Pallet wrap is one of the cheapest items in a warehouse and one of the most expensive to get wrong. Under wrapped pallets arrive leaning or collapsed, and over wrapping burns through film for no extra protection. This guide covers how to choose film for hand wrapping, and how to apply it so the load actually holds.
Hand wrap or machine wrap
Hand wrap is applied by a person walking around the pallet, usually with a handheld dispenser. It suits low to medium volume: a few pallets a day, mixed load shapes, or a dispatch area where pallets are built as orders come in.
Machine film is applied by a turntable or robot wrapper and is pre stretched to a much higher degree than a person can achieve by hand. It becomes worth the equipment cost once pallet volume makes hand wrapping a bottleneck, or when consistency matters for freight acceptance. If two people are spending an hour a day wrapping, it is worth doing the sums.
Film thickness and stretch
Thicker film resists puncture from sharp corners and holds heavier loads. Thinner film costs less per metre and is fine for light, regular shaped cartons. Rather than reaching for the heaviest film available, look at what fails on your own pallets:
- Film tearing at the corners points to sharp edges. Use edge protectors before moving up a gauge.
- Film stretching but the load still shifting points to wrapping method, not film choice.
- Film splitting mid wrap under normal tension points to film that is genuinely too light for the load.
The most common mistake is buying heavier film to fix a problem that better technique or a corner protector would solve for less money.
Clear or black film
Clear film lets staff and carriers read carton labels through the wrap, which speeds up receiving and reduces mis picks at the far end. Black film conceals contents, which suits higher value freight or anything you would rather not advertise on a shared dock. Many warehouses run clear as standard and keep a roll of black for specific customers.
Pack size and how much to hold
Buying single rolls is the most expensive way to buy film. If wrapping is a daily task, buy by the carton and work out your usage per week, then hold enough that a delivery delay never stops dispatch. A simple rule that works for most sites is two weeks of a busy week's usage.
If you are not sure what you use, count rolls consumed over a fortnight rather than guessing. Most warehouses find the number is higher than they expect, because partly used rolls get left on pallets and never come back to the station.
How to wrap a pallet so it holds
- Anchor at the base. Wrap the film around the pallet itself for the first two or three passes, so the load and the pallet move as one unit. This single step prevents most leaning loads.
- Climb with consistent overlap. Overlap each pass by roughly half the film width. Racing to the top leaves gaps that do nothing.
- Keep tension even. Let the dispenser do the work. Jerking the roll creates tight and loose bands that shift in transit.
- Lock the top. Two or three wraps at the top, then bring one pass back down over the corners to tie the top layer in.
- Protect the corners. On strapped or stacked loads, add edge protectors so tension spreads along the edge rather than cutting into the top carton.
Quick diagnosis when loads arrive damaged
- Load leaning: almost always too few wraps at the base. Anchor to the pallet.
- Top cartons crushed: stacking weight, not film. Reorder the load or add edge protection.
- Film shredded on arrival: sharp edges, or the pallet is overhanging and catching on other freight.
- Cartons slipping inside the wrap: film applied around the load but not anchored, so everything slides together.
Shop pallet wrap and stretch film, corner protectors and load securing supplies. Stocked lines dispatch from our Australian warehouse, and bulk pricing is available by the carton or pallet.