Industrial Stretch Film: The Definitive Guide

Stretch film is the cheapest item in the whole logistics chain and, at the same time, the one that decides whether a pallet arrives intact or opens up halfway through the journey. It gets little attention and even less credit, yet millions of pallets are wrapped with it across Europe every year. This guide gathers what our customers ask us every week: which type of film fits which operation, how many microns you actually need, what pre-stretch really means and at what point wrapping by hand stops making sense.

Fontanet Group has been supplying packaging and handling solutions for 14 years from Fraga, in Huesca, with a team of professionals who bring more than 30 years in the sector. In that time we have seen 30-micron film pulled by hand, the arrival of motorised pre-stretch and now European pressure to cut plastic. What sets this guide apart is that it treats film and machine as what they are: one single system. Choosing film without looking at the wrapper, or buying a wrapper without recalculating the film, is the most common way to lose money on pallet wrapping.

What is industrial stretch film?

Industrial stretch film is a linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) film that is stretched as it is applied around a palletised load. That is when its elastic memory comes into play: the film tries to return to its original length and pulls the load tight against itself. On top of that comes cling, the property that makes the layers of film stick to each other without tape or staples.

Its job is to stabilise the load through transport, storage and handling. A properly wrapped pallet does not shift when the lorry brakes, does not let a box slide out and keeps the contents clear of dust and moisture. It also acts as a seal of sorts: if someone opens the film, it shows.

It should not be confused with other packaging plastics. Shrink film needs heat to contract. Bubble film cushions impact, it does not restrain. And domestic cling film has nothing to do with any of this: not the gauge, not the strength, not the formulation. Industrial stretch film is made specifically for pallets, and the higher-performance grades use mLLDPE (metallocene polyethylene), which takes more stretch before it breaks.

Types of stretch film by application

There are four families on the professional market, and choosing between them is not a matter of preference but of how many pallets leave each day, what the load looks like and which machine is (or is not) on the floor. It is worth reading all four: it is common to discover you have been overpaying for years by using the wrong family.

Manual stretch film

Applied by hand, with or without a core dispenser. It is the logical choice for warehouses wrapping fewer than 15-20 pallets a day, and for retail, workshops and removal companies.

• Common widths: 450 and 500 mm; 100, 125 and 150 mm in mini rolls.
• Gauges: 15, 17, 20 and 23 microns.
• Roll weight: 1.5 to 2.5 kg, light enough to handle all day.
• Length: 150 to 300 m depending on width and gauge.
• Colours: clear, opaque black, white and colours for coding destinations.
• Core: 50 mm internal diameter, and 76 mm in some formats.

A practised operator wraps between 15 and 25 pallets a day. In its favour: almost no investment, no power supply needed, and you can wrap anywhere in the warehouse. Against it: 200 to 300 grams of film per pallet, tension that depends on the operator’s arm — and on how tired that arm is by mid-afternoon — and a result that is never quite uniform.

Machine stretch film

Formulated for stretch wrappers and pallet wrapping robots. This is the film of distribution centres, factories and warehouses above 20 pallets a day, or with a continuous production line.

• Common widths: 500 mm as standard; also 450 and 750 mm.
• Gauges: 12 to 23 microns, below manual film thanks to machine pre-stretch.
• Roll weight: 12 to 20 kg, to space out roll changes.
• Length: 1,500 to 2,500 m depending on gauge.
• Core: 50 or 76 mm internal diameter.

The real difference is not the film, it is the pre-stretch. The wrapper stretches the film between 150 and 300 % before it touches the load, so a 20-micron roll performs like a 35 to 60-micron one. Consumption falls to 80-150 grams per pallet, the tension is identical on the first pallet of the shift and the last, and the cycle takes one or two minutes.

In return you invest in a machine, give it floor space and service it periodically. Our machine film works with the stretch wrappers commonly found on the market, whatever the brand: all we need is the core diameter and the maximum roll dimensions your film carriage accepts.

Pre-stretched film

This is film that leaves the factory already stretched. The operator does not have to pull to tension it, only to walk it around the pallet. It solves one very specific problem: the repetitive strain of hand wrapping.

• Common widths: 430 and 500 mm.
• Gauges: 7 to 10 microns, far thinner because it is already stretched.
• Roll weight: 1.0 to 2.0 kg.
• Length: 300 to 600 m, more metres than conventional manual film despite being thinner.

It goes on with a fraction of the effort, weighs less in the hand, does not make the characteristic noise of film being stretched and uses considerably less plastic per pallet. Its limit shows on very heavy or awkwardly shaped loads, where holding power falls short of a well-applied 23-micron manual film. The price per roll is somewhat higher, but the cost per pallet wrapped usually comes out lower.

