What type of Strapping should I choose?
610
Strapping is used to strap and bundle items together or secure loads to pallets. Which strapping you use depends on the weight of the goods being strapped and the conditions for which they are being secured – usually this is for transport which can be pretty rough, or for storage which is not. There are 3 main types of strapping: Plastic (Polypropylene) Strapping, Polyester/PET Strapping or Steel/Metal Strapping - although there is also a Woven Polyester Strapping new to Get Packed too. These all have higher breaking strains consecutively due to the material they are manufactured from as well as the thickness and width of the strap. Breaking strain is a figure that assists in determining the approximate strength of the strap and what kind of strain it will take before it breaks and is measured in Kg’s, keeping in mind that the weakest point of any strap is the seal and a poor seal will undermine any strength of the strap. The idea is that this information will assist you to determine what type of strapping you need to cover the weight of the items and what kind of breaking strain they will be subjected to. Unless you know all about strapping and what is best then it can become a little overwhelming. Here is a short and simple explanation on the different types of strapping, what the differences are as well as other things you should consider when determining which type of strap to purchase.
What are the different types of strapping?
Plastic Polypropylene Strapping
Blue, white or black plastic strapping is made from polypropylene and comes in either a small (1000m) roll that comes in a dispenser box used in hand strapping applications, or larger (3000m) rolls that are used in strapping machines. The machine rolls have very small variations in width and curvature to enable it to travel through a strapping machine smoothly. All strapping comes in various widths, and the widths provide different breaking strains.
Plastic Strapping in a dispenser Box Product Code Breaking Strain Colour
|
12mm x 1000m plastic strapping |
3-PH-12 |
Breaking Strain up to 120Kg’s |
Blue |
|
15mm x 1000m plastic strapping |
3-PH-15 |
Breaking Strain up to 150Kg’s |
Blue |
|
15mm x 1000m heavy duty plastic strapping |
3-PH-15-HB |
Breaking Strain up to 300Kg’s |
Blue |
|
19mm x 1000m heavy duty plastic strapping |
3-PH-19-HB |
Breaking Strain up to 380Kg’s |
Black |
Plastic Machine Strapping Product Code Breaking Strain
|
12mm x 3000m plastic machine strapping - Blue |
3-PSA12-B |
Breaking Strain approx. 130Kg’s |
|
12mm x 3000m plastic machine strapping – Clear/White |
3-PSA12-C |
Breaking Strain approx. 130Kg’s |
|
12mm x 2500m plastic machine strapping - Black |
3-PSA12-BL |
Breaking Strain approx. 270kg’s |
|
15mm x 2500m plastic machine strapping – Blue |
3-PSA15-B |
Breaking Strain up to 180Kg’s |
|
15mm x 2500m plastic machine strapping - Clear/White |
3-PSA15-C |
Breaking Strain up to 200Kg’s |
What can plastic strapping be used with?
Plastic hand strapping can be used with plastic strapping tools using either plastic or metal seals, a tensioner and a crimper – which can all be provided in a plastic strapping kit (which includes a roll of strapping), or sold separately. A Strap Feeder is an inexpensive addition that makes quick and easy work of feeding the strap under pallets and is a must when it comes to using your strapping in this way.
Machine strapping can be used on any automatic or semi-automatic strapping machines, as well as some pallet strapping machines. Plastic strapping can also be used with any hand held strapping machines such as the Zapak, ZenithPack or BettaPack. All of which are battery operated and fully portable and allow automatic tensioning and friction seals without the need for seals or buckles.
Polyester (PET) Strapping
Poly Strapping is more commonly used as an alternative to steel or metal strapping as it is not only lighter, it has no sharp edges, it doesn’t stain or rust packs or pallets of timber and is UV resistant and can be recycled as well. PET strapping comes in either an embossed form or smooth form with the smooth actually having a higher breaking strain as the overall thickness of the strap is undisturbed and uniform.
|
12mm Embossed Poly Strapping 0.60mm thick |
3-PS1205-E |
Breaking Strain up to 265Kg’s |
|
15mm Embossed Poly Strapping 0.70mm thick |
3-PS15070-E |
Breaking Strain up to 450Kg’s |
|
15mm Embossed Poly Strapping 0.90mm thick |
3-PS15090-E |
Breaking Strain up to 520Kg’s |
|
15mm Smooth Poly Strapping 0.88mm thick |
3-PS15088-S |
Breaking Strain up to 550Kg’s |
|
15.5mm Smooth Poly Strapping 0.89mm thick |
3-PS15089-S |
Breaking Strain up to 550Kg’s |
|
18.5mm Smooth Poly Strapping 1.12mm thick |
3-PS19100-S |
Breaking Strain up to 866Kg’s |
What can polyester strapping be used with?
