Shrink wrapping for home users

May 27, 2006 1:32 PM

What's the best way to do shrink wrapping at home? I have a few magazines, books, boxed games, etc.. that I want to protect from moisture. Is there a shrink wrapping system for home users?
posted by stbalbach to technology (8 comments total)

There are food storage systems that allow you to seal in plastic and suck the air out. Google 'vacuum food sealer' to find examples. Mine is a very old 'FoodSaver' brand, but there are many others.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:36 PM on May 27, 2006

Yeah I own a FoodSaver (great product) the problem is the seal is not reliable long term with sharp-edged book-type things. Once the vacuum seal leaks the whole thing puffs out and moisture can get in. With shrink wrap a tiny break in the seal doesn't compromise, it stays tightly bound.
posted by stbalbach at 1:43 PM on May 27, 2006

How much money are you willing to spend? To do true shrink wrapping at home, you can get a heat gun for $58 and cartons of shrink-to-fit PVC bags for as little as $19 for little items, or a gigantor roll of the stuff (at 75 gauge) for $25-$50 ish, depending on the width you want. There are also some economy starter sets for shrink-wrapping in semi-bulk.

I haven't shopped around, but Uline's prices are usually pretty good for packaging stuff.
posted by redfoxtail at 4:33 PM on May 27, 2006

(The starter set comes with a bar sealer, so you can seal off your edges neatly and tightly. You may want to poke around Uline's whole Shrink Tools and Equipment section, if only for fun.)
posted by redfoxtail at 4:38 PM on May 27, 2006

A friend of mine has told me that Gamestop will shrinkwrap anything you want for free or cheap. He got his ipod shrinkwrapped there. I don't know if you have Gamestops, but you might ask.
posted by MadamM at 4:52 PM on May 27, 2006

redfoxtail thanks. I didn't realize all you need is a heat gun and plastic wrap. I checked ebay and there is stuff even cheaper than Uline, but that's a good site.
posted by stbalbach at 8:35 PM on May 27, 2006

I've used the big rolls for years and get better(much flatter) results for magazines using a regular hair dryer rather than a heat gun.
posted by nenequesadilla at 9:59 PM on May 27, 2006

More experienced people please correct me if I'm wrong about this, but how can simple shrink-wrapped bags possibly be airtight? As you are running your heat gun over the package and the plastic is shrinking, the air has to go somewhere, or the plastic would develop a big balloon-like bleb. So the air must go out through a hole somewhere. In order for the package to be airtight, you'd have to go find that hole and seal it separately, but as far as I have ever heard, no such procedure is part of the process. If this is true, shrink-wrapping offers very limited protection against moisture, because a hole which will let air out will let water vapor, if not liquid water, in.
posted by jamjam at 9:11 AM on May 28, 2006