Top Questions To Ask When Buying Shrink Film For The ...

Author: becky

Dec. 02, 2024

39 0 0

What Am I Shrink Wrapping?

Before you go about buying a roll or multiple rolls of shrink film for your packaging line, you have to take stock of what your products are. So, first things first, what products are you looking to wrap in shrink film?

Are you wrapping produce? If so, you are going to want to package your veggies in polyolefin. You may need alterations including perforations for breathability for certain veggies and possible anti-fog to allow for a clear product presentation and eliminated condensation.

You will also want to use polyolefin or a PVC for consumer goods such as toys or games. Many are moving away from PVC, however, if you are packaging candles, for example, you will need PVC. This is because the fragrances contained in the candles will break down the polyolefin film.

Are you wrapping bottled water, cans of vegetables, or sauces that you find at the big box stores? If you answered yes, you will want to choose polyethylene film. Are you packaging items like CDs/DVDs, and boxes for gaming & software? If you are, then you will want to use PVC.

Are you wrapping heat-sensitive items? Should your products even be packaged in shrink film in the first place? Some products cannot be packaged in shrink film due to the heat produced in the heat tunnel during the shrink wrapping process.

So, if you do not already know if your products can be sent through a heat tunnel, how do you figure that out? In order to find out if your products can be sent through a heat tunnel for shrink film packaging applications, you will need to work with your chosen vendor to send your products through a test run inside of a heat tunnel.

This is done by sending a dummy product with what is called heat-sensitive tape through the machine. The heat-sensitive tape will indicate if the heat in the tunnel is too great for your product. This is not something you should do yourself and you should work with your local packaging professional to choose the right tapes and conduct the test to ensure the proper safety and related protocols.

What Type Of Packaging Machinery Do I Have?

Are you using a hairdryer (I hope not!) to shrink your packaging film? Are you using a heat gun? Are you using a heat tunnel? What type of sealer are you using? Is it an l-bar sealer? Or maybe a flow wrapper?

You must take into consideration the tools you are using to shrink wrap your products before you purchase your shrink wrap. Your choice of film will be limited based upon the type of machinery you are using to wrap your items.

Once you have identified the type of machinery that you are using to wrap your products, you will have to check the machinery's specifications to see what types of film can be used on that type of equipment.

Once you discover the appropriate types of films for your machine, you can move on to finding the right shrink film for your packaging applications.

Need Help Choosing The Right Shrink Film?

Do You Have Minimum Order Requirements?

There are some types of shrink film that require you to order minimum amounts of material to be able to place an order. For example, most printed shrink film vendors will have a minimum order requirement that will often require you to spend thousands of dollars. This is due to the printing of the film and the various elements required to produce the product, for example, ink.

In order for the order to be profitable for the company producing the printed shrink film, they have to sell a minimum number of items to cover the cost of production. Every vendor who produces these types of films has a different minimum order requirement and you will have to ask your vendor what the minimum order requirement for their film is.

Does Shipping Cost Extra?

Every shrink film vendor is different. Some companies do not charge extra for shipping, while other companies do. To find out if your vendor charges for shipping, you simply have to ask. But make sure you know because you don&#;t want to be saddled with extra charges that you weren&#;t expecting.

Where Does The Vendor Ship From?

The cost of shipping for those companies who do charge for shipping is largely determined by how far you are from the vendor.

Even though you won&#;t be calculating this on your own, it is well-advised to ask your shrink film vendor where they are located. The further away from the location that they are shipping from, the higher the cost of shipping will be to you.

What Are Your Lead Times?

The lead time for an order of shrink film is the time between the initiation and completion of a production process. The longer your estimated lead time, the longer it will take for you to receive your order of shrink film from your vendor. Generally speaking, you will want to choose a vendor with the shortest lead times possible.

Can Stock Items Replace Custom Orders?

Herofu Product Page
Recommended article:
10 Questions You Should to Know about Protective Film for Aluminum

There are times when you will attempt to place a custom order and some of the items you have requested are out of stock. In some cases, there may be stock items of similar or even the same specs, which can be used to fulfill an order that would otherwise have an excessively long lead time due to availability issues.

It is always worth asking about stocked items that could be used in place of custom orders when you find yourself in this position and need to get the order filled sooner than later.

