PET Strap Size Chart & Specification Guide

Start with the load, not the width

Almost every strap enquiry opens with a width. It is the wrong end of the problem. Width is an output of three inputs: how heavy the pallet is, how the load behaves in transit, and what tool is doing the tensioning. Choose a width first and you can easily end up with strap your tool cannot tension correctly — which performs worse than a narrower strap that it can.

The three inputs

Pallet weight, and how it is distributed

This sets the break strength you need. A dense, low pallet and a tall, light one at the same weight do not put the same demand on the strap, because the tall one has further to shift before the strap catches it.

How much the load settles

Cartons of soft goods settle a great deal; drums settle almost not at all. The more the load settles, the more you are relying on the elastic recovery of the strap rather than on its initial tension. This is the property that steel does not have and the main reason to be using PET at all.

The tool

Hand tools and battery tools have a working width range and a maximum tension. Automatic strapping heads have both, plus a feed path that a thicker strap may not clear. Tell us the make and model — it removes more guesswork than any other single piece of information.

Why there is no break-strength table on this page

Break strength is a safety number. Publish an approximate one and somebody will specify against it, order against that specification, and load a pallet on the strength of a figure nobody tested.

We are confirming tested figures per width with production. Until those exist, the rating for the width you need goes on your quote, where it is attached to an actual product and an actual order. We would rather have a visibly empty section on this page than a plausible one.

PET against steel, in practice

• Retained tension. PET recovers as the load settles. Steel goes slack and stays slack.
• No rust. Steel in a humid container rusts onto painted, plated and coated surfaces. The item is rejected on appearance even though nothing structural happened.
• Safe release. A tensioned steel strap is stored energy and cutting it is a known injury source at receiving docks. PET is cut with a hand tool and does not spring.
• Weight and cost. Lighter and cheaper for an equivalent break strength.

Steel still has its uses — hot loads, very sharp-edged loads and some heavy metal-industry applications. We do not make it, so we have nothing to lose by saying so.

Strap and corner protection together

Strapping and edge protection are two halves of the same decision. Tension high enough to hold the load and you crush the top carton; tension low enough to protect it and the load moves. An angle board under the strap is what removes the choice.

If you are buying strap to fix a load that keeps arriving loose, check whether the actual problem is that the previous strap was crushing the carton and somebody reduced the tension to stop it. That is a board problem wearing a strap problem’s clothes, and it is common.