Shrink Wrap Gauge Chart

1.What is a Shrink Wrap Gauge?

A Shrink Wrap Gauge– Picture courtesy: Yorkshire

A shrink wrap is a material that is supposed to enclose any of your articles for packaging by securely shrinking this plastic wrap around it. ‘Gauge’ can be understood as a thickness measuring parameter which is most likely used for calculating different availabilities of width that could be in application for many industries. To get this in collaboration, a shrink wrap gauge will decide for you what dimensions of this packaging material can be used for various of your purposes. For instance, higher the gauge number the greater thickness it will be. You will be reading further on about it’s types and features too.

2.What Is A Shrink Wrap Gauge Chart?

Shrink Wrap Gauge Chart Understanding- Picture Courtesy: Pooshanplastic

If you’re wondering about owning a shrink wrapping machine, you must be having the know-how of what different measurements are according to it’s thickness and their respective units for multiple applications of a shrink wrap gauge. For this purpose ,experts have designed and speculated a shrink wrap gauge chart which will help you to identify and pick the right dimensions for your packaging material.

A shrink wrap gauge chart presents units like gauge and mil. Mil is the basic standard unit that is used across many applications , which is 1/1000^th of an inch. While gauge stays the popular choice among industries. Let’s see below this chart to conceptualize different widths of a shrink wrap as per their various uses and characteristics.

Gauge Size	Type Of Shrink Wrap	Characteristics Of Shrink Wrap	Examples
45	Cross linked Polyolefin	Thin plastic, little puncture resistant, soft material , superb clarity	Business cards, baked items, light fabric
60	Polyolefin	Thin plastic, soft material, superb clarity	Printed items, baked items, small toys, and games
60	Cross linked Polyolefin	Thin plastic with better puncture resistance, superb clarity	Small toys and souvenirs
75	PVC	Rigidity after heat shrinking	CDs and DVDs, non-eatables
75	Polyolefin	Good puncture resistance and sealing ability , superb clarity	Mostly used type of shrink wrap gauge
75	Cross linked Polyolefin	Comparatively sturdier than 75Gauge Polyolefin, suitable for heavy machines, superb clarity	Used particularly for weights that are < 15 lb
100	PVC	Thick plastic, rigidity after heat shrinking, superb clarity	Used particularly for weights that are < 20 lb
100	Polyolefin	Good puncture resistant and sealing ability, soft material , superb clarity	Used in Shipping , for weights particularly <25 lb
100	Cross linked Polyolefin	Comparatively sturdier than 100 Gauge Polyolefin, Superb clarity	Greater output production, products that weigh more than 30 lb
200	PVC	Good puncture resistant, rigid, fair clarity	Shrink sleeves
<200	Polyethylene/Polypropylene	Heavy duty, fair or no clarity	Heavy duty purposes

Understanding Gauge size

A gauge size is a measurement unit of thickness or thinness of the shrink wrap or any other material that describes industrial ‘mil thickness’.

45 Gauge size : The smaller the gauge size the thinner it will be. Customers use this type of size usually when they want to get a thin shrink wrap. This size offers superb clarity, sealing strength, and puncture resistance. Many different industries such as pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical, electronics, food, and others use 45 gauge size for their application.

60 Gauge size : This gauge size is said to be food grade safe, light weight , having thin sealing property. 60 Gauge size is mostly used for the application of packaging baked items and electronics.

75 Gauge size: 75 Gauge size thickness shrink wrap is available in Polyolefin, cross linked Polyolefin and PVC material. The most versatile used form is Polyolefin which has strong sealing strength and is certified to be food grade safety. It’s wrapping material has usage in electronics, toys, food items etc and can support weight upto 15 pounds.

100 Gauge size: A 100 gauge sized thickness shrink wrap equals about 1 mil. It is useful for supporting weights Upto 35 pounds and for sharp edged objects  , having excellent sealing strength and puncture resistance. This size comes in polyolefin, cross linked polyolefin and PVC material.

200 Gauge size: A 200 gauge sized thickness shrink wrap equals about 2 mil. It is known to support heavier weights such as bundling cases of water bottles. This size is available in material such as PVC and Polyethylene.

Understanding Types of Shrink Wrap Gauges

Considering it’s vast usage for variety of packaging options in order to securely transport the products wrapped within it, there are three types of shrink wraps present in diverse gauge measurements. Polyvinyl chloride, Cross linked Polyolefin,Polyolefin and Polyethylene. The shrink wraps made out of them features multiple characteristics and the ability to be combined with other material to provide more durable and strong barrier properties. You will be reading about these types further to understand them individually.