What To Do With All Your Answers

Once you have answered all of the questions above, you should pretty much have all of the required information needed to make an educated shrink film purchase. With this data, you can buy the right amount, size, gauge, and type of shrink film for your needs.

Now, if after collecting all of this information and researching the types of film that would be the best fit for your packaging needs and you are still unsure of how to proceed, consider speaking with one of our packaging experts.

They will be able to help you collate and better understand all of these items and then assist you in choosing the best possible shrink film for your packaging applications, regardless of whether you choose to buy from us or not.

PLA, ABS, Nylon & PETG Shrinkage & Compensation

Have you ever considered how to achieve perfect-sized 3D prints while avoiding warping and cracking issues? In the field of 3D printing, where material shrinkage poses a significant challenge, do you know how to tackle it to ensure print quality? Let&#;s explore the art of cleverly addressing material shrinkage in 3D printing.

What Is 3D Print Shrinkage?

3D print shrinkage refers to the contraction of a 3D printed material as it cools after being extruded and formed. This shrinkage occurs because plastics and other materials expand slightly when heated to high temperatures during printing.

As the material rapidly cools, it starts to shrink back down, reducing the overall dimensions of the print. Shrinkage happens to some degree with almost all 3D printing filaments and resins.

Typical shrinkage rates are 0.3% for materials like PLA and up to 0.7-0.8% for flexible materials like Nylon. The amount of shrinkage depends on factors like:

Print temperature
Cooling rate
Geometry of the print
Number of perimeters/shells
Infill pattern and density

Accounting for the specific shrinkage rate of your material is important to get accurately sized prints that match your digital designs. Warping and cracking can also happen if shrinkage is not properly controlled.

Factoring Material Shrinkage into Your 3D Prints

To get quality 3D printed parts, shrinkage needs to be factored into your print settings and modeled geometry. Here&#;s how to account for shrinkage when 3D printing:

Adjust model dimensions: Scale up the model by the expected shrinkage rate for your material. For a 2% shrinkage, scale the model up to approximately 102%.
Modify custom Gcode: Add commands to scale up extrusion like modifying the XY axes steps/mm.
Use perimeter gaps: Separate perimeters allow room for contraction.
Increase the number of perimeters: More perimeters reduces shrinkage.
Optimize print orientation: Minimize surface area exposed to cooling to reduce shrinkage.
Slow the print speed: Slower cooling reduces material contraction.
Preheat the bed: A heated bed keeps the material warm and flexible during printing.

Taking shrinkage into consideration, especially when printing large or dimensionally sensitive objects, will ensure your 3D prints come outsized correctly without defects.

Why Shrinkage and Warping Occur

PLA Shrinkage and Compensation

PLA (polylactic acid) is one of the most popular and versatile 3D printing materials. Derived from renewable cornstarch, it provides a glossy, low-friction surface finish and prints easily with minimal warping. And you need to pay attention to the PLA settings to create better-quality prints.

The shrinkage rate of PLA filament falls between 0.3% on average. This is relatively low compared to other materials but still must be accounted for, especially when printing large objects.

To compensate for PLA&#;s shrinkage:

Scale up models to 100.3% in your slicer software. OrcaSlicer, Cura, Simplify3D, and others have shrinkage compensation settings.
Print with 3-4 solid perimeters. Multiple shells prevent cracks and hold dimensions.
Use a raft or brim to improve bed adhesion as PLA shrinks. This prevents warping.
Reduce print speed for better layer adhesion and slower cooling. 60 mm/s is ideal for PLA.

With its low shrinkage rate, PLA is an excellent material for high-precision prints when proper scaling and print settings are used.

3D Printed Retractable Predator Cosplay Spear &#; High-precision Spear Printed with PLA

ABS Shrinkage and Compensation

ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) is a durable, versatile plastic commonly used for 3D printing. It&#;s especially popular for functional parts that need good impact resistance.

The shrinkage rate for ABS is slightly higher than PLA, averaging 0.4-0.9% overall. Besides, ABS warps easily as it cools and contracts. In fact, when it comes to 3D printing, PLA and ABS have more differences other than the shrinkage rate.

