Handy Wrap and Mini Pallet Wrap: Bundling Boxes and Small Loads

Handy wrap is narrow stretch film for jobs too small for a full pallet roll: a bundle of pipes, a stack of flat boxes, a drawer that must stay shut in the van. At 100mm wide, a mini roll sits comfortably in one hand and wastes far less film than a 400mm or 500mm roll on a small load.

Pack Solution stocks Mini Handy Pallet Wrap in clear and black, the HW38 dispenser that holds it, and full width pallet wrap for the loads a mini roll cannot handle.

Quick Picks: Handy Wrap and Dispenser

For most bundling work you need one mini roll and one dispenser, plus a full width roll if you also wrap pallets.

Best for bundling pipes, cables and small box stacks

Mini Handy Pallet Wrap

A narrow stretch film roll that is easy to handle on small wrapping jobs.

• 100mm x 150m
• 17 micron
• Clear or black
• Sold per roll

From £2.50 ex VAT (£3.00 inc VAT)

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Best for quick, even wrapping with mini rolls

HW38 Handy Wrap Dispenser

The roll turns in the holder, so you wrap in one smooth pass and never touch the film.

• Made for mini handy wrap rolls
• Sold per piece
• Rolls sold separately

£2.50 ex VAT (£3.00 inc VAT)

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Best for full pallets with readable labels

Clear Pallet Wrap

Full width clear hand stretch film for loads too big for a 100mm roll.

• 400mm or 500mm wide
• 120m to 250m rolls
• 20 or 23 micron

From £4.00 ex VAT (£4.80 inc VAT)

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• Mini Handy Pallet Wrap is 100mm wide, 150m long and 17 micron.
• The mini roll comes in clear or black and is sold per roll.
• The HW38 Handy Wrap Dispenser is sold per piece, with rolls sold separately.
• Clear Pallet Wrap runs from 400mm x 120m to 500mm x 250m, in 20 or 23 micron.
• Black Pallet Wrap comes as 400mm x 120m, 400mm x 200m or 500mm x 250m.
• Prices per roll and per dispenser fall as you order more.

What Is Handy Wrap?

Handy wrap is a small roll of stretch film, usually around 100mm wide, used to bundle and secure small items. It works the same way as pallet wrap: you stretch it as you wrap and each layer clings to the one below, so you need no tape and no heat.

Our mini roll is 100mm x 150m at 17 micron. With a width that small you can wind it round a handful of pipes or the handle of a cupboard door with one hand, and it goes exactly where you want it without a long sheet of film flapping about.

The trade has several names for the same product: handy wrap, mini pallet wrap, mini stretch wrap and bundling film. They all describe a narrow stretch film roll for small loads. If you came here looking for heat shrink film, that is a different product, and our guide to shrink wrap vs stretch wrap explains the difference.

Clear or Black Handy Wrap Rolls

Choose clear when you need to see the items or scan labels through the film, and black when you want the contents hidden.

Both colours are the same size and thickness, so they wrap in exactly the same way. Clear suits stock that moves round a warehouse, where someone needs to read a barcode or check a part number without cutting the bundle open. Black suits stock in transit and furniture parts, where you would rather the contents were not on show.

The table below sets the mini roll against the full width pallet wrap rolls, so you can see where each one fits.

Using the HW38 Handy Wrap Dispenser

The HW38 is a hand-held holder for mini rolls. The roll turns inside it as you walk round or wind round the load, so the film goes on evenly and your hands stay off it.

It is a manual stretch wrap dispenser with no motor or settings, so there is nothing to charge or adjust. You control the tension by how hard you pull and how fast you move. Because you hold the dispenser and not the roll, the layers go on neater and more even than they would if you wrapped straight from the roll.

1. Slide a mini handy wrap roll onto the HW38 so the film feeds off the roll towards the item.
2. Pull out a short tail of film and press it against the item, or tuck it under the first turn.
3. Hold the dispenser in one hand and wind round the bundle, keeping a little tension on the film.
4. Overlap each turn by about half the film width as you move along the bundle.
5. Add two or three extra turns at each end, where items are most likely to slide out.
6. Tear or cut the film and smooth the tail down so it clings to the layer below.

If the film keeps breaking, ease off the tension. If the bundle feels loose, pull a little harder so the film stretches as it goes on.

Is a Stretch Film Dispenser Worth It?

You can wrap a mini roll by hand, and for the odd job that is fine. A stretch film dispenser earns its place when wrapping is a daily task. It speeds up each bundle, keeps the film clean and stops the roll slipping out of your fingers halfway round. One in the van or on the goods-in bench saves a lot of fumbling over a week.

What to Bundle With Mini Stretch Wrap

Mini stretch wrap suits anything long, loose or stacked that needs to travel or be stored as one piece.

These are the jobs it handles best:

• Pipes, tubes and cables, wound together so they cannot spread or tangle.
• Lengths of timber and offcuts, held in a neat bundle for the van.
• Stacks of flat boxes, kept together so they do not slide apart on a shelf.
• Two or three cartons held together as one consignment.
• A single box wrapped for extra security on top of its tape.
• Furniture parts, such as legs, shelves and fixings, kept in one bundle.

Clear film is the better choice for cables and parts that get checked, because you can read a label without unwrapping. For mixed parts going into storage, black film keeps the bundle tidy and private.

When you bundle cartons together, wrap round the middle of the stack first and then work outwards. The middle holds the boxes in line, and the outer turns stop the end boxes slipping off.