Cross linked Polyolefin This material has not only puncture resistance and strong sealing strength but has also superb clarity. Cross linked Polyolefin material can be used in application for high speed wrapping, heavy and sharp objects and also for light weight objects. Thickness Gauge sizes available in this material are 45, 60, 75 and 100 .
Polyolefin Polyolefin is a shrink wrap material that has great tensile strength and is extremely durable which makes it a preferred choice for packaging. This is also 100% recyclable and offers versatility of options for packaging. It is cost effective and great choice for wrapping up consumer use items such as food, toys, books and wherever multiple bundling is required. Dimensions available in this type are from 35 gauge till 100 gauge of thickness shrink wrap.
Polyvinyl chloride PVC is a shrink wrap material that is durable, lightweight and inexpensive and so used in many applications such as construction sites, housewares , medical products, automobile and electronics. Although quite famous, PVC has now been banned across many countries due to it’s hazardous health effects and bad environmental impact that it leaves behind. It can be shrinked in only single direction and has a lower shrink force. The available thickness in this material are gauge size 75 and 100 .
Polyethylene Polyethylene is made up of Polyolefin and it is available as HDPE, LDPE and LLDP. HDPE is the most versatile form of plastics used for shrink wrapping that is used in houseware , personal care products, and beverage bottles. However LLDP is commonly used due to it’s conformability and strength. Although POF and PVC are limited to smaller gauge size uptil 100 gauges only whereas PE can have maximum thickness 1200 gauge which is why it is used to shrink wrap heavier and larger objects.

Understanding the Shrink Wrap Gauge Chart

A shrink wrap gauge chart helps you to understand what thickness of material is suitable for different applications and the weight it would be supporting. Gauge is a unit of measuring film width.

The above pictorial arrows depict the scale of light weight shrink wrap to heavy weight shrink wrap according to their respective gauge sizes. 55 Gauge size would be of thin material supporting light weight objects which could easily wrap more items whereas 200 Gauge size is a thick one that is used for wrapping sturdier and heavier materials, usually of irregular shaped objects.

3.How Can You Calculate Shrink Wrap Gauge Width?

To calculate the shrink wrap width or thickness for a particular shaped object you will need to follow the given steps below that will you help in the process.

Thickness Conversion Chart

1 Gauge=	1/100th of a mil
1100 Gauge=	1 Mil thickness
1 Gauge=	0.254 microns
1100 Gauge=	25.4 microns
1 Mil =	25.4 microns

For Rectangular Objects

Shrink Wrap For Rectangular objects – Picture courtesy: Taxwrap

• Add the width and the height of the object. Suppose that the object here is a box you want to package. ( for eg: width= 8 in and height= 3.5 in , so 8+3.5 = 11.5 in )
• Now add 2 in to the answer of above calculation. ( 11.5+2 = 13.5 in )
• Round off the answer to nearest whole number ( 13.5 rounded off to 14 ) .
• So now you found out that 14 inches of film thickness would be required.

For Round Objects

Shrink Wrap For Round Objects – Picture courtesy: Bear foot baker

• Multiply the diameter of the object by 3.14. Suppose that it is a candle that you want to wrap. (For e.g.: diameter = 5.5 in × 3.14 = 17.27 in )
• Now multiply the answer by 1.1 for getting 10% of shrinkage. (17.27 × 1.1 = 18.997 in)
• Divide this answer by 2. (18.997 ÷ 2 = 9.49 in )
• Round off this final answer to nearby whole number. ( 9.49 rounded off to 10 )
• So now you found out that 10 inches of film thickness would be required.

4.Why Is Shrink Wrap Gauge Chart Important to Consider?

Shrink Wrap Importance

Before selecting a specific dimension of a shrink wrap gauge to proceed for your industry, you must be aware about all types of shrink wraps that are particularly suitable for a certain application.

The product you’re going to wrap will determine what thickness of a shrink wrap gauge it will require. The heavier your product is the higher the gauge it will be.

Shrink wrap gauge chart enables you to know about strength, durability, flexibility and tear or puncture resistance of each material ( PE,PO{deluxe or economic},PVC ) ,whichever you select.

You can select different options of shrink wrap material based on it’s features and characteristics that will be suitable for the item you want to pack.

Conclusion

A shrink wrap gauge chart gives you a detailed understanding of what gauge sizes of shrink wraps are available and in what material they are present. Their features and characteristics are also discussed which can help you to choose thickness based on the weight of your product. Usually to comprehend, gauge is a standard unit of thickness measured which can also be converted into other units such as inches or microns as per your needs. Allpack company has been working effortlessly since many years to provide customer service and best of the equipment you need. We have friendly and expert professional staff that can guide you in your queries. Feel free to consult us at our available helpline number or email address.