To account for ABS shrinkage:

Scale models up to 100.4-100.9% in your slicer to match the final dimensions.
Increase the number of perimeters to at least 4 solid shells.
Use a heated print bed to reduce warping as ABS shrinks. 90-110 ̊C is recommended.
Print more slowly to prevent defects and improve accuracy. 40 mm/s is ideal for ABS.
Use an enclosure to control cooling if printing large ABS objects.

Adding extra perimeters is one of the most effective ways to reduce ABS shrinkage. This strengthens edges and corners.

Nylon Shrinkage and Compensation

Nylon is a popular flexible filament known for its strength, durability, and ability to bend rather than break under stress. However, nylon&#;s flexibility comes from its semi-crystalline structure which is highly prone to shrinking.

Nylon shrinks substantially as it cools, typically around 0.5-1.5%. This is 3-4 times greater than the shrinkage seen in PLA or ABS.

To compensate for nylon&#;s high shrinkage:

Scale models up significantly, from 100.5 to 101.5%.
Use a heated chamber to reduce cooling and crystallization.
Print very slowly, 15-25 mm/s, for even cooling.
Increase the number of perimeters to 8-10 solid shells for rigidity.
Use large layer heights like 0.28 mm to speed crystallization.

The heated chamber is one of the best ways to reduce nylon&#;s shrinkage by controlling the cooling process. Slow prints also allow the material to solidify more uniformly.

Shrinkage of Parts in 3D Printing

PETG Shrinkage and Compensation

PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified) is a durable, lightweight filament known for its strength, flexibility, and ease of printing. Unlike many materials, PETG shrinks minimally, generally 0.3-0.8%.

PETG&#;s chemical composition gives it a meager shrinkage rate compared to other common filaments. Its amorphous structure solidifies with little contraction.

To work with PETG&#;s minimal shrinkage:

Scale models up to 100.3-100.8% in your slicer to match the final dimensions.
Use default print profiles like those for PLA.
Increase infill slightly to 5-15% for a bit more structure.
Slow down for overhangs to prevent sagging as PETG remains molten longer.

With such low shrinkage, PETG parts print very accurately to their modeled dimensions. This makes PETG a great choice when precision and tolerances are critical.

When designing, consider shrinkage for success. (photo: i.Materialise)

How to Get the Right Shrinkage Compensation

The key to accounting for shrinkage when 3D printing is applying the right compensation. Some software has automatic presets, but often it must be done manually. The compensation depends on the material, temperature, and model geometry. Together these factors indicate how much the print will shrink so you can compensate accordingly.

Getting the compensation right may take some trial and error since shrinkage varies across brands of the same material. A great way to quantify shrinkage is to print a test model and measure how much it shrinks. Then use that data to calculate the compensation.

A useful test model for measuring shrinkage is the Shrinkage Calculation Object from Thingiverse. Users praise it as a great calibration tool. You can also use the horizontal expansion setting to adjust print size in X/Y to account for shrinkage during cooling.

If creating your own models, you can build shrinkage tolerances through experience. With practice, you&#;ll learn to apply the right tolerances for your designs.

Mastering Shrinkage Compensation for Perfect 3D Prints

Accounting for the shrinkage rates of materials is key to achieving high accuracy with your 3D-printed parts. Use the tips outlined for minimizing shrinkage issues when working with PLA, ABS, Nylon, PETG, and other common 3D printing filaments.

With the right shrinkage compensation strategies, you can get perfectly sized prints that match your CAD models exactly, avoid warping and cracking, and dial in your print quality. Be sure to factor in material shrinkage before starting your next 3D printing project!

FAQs

1. How do you prevent PETG shrinkage?

PETG shrinks minimally but also needs scale models up to 100.3-100.8%. Default PLA print settings work well. Slightly slowing down overhangs prevents sagging.

2 How do you compensate for PLA shrinkage?

Scale PLA models up to 100.3% in your slicer, use 3-4 solid perimeters, a raft or brim, reduce print speeds to 60mm/s, and preheat the bed to reduce warping.

3. Why does PETG shrink less than ABS?

PETG shrinks less than ABS because of its amorphous structure and glass-like thermal properties. PETG solidifies with minimal crystallization so low contractions.

Are you interested in learning more about Pla Shrink Film? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

10 Questions You Should to Know about Protective Film for Aluminum

How Do I Choose Laser Safety Glasses?

Comments

More Categories You Might Be Interest

Top Questions To Ask When Buying Shrink Film For The ...