The difference between cast and blown pallet wrap: which one is better for your product?
In this article we will explore the two most common types of pallet wrap used by thousands of operations globally. While both types serve the same purpose of securing and protecting palletised goods, they possess different characteristics that set them apart and allow companies to utilise the wrap most suited to their operation.
Cast pallet wrap
Widely known for it’s versatility and strength, cast stretch film is manufactured through a process called cast extrusion, where molten resin is fed through a narrow die and then cooled on a large cold roller and to form a thin consistent film. With around 70% of the industry choosing cast film for their wrapping operations, it’s the more popular choice of the two.
Properties of cast pallet wrap
Cast film is renown for its clarity, providing excellent visibility through the film. It offers an exceptional load holding force, allowing operators to securely wrap pallets of varying shapes and sizes. With it’s smooth texture and almost silent unwind, cast film is often preferred for applications where a quiet operation is required, such as retail spaces.
The cast extrusion process used to manufacture this type of film ensures a consistent thickness throughout, contributing to its reliable performance and load holding capabilities. Alongside this, cast film provides excellent tear resistance due to the particles being aligned during manufacture.
Benefits of cast pallet wrap
Well known for its clarity, cast film enables operators to easily identify wrapped goods and scan product barcodes through the wrap, allowing for efficient inventory management. Where quiet environments are important, the silent unwind characteristic of cast film makes it a great choice for operations. Requiring very little physical effort to apply, cast film is a very user friendly pallet wrap that is easy to handle and minimises operator fatigue.
Cast film is a very cost effective packaging solution. Its consistent thickness and load holding capabilities allow for an efficient use of film, reducing material waste and reducing the overall packaging costs.
When is it best to use cast pallet wrap
Whilst most warehouses are similar, cast pallet wrap can be more suited to some operations than others. We recommend its use in operations where inventory identification and visual inspection of products is necessary, as well as inventory management and the need to scan product labels and barcodes through the wrap.
Cast film performs brilliantly for applications involving fragile or delicate products such as glassware or electronics as well as in industries such as food and retail where noise reduction is important. Additionally, cast film has a very consistent quality and thickness, enhancing it’s load holding capabilities making it a good choice for protecting goods in transit.
Blown Pallet Wrap
Blown film is also used for securing and protecting palletized goods during transit and storage. Unlike cast film, blown wrap is manufactured through a blown extrusion process where the molten resin is blown vertically upwards through a circular die creating a thicker more robust film.
Properties of Blown Pallet Wrap
Blown film is well known for its excellent puncture resistance and toughness due to its unique manufacturing process. During the blowing process, the resin is stretched and oriented in multiple directions, resulting in a highly interlocking molecular structure.
Blown pallet wrap offers superior load-holding force and is often chosen by operations dispatching heavy-duty or irregularly shaped loads, however it’s a very versatile film and can be used for both light and heavy-duty applications.
Benefits of Blown Pallet Wrap
Alongside its distinct properties, blown film provides operations with plenty of benefits. Starting with its strength, blown wrap allows operators to wrap irregular loads including sharp edges easily and securely, without the film puncturing or tearing during application. This also means it offers excellent load stability ensuring your goods stay completely safe and secure in transit and as it is passed through the supply chain.
Due to the molecular structure, blown film has a high level of tack and sticks to itself making it easy to wrap palletized goods. Even at a very low micron, blown film performs incredibly well for any load and in all environments, including freezer conditions.
When is it best to use Blown Pallet Wrap
The choice between blown and cast can be difficult and depends on specific requirements. We recommend blown film is used for heavy-duty applications such as within the construction industry with sharp and irregular loads.
If your pallets will be exposed to the elements, blown film is always a good option due to its outdoor and weather resistance including UV and moisture resistance, protecting against weather related damage.
Overall, blown pallet wrap is more suited to industries where products are subjected to challenging or unpredictable environments, or long and rough transportation. It’s ability to withstand punctures ensures the goods arrive in excellent condition.
Where can I buy pallet wrap
Most if not all packaging suppliers offer ranges of pallet wrap, but not always pre-stretched, high-quality options. At Grip Systems we work with a large network of distributors to provide thousands of operations with pre-stretched cast and blown pallet wraps. We offer advice on how to choose the best pallet wrap for your applications and where your nearest distributor is located.
Different types of Grip Film pallet wrap
Grip Systems specialises in stretch film offerings to our global network with a wide range of different products allowing companies to find the most efficient film for their applications.
Grip Film is available in light, medium and heavy-duty thicknesses, in both cast and blown. With the move towards sustainability, we also offer all our films containing 30% recycled content.
For operations with bespoke branding and privacy requirements, Grip has a range of 8 different coloured pallet wraps, as well as totally opaque stretch films for security conscious entities.
Despite the contrasting statistics, our most popular stretch film is the light duty blown pallet wrap, Grip Film Elite, closely followed by our Eco film, Premium which is a heavy-duty blown stretch film containing 30% recycled content.
Every wrapping and dispatch operations is totally unique and it’s so important to ensure your situation is carefully analysed by a packaging specialist who can recommend the best pallet wrap for your applications. Understanding the difference between cast and blown films is crucial for making information packaging decisions and purchases. This will ensure your warehouse operations are operating at the most efficient level possible, at all times.