Handy Wrap for Removals

On a house move, a mini roll keeps small furniture closed and loose parts together without tape marks.

Wrap round a chest of drawers to keep the drawers shut while it is carried. Do the same on small cupboards so the doors cannot swing open on the stairs. Bundle table legs, bed slats and shelves, and keep screws and fixings in a bag taped inside the bundle so nothing goes missing.

Because the film clings to itself, it comes off cleanly with a knife or by unwinding. On polished wood, put a sheet or some bubble wrap under the film first so the plastic does not sit straight on the finish.

A removal crew can carry a dispenser and a couple of rolls in each van. For bigger items, such as a sofa or a wrapped stack of boxes on a pallet, switch to a full width roll.

When Full Width Pallet Wrap Is Better

Switch to a 400mm or 500mm roll once the load is a full pallet or a large piece of furniture, because a 100mm roll would take too many turns.

Full width rolls cover far more height per turn. A 500mm roll covers five times the height of a 100mm roll in one pass, so a full pallet goes from tedious to quick. Our step by step pallet wrapping guide shows how to wrap a whole load.

Best for hiding full pallet loads

Black Pallet Wrap

Opaque full width stretch film that keeps a whole pallet out of view.

• 400mm x 120m and 400mm x 200m at 20 micron
• 500mm x 250m at 23 micron
• Extended core on the 400mm x 200m roll

From £4.00 ex VAT (£4.80 inc VAT)

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Wrapping Full Rolls Without a Pallet Wrap Dispenser

The HW38 only takes mini rolls, so it is not a pallet wrap dispenser for full width film. To hand wrap a full roll comfortably, choose an extended core. The core sticks out past the film at each end and works as a built-in pallet wrap handle, so you grip the core and the roll turns in your hands.

Our clear 400mm x 250m roll and black 400mm x 200m roll both have extended cores. The standard core rolls are made to fit a dispenser. If you are comparing a hand pallet wrap dispenser for mini rolls with full width film, use the mini roll for bundles and full width film for pallets.

Film thickness matters more on a full pallet, where sharp box corners can tear thin film. Our guide to pallet wrap grades and gauges explains micron in more depth.

Kitting Out a Team

For a team that bundles every day, give each van or packing bench its own dispenser and keep spare handy wrap rolls nearby.

A stretch wrap dispenser that is shared between benches spends half the day in the wrong place. The HW38 is sold per piece, and the price per piece falls as you order more, which helps when you equip a whole crew. Mini rolls are also sold one at a time with volume pricing, so you can keep a mix of clear and black without buying a big box of either.

Plan stock around how many bundles you wrap in a week. A 150m roll goes a long way on cables and small parts, but a team wrapping furniture all day will get through rolls faster. Keep at least one spare roll per dispenser so nobody stops mid-job.

Handy Wrap Checklist

• Use a 100mm mini roll for bundles and small loads.
• Pick clear to read labels, or black to hide the contents.
• Load the roll into the HW38 for faster, neater wrapping.
• Overlap each turn by about half the film width.
• Add extra turns at each end of a bundle.
• Put a sheet or bubble wrap under the film on polished furniture.
• Switch to 400mm or 500mm pallet wrap for full pallets.
• Choose an extended core roll to hand wrap full width film.
• Keep a spare roll for each dispenser.

Getting Set Up for Bundling

A mini roll and an HW38 cover nearly every bundling job a workshop, warehouse or removal crew faces. Add a full width roll in clear or black for the days you wrap a whole pallet. The mini rolls, the dispenser and every full width size are in the pallet wrap collection.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is handy wrap?

Handy wrap is a narrow roll of stretch film used to bundle small items and hold boxes together. Mini Handy Pallet Wrap is 100mm wide, 150m long and 17 micron, in clear or black. It clings to itself, so it needs no tape, and it fits the HW38 Handy Wrap Dispenser.

Do I need a handy wrap dispenser?

No, you can wrap mini rolls by hand. The HW38 makes the job faster and neater because the roll turns in the holder and you keep your hands off the film. If you bundle items every day, or the whole team wraps, a dispenser for each bench or van is worth having.

Will the HW38 take full width pallet wrap?

No. The HW38 is a manual stretch wrap dispenser made for mini handy wrap rolls. For 400mm and 500mm pallet wrap, wrap by hand using an extended core roll, such as the clear 400mm x 250m or the black 400mm x 200m, which you can hold by the core.

What can I bundle with mini stretch wrap?

Pipes, tubes and cables, timber offcuts, stacks of flat boxes and two or three cartons sent as one parcel. Removal teams also use it to keep drawers closed and doors shut on small furniture. It is for bundles and small loads, and full pallets need full width wrap.

Clear or black handy wrap rolls: which should I buy?

Pick clear when you need to see the items or read labels and barcodes through the film. Pick black when you want to hide the contents, such as stock in transit or furniture parts. Both are 100mm x 150m and 17 micron, so they wrap the same way.

Is there a pallet wrap handle for full size rolls?

An extended core roll does the job of a pallet wrap handle. The core sticks out past the film at each end, so you can grip it and wrap by hand. Our clear 400mm x 250m roll and black 400mm x 200m roll both have extended cores.

Shop for This Job

• Pallet Wrap

Related Guides

• Shrink Wrap vs Stretch Wrap: Which Film Do You Need for Pallets?
• How To Wrap A Pallet Step By Step
• Pallet Wrap Grades & Gauges: Complete Guide

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