Macro-perforated film

Stretch film with regular perforations that let air circulate through the load. In fresh produce it is not an option, it is a requirement.

• Perforation: regular holes that ventilate without compromising film strength.
• Common width: 500 mm.
• Gauges: 17, 20 and 23 microns, slightly heavier to compensate for the holes.
• Available in manual and machine versions.

The reason is the cold chain. A pallet of fruit wrapped in continuous film becomes a sealed box: chilled air never reaches the centre, the moisture the produce gives off stays inside and condensation follows. With macro-perforated film the cold passes through and the pallet cools evenly. The trade-off is obvious: less of a barrier against dust and outside humidity, and no air-tightness at all.

Comparison: manual, machine, pre-stretched and macro-perforated

Technical specifications: what to check before you order

Stretch film comes down to a handful of parameters that set its performance and its real cost. Knowing them avoids the most expensive mistake in the trade: buying on the price of a roll instead of the cost per pallet wrapped.

Microns: the gauge

The micron measures film thickness. The industrial range runs from the 7-8 microns of ultra-thin pre-stretched film to the 35 microns of the most demanding loads. The two gauges that cover most operations are 17 and 23. The rule is simple: the heavier the load and the more edges it has, the more gauge you need.

• 7-10 microns: pre-stretched, light and regular loads.
• 12-15 microns: machine film on regular, well-stacked loads.
• 17-20 microns: the all-round range, the one that handles almost everything.
• 23 microns: heavy loads and long journeys.
• 30-35 microns: extreme loads and products with cutting edges.

Widths

Mini rolls of 100, 125 and 150 mm are for bundling product, partial restraint or protecting corners. For a full pallet, the manual standard is 450 and 500 mm, and on machines the reference width is 500 mm. The 750 mm width is for large-format loads and wrappers set up for it. Unless there is a reason to move away from it, 500 mm gives the best balance of coverage and price.

Roll weight and autonomy

Manual: 1.5 to 2.5 kg. Pre-stretched: 1.0 to 2.0 kg. Machine: 12 to 20 kg. That weight translates directly into autonomy: a machine roll of around 16 kg lets you run dozens of pallets before stopping to change it. On a line working at pace, every roll change is machine downtime, so the big roll is not a luxury.

Stretch capacity

Stretch, or elongation, is how far the film lengthens before it breaks, and it is the factor that weighs most on the economics of wrapping. Unaided, an operator stretches film around 30-70 % depending on strength and technique. With a braked dispenser, roughly 50-100 %. With motorised pre-stretch, the machine works in a controlled way between 150 and 300 %.

An example makes it concrete: 20-micron film pre-stretched to 250 % reaches the load at an effective thickness close to 5.7 microns while keeping the mechanical behaviour of the original material. Put another way, the roll covers three and a half times more load.

Strength and cling

Puncture resistance measures how the film stands up to a sharp corner or a protrusion; it is expressed in newtons and it is what stops a pallet with edges opening at the first vibration. Tear resistance decides whether a small cut stays put or runs the length of the film.

Cling can be one-sided or two-sided. In pallet wrapping the usual — and the advisable — choice is one-sided: the film sticks to itself but not to the product, so the pallet opens without dragging labels off or damaging cartons. Elastic memory is what keeps the load tight hours later, when the lorry has three hundred kilometres of vibration behind it; this is where metallocene formulations show their worth. And clarity, which looks like a cosmetic detail, is what lets you read labels and barcodes without unwrapping.

Stretch wrappers: film and machine are one system

Stretch film only performs fully when a machine applies it. A wrapper automates the cycle, guarantees identical tension on every pallet, cuts film consumption by more than half and takes the physical effort away from the operator. At Fontanet Group we are official distributors of a range that covers everything from a warehouse taking its first step to a high-volume line.

What exactly is a stretch wrapper?

A stretch wrapper — also called a pallet wrapping robot or pallet wrapper — is the machine that applies film around the load automatically or semi-automatically. Its key parts are the film carriage with the pre-stretch system, the element that rotates (turntable, arm or the robot itself), the control panel and the sensors that detect load height.

Against hand wrapping it wins on everything measurable: constant, programmable tension, a one to two minute cycle, film savings above 50 %, fewer repetitive strain injuries and a pallet that always comes out the same. Depending on model and operation, capacity ranges from about 15 pallets an hour to more than 100.

Turntable stretch wrapper

This is the most widespread approach and the most affordable. The pallet turns; the film goes on in a spiral as the carriage travels the height of the load. It installs anywhere with a power socket, needs no civil works and asks for minimal maintenance. Its limit is physical: if the load is too heavy or too unstable, spinning it stops being a good idea.

