6 advantages of Stretch Hood to protect the palletized chemical product

Which packaging systems provide the best protection for the chemical industry? Which technology offers the best safety? The chemical industry has many particularities in packaging with products of diverse compositions, multiple formats, and different packaging. We are talking about solid chemical products such as polymers, solid powders, media, additives, frits, enamels or petrochemical granulates, among many others.

In today’s article, we break down the advantages of the Stretch Hood system compared to other systems to better protect palletized solid chemicals.

Which packaging systems are used in the chemical industry?

Due to the different formats and natures of their products, the chemical sector usually chooses the pallet stretch hood system as the most versatile. However, many solid chemicals companies also use stretch hooding systems (shrink and Stretch Hood) to obtain higher impermeability of the product.

See each of them:

•  Wrapping system for chemical products: for chemical products in bag format, it is very common to wrap the pallet after the palletizing station. Although the stretch wrapper is very well adapted to this type of product and format, it always requires inserting a cover on its upper part to protect against humidity and rain. Therefore, this system does not offer total protection in outdoor storage, long storage, or long transports.

• Shrink hood system for chemical products: Shrink hooding has been used for many years to overcome the protection problems of the shrink wrapper. The tubular shrink film protects the entire chemical package by adapting to its shape. The main inconvenience is precisely the application of heat on such a delicate product, in addition to the high maintenance required by this heat shrink system.

• Stretch Hood wrapping system for chemical: Finally, the Stretch Hood is becoming the industrial packaging alternative on the rise in recent years in this sector. Its advantages in protection and safety for the chemical product make it the industry’s favorite, as we will see in this article.

6 advantages of Stretch Hood for chemicals

Safer packaging process

Compared to shrink hooding, Stretch Hood does not require the use of heat to protect the package as the film is stretchable and adapts to its contour. This avoids one of the major problems of film adhesion to the product.  In addition, the heat applied during film shrinkage can cause small burns on the hood, causing the chemical to be damaged, melting, or sticking to the sack.

With the heat shrink hood system, the installation also requires more maintenance, due to the continuous risk of fire from the burners and gas pipes, in addition to the high insurance rates and higher energy consumption.

Protection against external agents

The Stretch Hood consists of protecting the load using a tubular film that adjusts to the size of the load, protecting it completely.

• Compared to the wrapping system, a single layer provides total protection of the five visible sides of the pallet, without the need to add a top cover or wrap with additional film. In addition, with stretch wrapping, over time or due to transport impacts, the tension of the original wrapping is lost, causing cracks and humidity leakage between the different layers of film.

• Concerning the heat shrink system, Stretch Hood also offers greater protection in the sense that it is hooded with a highly resistant film and has no risk of causing holes, as small as they may be, during the application of heat.

The advantages of Stretch Hood film

Stretch Hood film is one of the industrial packaging market’s most advanced and developed consumables. In addition to its multi-layer component that gives it elasticity and barrier properties, Stretch Hood film is highly stretchable and its shrink forces keep the load tight.

The development in the production of Stretch Hood film is advancing steadily, with Stretch Hood film types becoming more and more elastic and stable, while at the same time being produced in thinner and thinner weights, which saves material. The trend for Stretch Hood stretch film is to include more recycled material and bioplastics in its composition, thus contributing to sustainability in packaging.

Stable stretch hood for chemical

Regarding the stretch hood system, which reinforces the stability of the pallet, the Stretch Hood can also be customized to offer greater stability. Thus, the stretch hood system can be reinforced at the bottom of the pallet to further bind the load to the pallet, or it can be stretch hooded down to the base for extra protection.

Brand image and legibility

Another advantage of the Stretch Hood over the stretch wrapping and shrink hooding systems is that the film layer is completely transparent, with no folds, layers, or wrinkles. This allows for better product presentation and brand image at the chemical shipment. It also allows better legibility and traceability of logistic codes, even protecting the label and shipping information applied underneath the Stretch Hood.

Adaptable to diverse formats

Compared to the heat shrink system, Stretch Hood is much more adaptable to chemical packaging systems as there is no danger of damaging the product or the bag. The Stretch Hood is used to sleeve sacks, big bags and bulk bags, drums, jerry cans, carafes, and even solid chemical boxes. Innova’s Stretch Hood system can be programmed to protect several different pallet formats and heights, as evidenced by the different cases of chemical customers already enjoying the benefits of this system:

• GRUPO IQE: products in special high sacks
• COLOROBBIA GROUP: products in sacks, big bags, and boxes
• FRITTA: products in big bags
• ESMALGLASS: products in big bags and sacks

Switching to the Stretch Hood System for many chemical and petrochemical companies is a safe bet. Whether for the renovation of outdated systems (such as shrink wrapping or pallet wrapping) or new installations, Stretch Hood is the most demanded industrial packaging system. At Innova, with numerous clients in the sector, we can offer a personalized consultancy to protect the chemical product, whatever the format. Do not hesitate to contact us for a study and budget without compromise.