Poly Bag Mil Sizes

How to choose the right thickness for poly bags?

If you end up with the wrong thickness or Mil of a poly bag, you’ll run into trouble. Choosing a gauge that may be too small, the bag may not survive. On the flip side, larger Mil poly bags can be more expensive and you will over spend if you’re just guessing. Make sure you take the following into consideration when choosing bag thickness:

How much support you will need.
How you product needs to be displayed.
Does your product need a special type of poly?

Poly bag Mil sizes:

2 Mil: Used for protecting light and medium weight products. Clothing, parts, and bin liners are commonly used in this thickness.

3 Mil: Great for medium weight products. Hardware and parts is used with this thickness. You’ll also find that plastic furniture covers and mattress bags also use this mil.

4 Mil: Your more bulky products will use this size gauge. Any of your items that need that extra strength, think industrial items… bolts, screws, etc.

5 Mil: Extra protection. Have sharp-edges on your products? How about heavy duty industrial parts? You’re going to want to use at least a 5 mil poly bag.

6 Mil: The strongest protection of the bunch, this bag has a high resistance to being punctured. Gears, parts, heavy metal belong in these size bags. You’ll see them also commonly used for industrial plastic bags.

Wait, what’s a mil?

Great question! Now that you know what mil size poly bag you need for your product, check out our conversion chart from mil to inches. It’ll help you figure out exactly what bag you’re looking for.

Done learning? Be sure to check out our full selection of poly bags, know that you know about mil size.

Poly Bag Mil Sizes published first on https://www.thepackaginggroup.com/

How to Winterize your Windows with Plastic Sheeting Rolls

You may wonder if your windows need to be winterized at all, and what benefit this will have on your heating bill this winter. Every building is unique, so your results and applications may differ as well. Newer windows with double panes of glass trap air between them, and may have fewer drafts than older window panes.

Here’s how to tell if you need to winterize your windows with poly sheets:

1. Visually inspect your windows and seals; look for moving drapes or curtains that could indicate a leak is present that allows a draft to come through the windows. Carefully press on the window panes themselves and check for movement; and look along the edge of each pane to feel for a cracked seal.
2. Wait until a heavy wind is blowing and feel around the edges of the window. Check to see if you are able to feel the wind.
3. Lastly, turn the heat on in your home on a cold day. When the house is up to temperature, walk to a window and place your hand within a few inches of the pane to check for a draft change or drop in air temperature near your window.

If you detected a draft or issue in the steps above, then you would benefit from winterizing your windows.

What Winterizing in Plastic Means

• There are many ways you can winterize your home. Many people use thermal drapes, removable storm windows, and rolls of plastic sheeting to stop heat sinks at doors and windows.
• Of the three options, poly sheeting is the least expensive and best option available.
• To winterize your windows in plastic, you need to place a heavy plastic sheet over your windows, taping it tightly to the walls or sill, and use heat to tighten the plastic to a smooth finish.
• The end result is a window without gaps or drafts, which still allows sunlight to enter and warm the room.

Winterizing Windows with Plastic

• Winterizing your windows with plastic is best accomplished with two people. 
• Within a few hours, you can have all over your windows prepared for winter. 
• Before beginning, measure your windows and gather the following supplies:
• Window caulk
• Caulk gun
• Weather stripping
• Plastic sheeting rolls, with sections trimmed to the size of your windows
• Heavy-duty double sided tape
• Hair dryer or heat gun

Instructions for applying rolled plastic to your windows:

1. Peel the backing off of the weather stripping and use it to seal the edges of the windows. Press it firmly along the edge of the glass and sill.
2. Locate any loose window panes and have your partner push them to reveal the gap. Apply a thin bead of caulk into these cracks and allow the window pane to settle back into place.
3. Place a row of double sided tape at the top of the window around 1 inch in from the glass.
4. Stretch the plastic across the top of the window tightly, pressing it onto the tape.
5. Run a line of tape down the sides of the windowsill, 1 inch from the glass, and a final row of tape across the bottom edge.
6. Pull the plastic down firmly, smoothing it onto the tape on the sides and across the bottom to seal.
7. Turn the heat gun on high heat, and aim it at the plastic to shrink it. Move the hair dryer back and forth in across the plastic continuously until the plastic shrinks to a form a tight sheet across your window with no wrinkles or creases. Avoid placing the heat too close to the plastic or you may burn through.

