Polyolefin vs PVC: What’s the difference?

As fellow business owners, we know the joy you feel when your product is finally ready to market. All the research, development, and testing has finally come to this. Your customers can’t wait to get their first peek behind the safety of all your packaging. 

One of the joys of releasing your products to loving hands is knowing they’ll reach safely without any further issues. Optimizing your shipping logistics can be challenging. Lucky for you, we know a thing or two about getting the right packaging for you.

What is Shrink Wrap?

Shrink Wrap is a highly stretchable plastic that conforms to the shape of your product. Using heat, the Knox Shrink Wrap fits closely to any shape your throw its way and acts as your first line of defense against dents and scratches.

Whether you’re delivering carefully cured meats, moving furniture across the state, or shipping your new invention across the world, shrink wraps are a powerful way to protect your valuables and optimize your shipping costs.

Shrink Wraps were traditionally made with PVC material due to their ability to morph under heat. Rapid developments in cleaner, greener, and safer ways to ship resulted in the invention of the Polyolefin Shrink Wrap.

Round 1: Durability

Even though PVC Shrink Wrap is used worldwide, it does come at a cost when the seasons start to change. PVC Wraps get brittle in very cold climates and start to wrinkle as temperatures start to rise. 

Finding the optimum temperature shouldn’t be a problem for your product, nor the protective packaging it comes in. This is where Polyolefin Shrink Wrap comes in handy, as it works well across a wide range of temperatures, so your packages will be secured in warm climates and cold climates without breach. 

Winner: Polyolefin Shrink Wrap

Round 2: Application

PVC Wraps are commonly used on evenly shaped items such as small boxes, CD cases, and other regular packaging. If you’ve ever popped open a fresh new album from your favorite band, you’ll know how easy it is to tear your way through that thinly veiled plastic. 

Polyolefin Shrink Wrap offers more resistance against tears and breaks because it’s way more stretchy. It’s also easy to wrap any item with Polyolefin 60 Guage Shrink Wrap by hand instead of expensive machinery with PVC. 

Polyolefin’s stretchability also makes it perfect for irregularly shaped products. If you’re shipping appliances, sculptures, chairs, or other unevenly shaped items, Polyolefin is the clear choice.

Winner: Polyolefin Shrink Wrap

Round 3: Safety

Due to the release of Hydrogen Chloride, carbon, and harmful odors from PVC Packaging, you’ll need a properly ventilated space to prep your products before shipping. These chemicals make them unsafe for food, pharmaceuticals, and other products you consume. 

The safer and greener way to ship is Knox’s Polyolefin Shrink Wrap. This wrap contains no chlorine or plasticizers to contaminate your product or the environment. At Knox, our Polyolefin Shrink Wraps and Stretch Wraps are FDA approved for direct contact with food.

Winner: Polyolefin...again

Round 4: Cost

PVC Packaging is the most commonly used packaging material across the world. This drives down the cost due to scale. However, this won’t be the case for much longer. More countries are banning the use of PVC in packaging due to its high impact on the environment.

Polyolefin is typically higher in price than PVC. However, your costs are canceled out due to its reliability, ease of use, and wide range of applications. Knox has the best prices on Polyolefin Shrink & Stretch Wraps because we want to make it easier for businesses to make the switch.

Winner: PVC...but not for long

And the Winner is: 

It’s not even close. Polyolefin is the better wrap for small and large-scale businesses. Knox carries the best Shrink Wraps at the best prices for a reason. You simply can’t beat the stretchability, durability, safety, and accessibility of this product.

Conclusion