Poly Strapping is used with hand strapping tools using metal seals , a tensioner and a sealer – which can all be provided in a Polyester Strapping Kit (which also includes a roll of strapping and a dispenser stand), or sold separately, but is also used with Battery Operated strapping tools such as the Zapak and the Zenithpack. The Battery operated tools allow automatic tensioning and friction seals without the need for seals or buckles. It also allows for a portable form of strapping using the one machine – where the machine goes to the job as opposed to the job going to the machine. This can only be done with Poly Strapping. We also supply a pallet strapping System that comes with a portable dispenser and it’s own friction welding tool – BettaPack 3-BP-888 that uses Poly Strapping.
A Strap Feeder is an inexpensive addition that makes quick and easy work of feeding the strap under pallets and is a must when it comes to using your strapping in this way.
Steel/Metal Strapping
Steel or metal strapping is commonly used by people who prefer the traditional surety of steel to keep heavy loads strapped together as it tends to have a higher breaking strain to width than Poly Strapping. It is commonly used to hold heavy loads such as concrete pipes, scaffolding and building materials.
|
12.7mm x 0.5mm RIB Steel Strapping – 10Kg roll |
3-RIB12740 |
Breaking Strain up to 520Kg’s |
|
15.9mm x 0.5mm RIB Steel Strapping – 13Kg roll |
3-RIB15945 |
Breaking Strain up to 662Kg’s |
|
19mm x 0.56mm RIB Steel Strapping – 15Kg roll |
3-RIB19056 |
Breaking Strain up to 795Kg’s |
What can metal strapping be used with?
Steel strapping is used with hand strapping tools using seals, a tensioner, and a sealer – which are all provided in kit form as a Metal Strapping Kit (which includes a roll of strapping and a stand to hold the RIB steel strapping), but are also sold separately.
Woven Polyester Strapping
Much like a seat belt, woven strapping gets it's strength from its polyester fibres that are interlocked and woven together and made rigid with a stiffening agent making it ideal for industrial use. An advantage is that it has no sharp edges and has a high capacity to absorb shocks during transport and is also weather and chemical resistant.
|
16mm x 1000m Woven Poly Strapping (standard) |
3-WPS-16S-BLUE |
Breaking Strain up to 350Kg’s |
|
19mm x 850m Woven Poly Strapping (Light) |
3-WPS-19L-BLUE |
Breaking Strain up to 590Kg’s |
|
19mm x 800m Woven Poly Strapping (Standard) |
3-WPS-19S-RED |
Breaking Strain up to 840Kg’s |
|
19mm x 500m Woven Poly Strapping (Heavy) |
3-WPS-19H-RED2 |
Breaking Strain up to 1100Kg’s |
|
32mm x 125m Woven Poly Strapping (Heavy) |
3-WPS-32H-WHITE |
Breaking Strain up to 2300Kg’s |
What can woven polyester strapping be used with?
Woven polyester strapping can be used either with manual hand strapping tools using clips and a tensioner, or using a Zapak battery powered tensioner made specifically for use with woven strapping. The Zapak Tensioner makes strapping odd shapes - particularly circular shaped surfaces easy.
Things to consider:
- Are you working in conditions where sparks are dangerous? For example – we have one customer who has to change over multiple pallets of stock as the pallets have been strapped with steel strapping. The goods are going to a gas plant so steel strapping can’t be used, so the customer has changed to Polyester strapping.
- Are your goods being stored on the shelf or are they being transported? If being transported then a higher breaking strain is required due to movement
- How heavy is your load? The heavier the higher breaking strain required.
- How much strain will your load be under? For example, strapping hay bales or wool bales means the goods will initially be compressed but will expand after strapping which will put the load under a higher strain.