The Packaging group is a leading supplier of plastic sheeting rolls and we carry a variety of polyethylene sheeting rolls that can be used for preparing your home for the upcoming winter months.

How to Winterize your Windows with Plastic Sheeting Rolls published first on https://www.thepackaginggroup.com/

Signode Banding Supplier – Industrial Strapping Supplies

Signode Metal Banding Supplier

Apex Plus Steel Banding

Signode Apex Plus is a cold-rolled, medium carbon steel strapping, engineered to yield a higher break strength at a thinner gauge than regular-duty steel strapping. In many light to medium-duty applications, Apex Plus can substitute for the heavier gauge regular-duty steel strapping to save money on material and shipping costs.

Magnus Steel Banding

Signode Magnus Banding is a cold-rolled, heat-treated, medium carbon steel strapping that provides high tensile strength and excellent shock resistance for the heaviest-duty applications.

Seals

Pneumatic Tools

Signode pneumatic tensioners take most of the effort out of strapping large or compressible packages. They also make tensioning uniform and precise through adjustment of the air pressure regulator.

Signode pneumatic sealers let compressed air do most of the work. They are used to achieve high production on heavy strapping, especially when seals are in awkward positions or whenever productivity must be maximized.

Manual Tensioners and Sealers

Signode hand tensioners allow operators to bring strap to desired tension with minimal interruption, effort and strap waste.

Signode manual sealers provide positive sealing action with minimal effort. Light and durable, they lock strap ends into a high strength joint.

Battery Operated Tools

GripPack battery powered sealer and tensioner for ¾” and 1 ¼” steel strapping deliver maximum power and performance without the air general costs and inconsistencies of pneumatic tools. With one-button operation and performance enhancing features not found on pneumatic tools, they vastly improve productivity for the application of steel strapping in heavy-duty hand tool applications.

Signode Banding Supplier – Industrial Strapping Supplies published first on https://www.thepackaginggroup.com/

Switching from steel to poly strapping

When is it time to switch from steel to poly strapping?
What are the benefits of poly strap?
Is poly better than steel?

If you’ve asked those questions before, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of poly over steel.

Steel’s been around for awhile. 

It used to be the only option, used for heavy duty loads where high strength and little stretch is needed. Common applications for steel strapping are bailing wire, bricks and pavers, bundles of metal, and steel coils. All the heavy duty stuff that needs high performance that steel offers. However, it’s not the only option anymore. Poly has improved over the years offering varying levels of higher strength that just wasn’t possible back in the day.

It’s not all bad though:
Steel strap is high in strength and has a low elongation.

Some of it’s problems are that it tends to be the most expensive option, has sharp edges, it’s not weather resistant, and is a big risk to workers’ safety.

Poly Strapping is a cost-effective alternative to steel

It’s designed for light to medium duty loads and is great for unitizing, palletizing, and bundling. The great thing about poly strap is all the variations it comes in. Whether you’re looking for a different width, thickness, or poly variation, it offers a lot. 

Poly strap is lightweight and easy to apply. So if you have new workers learning the ropes, poly strap may be the way to get them learning. It also offers high elongation and high elongation recovery. For those companies focused on going green, good news; it’s easy to recycle. Simply put, poly strapping is the most cost effective option when compared to steel.

Steel strap may still be needed for those most heavy duty of applications, but you can see for yourself what poly brings to the table. It’s a great substitution if you’re looking to save money and still get the job done.

We have more info on strapping, like the differences between steel, polyester, and polypropylene.

Switching from steel to poly strapping published first on https://www.thepackaginggroup.com/

What is Visqueen Plastic Sheeting?

Visqueen is a brand of polyethylene plastic sheeting (typically Low-density polyethylene) produced by British Polythene Industries Limited. It is the registered trade mark of British Polythene Limited in numerous countries throughout the world. It is commonly between 4 and 10 mils (0.004 to 0.01 in./0.1 to 0.25 mm) thick and is available in clear, opaque, blue and black. 

