Do you know how much shrink wrap you need? Probably not, and that’s a common question from many. This is a great post to help you figure out how much you need in terms of shrink wrap. 

Remember, at first you might think that you need a lot, but remember that it can SHRINK hence the name, so it shrinks to almost half of the size it was originally. You also should keep in mind that if you go bigger, that’s not a huge problem.

You then want to measure out the circumference of whatever it is that you’re using the shrink wrap for.  The circumference is basically the distance that goes around the curve that’s closed, or the distance of where it is around your object.  There are many different types of shrink wrap products for you to consider.

The easiest one to measure out is centerfold shrink wrap. You essentially add the width and the height together, then add a couple of inches.  You take this, and just extend it by two or three inches. This is pretty easy to work with, and if they don’t have it in the size, you should go up. Make sure that you never go downwards in terms of size. 

There is also tubing that’s shrink wrapped, and this essentially goes around the widest point of the circumference of your object, then, you want to add about ten or fifteen percent. Then, with that number, you divide all of that by two. So let’s say the widest point is 11, and then, you add 10%, which is about 1.1 inches.  If you divide it by two, it’s literally just above six inches.  Remember, don’t go down, and try to increase it whenever you need it. 

For shrink wrapped bags, this is kind of similar to tubing. You take the widest part of this, and then, you measure out your product length. From there, you add anywhere from 10 to 15% to that, and then divide all of that by two.  The difference with this, is that you’re adding that length number to this too before you add the 10%, and dividing by two.

Remember as well that when you measure these out, you should also consider extending this further to the products that are wrapped, and make sure that if they are extending all of that by a couple of inches.  You should also keep in mind the type of container that you’re putting this in.

This can be a little bit time=-consuming, especially if you’re new to shrink wrapping, and have multiple products. In that case, try to get a calculator to help with this. There are plenty of these online, and you can usually find these on the product pages before you pay for anything.

You should always make sure that you do measure all of this out before you decide to buy something. The thing with this, is that a lot of times, people usually don’t realize what they’re sitting on, so they start to try and use different sizes. But the problem is, that’s not ideal, and many times, you end up wasting the product. So measure this out, take into account these factors, and from there, when you buy your shrink wrap, use the numbers that are there to get the shrink wrap that you need, and remember, if you’re not sure whether to buy a product at a certain length or larger, there is nothing wrong with going bigger, and going smaller should be avoided at all costs.