torches are for big covers. Neither is needed for pallet stretch film.

Questions readers ask

Can we buy small quantities of shrink film from you?

No. We supply stretch film only. If your need is true shrink film, a packaging distributor that sells sealers and heat tunnels is the right place.

Is "shrink wrap" on our purchase order a problem?

Not if the spec line describes a stretch roll. Correct the description when you next reorder so nobody is confused.

Does stretch film come in printed versions?

Printed and branded stretch film exists for marketing or security, usually in large minimum quantities. Ask if you need it.

Is heat-shrink film ever sold on 3 inch cores?

Some is, which adds to the confusion; the core alone doesn't settle it. The stretch test and the label do, and so does the invoice description from the manufacturer.

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