Visqueen is used for many purposes. It is commonly used as a temporary tarpaulin, as a drop cloth when painting, to cover concrete as it sets, to line decorative ponds, and to cover the ground before applying stone or wood chips to prevent weed growth. Large (100 x 20 ft) sheets of Visqueen are used during floods to protect levees from wave wash erosion. It is often suggested for use in greenhouses. Visqueen is also used as a ground cover in the crawl space of home foundations as a vapor barrier. Its use underneath a basement is to prevent water infiltration from water present in the ground that would pass through the concrete or dirt floor and bring in unwanted dampness.

To browse a selection of similar products, view our selection of plastic sheeting.

What is Visqueen Plastic Sheeting? published first on https://www.thepackaginggroup.com/

How to Evaluate Plastic Sheeting Suppliers

Let’s examine the most important things to consider when choosing poly sheeting vendors. Everyone is trying to save money by getting better prices from plastic sheeting suppliers. But is getting a better price always a better deal? Price should be only one factor in the bigger picture of your business operations.

1. Price – Yes, price is important. But if your supplier cannot make a reasonable margin on your business, then something is going to suffer. More likely than not, the quality and specifications of your sheeting will fluctuate.

2. Service – We are highly dependent upon our manufacturers because we outsource the product. Over the past year we’ve been measuring the effect of fill rates, late orders, time to resolve an issue, and time to import invoices, and how all of these things affect not only our expenses but also impact customer satisfaction. 

3. Quality – This applies not only to vendors’ adherence to specifications, but also whether the product is packed adequately, labeled correctly, and includes agreed-upon specifications.

Most business owners know to look for these metrics but they seldom measure how well a vendor actually meets them. It’s important for you to know the actual cost of a supplier’s failure in any of these categories.

4. Alignment – It’s this fourth category that many companies fail to consider. And it’s just as important as the first three.

Do you have a supplier who will take your business, but only on his terms? It seems to me that when a supplier is not aligned with your long-term interest, then you should stop buying from him – or at the very least, limit your buying.

Purchasing power is a strategic competitive advantage. But it’s not just low prices we get. We are now building true partnerships where our suppliers have just as much concern for our customers and our long-term success as we do. 

The Packaging Group is a leading provider of packaging supplies, packaging equipment and packaging solutions. If you would like to know more about The Packaging Group and how we can help you improve the quality and reliability of your plastic sheeting supplies, view our selection of products, or contact us for additional information.

How to Evaluate Plastic Sheeting Suppliers published first on https://www.thepackaginggroup.com/

Signode Steel Banding – Metal Strapping Supplies

Signode Steel Banding is the strongest of all banding materials. It is recommended where high strength is necessary, low elongation is important, and where the product is extremely sharp or hot. Signode Steel banding is sealed using mechanical seals and notch banding seals type joints. Although the market for steel is declining, there are still numerous applications where steel is the preferred alternative. Look for your product below or talk to our knowledgeable customers representatives and get same day shipping anywhere in the country!

Steel Banding is available in three different steel banding finishes. Each is tailored to the requirements of particular tensioning methods, sealing devices, and packaging applications.

Painted: Painted banding is coated to offer corrosion resistance. Available in a wide array of Magnus banding sizes, it is used in crimp-style seal systems to produce high joint strength.

Painted and Waxed: Painted and waxed banding also provides corrosion resistance. Available in all Apex Plus and Magnus strap sizes, it can be used in notch or crimp-type seal systems. Its chief advantage is improved tension transmission around load corners. Waxed banding is required for feed wheel-type tensioners.

Zinc painted and waxed: Zinc finish banding is waxed and has a zinc-enriched coating to provide outstanding resistance to rust. Available in a variety of Apex Plus and Magnus sizes, it has the same enhanced tension transmission characteristics as the painted and waxed banding. Zinc finish safeguards where it is needed most-at points of surface damage and scratches.

Signode Steel Banding – Metal Strapping Supplies published first on https://www.thepackaginggroup.com/