How Does Shrink Wrap Work?
How Shrink Wrap Shrinks Most of us don’t give much thought to how shrink wrap works or how it got there in the first place. We just know it usually takes our teeth to get it off, but it actually involves a manipulation of molecules. Polymers are long molecules found in plastic, where they are usually tangled and random. When they are made into a plastic film for shrink wrapping, the molecules are stretched out almost straight. We take this film and place it around whatever we want to wrap and add heat. Once the heat is applied to the film, it shrinks because the heat causes the polymers to return to their natural tangled state. A PVC film can shrink as much as 50 percent of its original size. The Benefits of Shrink Wrapping Shrink wrapping makes packages more tamper-proof, and keeps out moisture and light exposure. Shrink wrapping, for example, is great for CDs because you can still see the cover. The benefits for crafters are many: You can make your own gift baskets or crafts, and dre