Rotary arm stretch wrapper

The difference from a turntable is conceptual: the pallet stays still on the floor and the arm does the turning. With no centrifugal force acting on the load, the weight limit disappears and so do the problems with tall, soft or badly stacked loads. It is also the natural choice when pallets arrive and leave on a conveyor, because nothing has to be lifted on or off a turntable. The investment is higher than a turntable and is justified by volume or by the type of load.

Mobile wrapping robots

The mobile robot solves a layout problem more than a volume one. It runs on battery, drives around the pallet on its own and does not demand a fixed footprint on the floor. For warehouses with several wrapping points, a changing layout or work on the dock, it is the solution that avoids moving the load to the machine. One operator handles it comfortably and the battery covers a normal working day with room to spare.

Manual against machine, in numbers

The practical conclusion is that the tipping point sits between 15 and 20 pallets a day. Below it, a braked dispenser or pre-stretched film does the job. Above it, the difference in film per pallet adds up fast enough for the machine to pay for itself within months, and that is before counting the operator time freed up.

Motorised pre-stretch, which is where the saving lives

The mechanism is simple: two powered rollers the film passes through before it reaches the load. The second turns faster than the first, and that difference in speed stretches the film in a controlled, repeatable way that depends on nobody.

• 100 %: the film comes out at twice its original length.
• 200 %: three times.
• 300 %: four times, the sensible ceiling for standard films.

In roll terms: with no pre-stretch, one metre of film covers one metre of load; at 300 % pre-stretch, that same metre covers four. That is a 75 % cut in roll metres consumed for the same work. To run your own numbers, take your current annual film spend, apply the reduction your pre-stretch allows and compare the difference with the cost of the machine: that ratio is your payback in months.

How to choose the right stretch film

These are the five steps we follow when a customer calls us to review their pallet wrapping. Answering them in order avoids almost every expensive mistake.

1. Count the pallets leaving each day. Up to 10, manual or pre-stretched film. From 10 to 30, quality manual film with a braked dispenser, or a first turntable wrapper. From 30 to 80, turntable or rotary arm depending on the load. Above 80, a mobile robot or an automatic line.
2. Look at the load. Regular, stable cartons: 17-20 microns. Loads over 1,500 kg: 23 microns or more, and a rotary arm. Edges or protrusions: high puncture-resistance film. Produce that breathes or goes into a chiller: macro-perforated, no argument.
3. Think about the journey. Own warehouse and short distances: standard film. National transport: film with good elastic memory that stands up to vibration. Sea export: more wraps, base reinforcement and high-performance film.
4. Consider where the pallet waits. Heated warehouse: any film. Outdoors or an open dock: film with protection against sunlight. Cold store: macro-perforated or a film with good cling in the cold, because cling drops with temperature.
5. Do the maths before buying a machine. Current film spend, estimated spend with pre-stretch, operator hours freed and the cost of the machine. Those four numbers give you the payback period, and it comes out in months, not years.

Stretch film and sustainability

European packaging and packaging waste rules, and the single-use plastics directive, have put pallet film under the spotlight. The good news is that with this material the route to using less is very clear and it also saves money.

• Downgauging. Metallocene polymers now allow thin films with performance that not long ago demanded twice the gauge. Less plastic per pallet, same result.
• Recycled content. There are formulations that include a share of post-consumer recycled polyethylene while keeping the mechanical behaviour.
• Recyclability. The LLDPE you strip off is recyclable. Baled with a press, it stops being bulky waste and becomes material with value.
• Pre-stretch. The most effective and most immediate measure: stretching film to 300 % cuts by three quarters the plastic coming through the door.

Biodegradable films based on bioplastics are still in development and do not yet offer, for industrial pallet wrapping at scale, the mechanical performance of LLDPE. We would rather say so plainly than sell a solution that is not ready.

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Frequently asked questions about stretch film

Why buy your stretch film from Fontanet Group?

Because we sell both the film and the machine, and that changes the advice you get. A company that only sells rolls has no incentive for you to use fewer; one that only sells machines does not know how your film behaves on your load.

• 14 years in business and a technical team with more than 30 years in industrial packaging.
• Official distributors of a full range of wrappers: turntable, rotary arm and mobile robots.
• Manual, machine, pre-stretched and macro-perforated film, in every common gauge and width.
• Advice based on your real operation, with physical samples before you order.
• Permanent stock of the most requested formats and 24-72 hour delivery to mainland Spain, the Balearics and the Canaries.
• Export across Europe, after-sales service and maintenance for the machinery we supply.
• We are in Fraga, in the middle of the Ebro valley logistics and fresh produce region, and that shows in our lead times.

You can browse the rest of our packaging solutions, our packaging machinery range and the films and plastics page, or read our story.