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Shrink Wrap


Shrink wrap

Shrink wrap (also referred to as shrink film) is a kind of plastic film that you can wrap on any object, regardless of size or shape. Then heat is applied to the surface, which causes the plastic to shrink. When it shrinks, it conforms to the shape of the object and seals itself. This process results in a clear, durable barrier of protection around the product.

The shrink wrap is sometimes used to pack books, especially hardcover books and deluxe edition comics, children board books, coffee table books, and many others. The purpose is to keep them in good condition and avoid damage to the book during transportation and sales.

Two Types of Shrink Wrap


Thermoplastics use multi-stage temperature control and rolling heating to generate high temperatures to shape the plastic film and products. 

Cold molding is the use of adhesive or magnetic plastic film to shape the plastic film and products without heating.

How to Shrink Wrap?


The plastic film can be wound on the product. Seal open ends with a heat sealer. Use a heat gun or heat tunnel to shrink and conform the material to the product.

Different Styles of Shrink Wrap


Tube-Style Shrink Wrap

This shrink film has two pre-sealed sides. People can easily put their products into the tube and specify the appropriate size shrink bag according to the length of the product.

Rolls of Shrink Wrap

Fold the plastic film in half, and then place the product to be sealed in the middle part, and seal the remaining three sides into a bag. Then the film will shrink after heating and tightly wrapping the product inside.

Advantages of Shrink Wrap Protection


When the shrink wrap is heated, it forms a very tight seal. This plastic seal can completely protect the contents of the shrink wrap. After shrink wrapping, the items are no longer susceptible to possible damage from dust, dirt, or moisture. Plastic packaging can protect a book for a long period of time and prevent the inner pages of the book from being oxidized, damp, and dusted. At the same time, it can prevent the book cover from being worn during storage and transportation.

  • Tampering

With the plastic packaging on the outside of the product, your customers can easily see whether the product has been unsealed. Plastic encapsulation ensures the airtightness of the product and prevents man-made changes to the product during storage and transportation. From the factory to the delivery to your customers, the shrink wrapping ensures the integrity of your product, and you will easily find out if the product is opened and changed.

  • Economical

Compared to other packaging materials, shrink wrapping is a very economical choice. It also could save space for packaging. Saving space helps in saving money during storage and shipping.

  • Convenience

Shrink wrapping will make storage and transportation very convenient in some areas. If you need to print a set of postcards, shrink wrapping is a wise choice. It can stop the cards from becoming scattered during transportation. Shrink wrapping not only can protect the cards but also when opened the product packaging. What your customer sees is a neat stack of cards.

Shrink wrapping

Shrink Wrap vs OPP Bag


OPP is the abbreviation of bopp. OPP bag is stretchable polypropylene, which belongs to plastic. It is actually a plastic bag, which can be seen everywhere in the market and daily life. Most transparent packaging bags are made of OPP materials. This bag is convenient, has a good performance, and it is versatile.

Advantages of OPP Bag

  • Better flexibility

OPP bags have a wider range of applications than shrink wrapping. If the product is too thin, the effect of shrink wrapping will not be very good. For example, in a thin wall calendar, it is difficult to shrink wrap it alone. You need to shrink wrap the calendar together with a rigid cardboard. This is tantamount to increasing the weight of the product itself, but also increasing the cost of transportation. At this time, an OPP bag can solve the inconvenience caused by shrink wrapping. Regardless of the thickness of the product, the OPP bag can always meet the needs of people.

  • Will not deform the internal products

If the item is not so stiff and easy to bend and deform, the OPP bag can keep the product in its own shape better than shrink wrapping. When in the shrink wrapping process, the shrink film will cause a certain degree of squeezing of the product. Therefore, for products that are easily deformed, we do not recommend using shrink wrapping, but OPP bag is a better choice.

  • Reusable

Once opened, the shrink wrapping is broken and cannot be used again, while the OPP bag can be used repeatedly after opening. When you need to open the package multiple times, the OPP bag is a better choice.

Advantages of Shrink Wrap

  • Save more space

Because the shrink wrapping film is tightly wound on the product, it will fit the shape of the product more than the OPP bag, so the space occupied by the packaging is reduced as much as possible, and the cost is reduced during storage and transportation.

  • Not limited by item size

The size of the OPP bag is usually fixed, so it cannot satisfy all sizes of goods to a large extent. Although the size of the bag can be customized according to the size of the product, if the demand is small, the suitable size cannot be customized, and the cost will be very high. The shrink wrapping can flexibly adapt to various sizes of goods, you don’t need to worry about the minimum order quantity.

  • Secure the object firmly to prevent it from moving

The shrink wrapping is more sealed than the OPP bag, the product will not move inside the bag, and avoid the friction between the product and the bag during storage and transportation.

Shrink wrapping

What Products Are Well for Doing Shrink Wrap?


Luxurious paperback or hardcover books, children board books, comic books, cards set, costom rigid boxes and many others are good for doing shrink wrap.

After learning about shrink wrapping, does your product need to be shrink-wrapped? If you are still not sure whether you need to shrink wrap the product, please tell us the specifications of your product. We can give you some suggestions.