Glossary
Stretch film terms, explained plainly.
64 terms from film and wrappers to load securing, each with a short definition and a link to the guide that goes deeper.
A
- Acceleration test
- A dynamic test where a wrapped pallet is accelerated and stopped on a test bench while the lean of the load is measured. EUMOS 40509 is the best known method.Read the guide →
B
- Banding
- Extra revolutions around one band of the load to reinforce it, for example where two layers of goods meet.Read the guide →
- Blown film
- Stretch film made by blowing melted plastic into a bubble that cools slowly in the air. Stiffer than cast film, stretches less, and resists punctures and tears better.Read the guide →
- Bottom wraps
- Revolutions at the base of the load that tie the goods to the pallet. Often the most important wraps for load stability.Read the guide →
- Brake carriage (brake system)
- A film carriage that stretches the film by holding it back while the rotating load pulls it. It rarely reaches high pre-stretch and puts more force on the corners of the load.Read the guide →
C
- Cast film
- Stretch film made by pressing melted plastic through a flat die onto a chilled roll. Clear, quiet when unwinding and able to stretch far. The usual choice for machine wrapping.Read the guide →
- Cling
- The tackiness that makes stretch film stick to itself, so the last layer holds without tape or heat. Many films cling on one side and slip on the other.
- Coloured stretch film
- Tinted or opaque film used to hide the contents of a pallet, protect them from light, or mark destinations and batches.
- Consignor
- The party that prepares a load for transport. Under the CTU Code the consignor must make packages and unit loads fit for the stresses of normal transport.Read the guide →
- Containment force
- The force with which the stretch film presses the load together. It results from the force of each film layer and the number of layers, and is measured with a gauge at fixed points.Read the guide →
- Core
- The cardboard tube a film roll is wound on. Its weight must be subtracted when the film used on a pallet is weighed. Lighter cores mean less packaging weight.
- Coreless roll
- A film roll without a cardboard core. It saves the core material and takes less space in storage and transport. Hand use needs a compatible dispenser.
- Corner boards (edge protectors)
- Strips of board or plastic placed on the vertical edges of a load to protect it and spread the film force. Correctly stretched film can sometimes make them unnecessary.
- CTU Code
- The IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units. International guidance on packing cargo, including the forces a load must withstand: 0.8 g forward and 0.5 g sideways and backward on the road.Read the guide →
D
- Downgauging
- Moving to a thinner film while keeping the load as stable as before. It saves film when the thinner film is stretched correctly and the result is tested on the same load.Read the guide →
E
- Elastic deformation (dynamic deformation)
- In an acceleration test, the peak lean of the load during the test, as a share of the load height. EUMOS 40509 allows at most 10 %.Read the guide →
- Elastic memory
- The tendency of stretch film to pull back towards its original length after it is stretched. Under-stretched film keeps a strong memory and can crush the corners of boxes in the hours after wrapping.Read the guide →
- EN 12195-1
- The European standard for calculating load securing on road vehicles. It sets out the forces a secured load must withstand.Read the guide →
- EPR (extended producer responsibility)
- Rules that make the company that first places packaging on a national market pay for its waste handling. Fees follow the kilos of packaging and are adjusted by recyclability.Read the guide →
- EUMOS
- The European Safe Logistics Association. It publishes test methods for load safety, including EUMOS 40509.Read the guide →
- EUMOS 40509
- A European test method for the rigidity of a load unit. The load passes when elastic deformation stays at or below 10 %, permanent deformation at or below 5 %, and nothing is damaged.Read the guide →
F
- Film break (snapping)
- Film tearing during wrapping. Common causes are pre-stretch above the film’s range, sharp corners, worn or dirty rollers and wrong wrap force.Read the guide →
- Film carriage
- The part of a wrapper that holds the film roll and feeds the film onto the load. Brake carriages and powered pre-stretch carriages work very differently.Read the guide →
- Film yield
- How much load a kilo of film can wrap. Higher pre-stretch and the right film give a higher yield.
G
- Gauge
- A thickness unit used in North America. 100 gauge equals 25.4 µm, so 80 gauge is about 20 µm.
- Gloss and haze (optical clarity)
- Gloss is how much light the film surface reflects; haze is how cloudy it looks. Low haze matters when labels must be scanned through the film.Read the guide →
H
- Hand film (hand wrap)
- Stretch film made to be applied by a person, with or without a dispenser. It is made to stretch at the force a person can apply.Read the guide →
L
- LLDPE (linear low-density polyethylene)
- The main plastic in stretch film. Metallocene grades (mLLDPE) give extra strength and stretch.Read the guide →
- Load securing
- Everything that keeps a load in place during transport: a stable load unit and the straps, blocking or walls that hold it in the vehicle.Read the guide →
- Load stability
- How well a load unit stays together and upright under the forces of handling and transport. It depends on the load, the pallet, the film, the pre-stretch and the wrapping pattern.Read the guide →
- Load unit (unit load)
- Goods assembled on a pallet and held together, for example with stretch film, so they can be handled and transported as one.
