FAQs

The cast process generally produces a stretch film with characteristics superior to that of a stretch film made by a blown process. Casting of film provides more uniform gauge, better cling, and greater percentages of stretch than blown film. Cast film is superior to blown film in tear strength in the machine or transverse direction, which aids in the prevention of tear propagation.

All of leo’s hand and machine films are manufactured by a cast extrusion process. Film casting is a process where the hot polymer melt is extruded through a slot die, and falls by gravity either onto a cooling bath or onto a chill roll. The cooled web is pulled away by a series of driven rollers, and is usually wound up. The chilling process is very effective at removing a large amount of heat in a short period of time. By doing so, the polymers can be frozen while still in an amorphous state. For most end uses, this is a very desirable feature of the extrusion process.

Yes, we do print on any of our film. However, we are happy to customize products to meet your most demanding applications when possible.

Hand Film is used with manual stretch wrappers which use the power of the operator. The operator stretches the film using a breaking handle on the wrapper while walking around the pallet. Hand wrapping is typically designed for those who unitize less than 10 pallets per day, have decentralized warehousing or need a backup to powered stretch equipment. Machine Film is used with powered stretch equipment. There are several different types of powered stretch equipment available today. The most common is the rotary spiral pre-stretch machines. The Rotary Spiral Pre-Stretch machine wraps the pallet load in a spiral fashion using film widths of 20” or 30”. Rotary Spiral Pre-Stretch is the most popular means of applying stretch film today and is the most widely used type of stretch film equipment. Pre-stretch isolates the film from the load, thereby enabling the film to be used at much higher performance levels than conventional rotary stretch equipment. In conventional rotary stretch wrapping, the turntable is pulling the film against a breaking force on the roll. With pre-stretch, the stretching takes place either between two geared rollers or one powered and one driven roller. This provides greater and more uniform stretch, less neckdown and enables the operator to adjust the force of the load.

Every situation is different and you may get more benefit from increasing the gauge. Some applications require faster cycle times. Some applications are only concerned with cost per roll. There are many hidden costs to down-gauging: a. Cycle times- Actually increasing the gauge and decreasing the amount of wraps can increase cycle times and decrease costs per load. Increasing wrapping time per stretch wrapper. b. Load integrity- Thorough testing should be completed before considering changing to a lower gauge. Remember the old saying "Do not believe anything you hear and only half of what you see". Load retention can change over time, which will affect your package, either during transit or in your customers' warehouse. c. Film breaking- Lighter gauge films are more likely to have film breaks, either from machine variations, edge damage during handling or film defects. Automated plants have very low tolerance for any type of film breakage, labour costs must be considered in when choosing gauge of the film. Leo polymers have many Stretch Film Options as per your applications. Our representatives are trained to work with your specific application and help you decide the best solution to for your application.

UVI additives can be expensive. If you plan to store the film outside for any length of time, you need a UVI film. Most UVI films will last for an average of 3-6 months. It requires high concentrations of UVI to guarantee a film to last 9-12 months, which can increase the cost significantly. The effect of UVI additive is often seasonal and varies from one location to another. For eg. A UVI Film that will last 9 months from September to May, could only last 3 months during June, July and August, also a UVI film that will last 6-9 months in American Continent, may only last 3 months in hotter regions of Asia.