Here's a recipe for stretch-hood film.

Recipes for coex films are almost always tightly held secrets, but ExxonMobil Chemical Co. in Houston has taken the novel approach of marketing a branded film structure and resin recipe. A special new resin is a key ingredient. The patented three-layer blown film is designed for stretch-hood wrap, which has recently migrated from Europe to the U.S. Stretch-hood film competes with conventional stretch- and shrink-film pallet wrap and with cardboard appliance wrapping. ExxonMobil's new Nexxstar film boasts extreme puncture resistance for sharp, abrasive loads like cinder blocks and bricks. ExxonMobil offers Nexxstar recipes for 50- to 100-micron films. Skin layers are a blend of ExxonMobil's Exceed 1018 CA and Exceed 1018 EB mLLDPEs. The patented core layer is a new, highly elastic EVA called Escorene Ultra EVA FL 00111 (see p. 29).

Since stretch-hood film requires special equipment for end users, ExxonMobil has partnered with Lachenmeier A/S of Sonderborg, Denmark. Lachenmeier's hardware stretches the tubular film over a square frame, pulls the film down over the load, and then releases the film, which snaps back and tightly encases the load. ExxonMobil: [phone], www.nexxztar.com; Lachenmeier: [phone], www.lachenmeier.com

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