M
- Machine film
- Stretch film made for wrapping machines and for pre-stretch between rollers, to ratios no one can reach by hand.Read the guide →
- Micron (µm)
- The usual unit for stretch film thickness in Europe. One micron is a thousandth of a millimetre.
- Multi-layer film
- Film made of several co-extruded layers, each with a job: cling, slip and strength in the core layers. More layers give more room to tune the film.Read the guide →
N
- Neck-in
- The narrowing of stretch film as it is stretched. The more pre-stretch, the narrower the film becomes before it reaches the load.
O
- Orbital wrapper
- A machine that wraps film through the product around a horizontal axis. Used for long products, coils and profiles rather than pallets.Read the guide →
- Overlap
- How much each film band covers the one below as the carriage moves up and down. Part of the wrapping pattern.
P
- Permanent deformation
- In an acceleration test, the lean that remains when the load has settled, as a share of the load height. EUMOS 40509 allows at most 5 %.Read the guide →
- Powered pre-stretch
- A film carriage with two rollers turning at different speeds, so the film is stretched before it reaches the load, typically to 200–300 %.Read the guide →
- PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation)
- Regulation (EU) 2025/40, which applies to all packaging in the EU from 12 August 2026, including stretch film.Read the guide →
- Pre-stretch
- How much the film is elongated before it reaches the load. 250 % pre-stretch means one metre of film becomes 3.5 metres.Read the guide →
- Pre-stretched film
- Hand film that is stretched during production, so it is lighter and easier to apply. It has little stretch left.
- Puncture resistance
- How well a film resists being pierced by sharp edges or corners. Blown film usually scores higher than cast film.Read the guide →
R
- Rated pre-stretch
- The pre-stretch a film is designed to run at. Running a film far below it wastes film; running it far above it risks breaks.Read the guide →
- Recycled content
- The share of recycled plastic in a film. Under the PPWR, plastic transport packaging such as pallet wrap must contain at least 35 % from 2030.Read the guide →
- Revolution
- One full turn of the film around the load. The number of revolutions in a wrapping cycle is one of the inputs to the real pre-stretch.Read the guide →
- Ring wrapper
- An automatic wrapper where a ring carrying the film carriage rotates around a pallet that stands still. Common on high-throughput lines.Read the guide →
- Roll width
- The width of the film on the roll. Machine film in Europe is commonly 500 mm wide; the width narrows on the load as the film is stretched (neck-in).
- Roping
- Gathering the film into a rope on part of the wrapping pattern, usually low on the load, to tie the load to the pallet.Read the guide →
- Rotating arm wrapper
- A wrapper where an arm carries the film around a pallet that stands still. Suits heavy, tall or unstable loads.Read the guide →
S
- Shrink hood
- A plastic hood placed over a load and shrunk tight with heat. An alternative to stretch film for some loads.
- Slip
- The non-tacky outer side of a stretch film, which stops wrapped pallets and rolls sticking to each other.
- Strain hardening
- The phase where stretched film becomes even, stronger and stiffer as its molecules line up. This is where machine film is designed to run, and where it locks the load.Read the guide →
- Stretch film (stretch wrap, pallet wrap)
- A plastic film, usually LLDPE, that is stretched around a load to hold it together on a pallet.
- Stretch hood
- A stretchable plastic hood pulled over a load without heat. An alternative to stretch film for some loads.
T
- Tear resistance
- How well a film resists a tear spreading once it has started. Blown film usually scores higher than cast film.Read the guide →
- Tiger stripes
- Bands of thick and thin film visible on a wrapped pallet. A sign that the film is not stretched evenly, often because it is run below its working range.Read the guide →
- Tilt test
- A static load stability test where the pallet is tilted to an angle and the load is checked. 27° corresponds to about 0.5 g sideways.Read the guide →
- Top sheet
- A sheet of film placed on top of the load before wrapping to protect it from dust and moisture.
- Top wraps
- Revolutions at the top of the load that hold the upper layer of goods and, with a top sheet, protect it.Read the guide →
- Turntable wrapper
- The most common wrapper type: the pallet rotates on a table while the film carriage moves up and down a mast.Read the guide →
U
- Ultimate stretch
- How far a film can be stretched before it breaks. A film should run well below it, near its rated pre-stretch.Read the guide →
W
- Wrap force
- How hard the film is pulled between the film carriage and the load. Together with the number of layers it decides the containment force.Read the guide →
- Wrapping pattern
- The full set of wrapper settings for a load: revolutions, overlap, bottom and top wraps, roping and wrap force.Read the guide →
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