You buy containers wrapped in those 5 foot long half inch wide plastic wrapping straps and you cut off the straps with scissors.
Then you throw away the straps because you can't reheat them to seal them for something else.
Or can you?
Is there anything we already have at home that will heat those straps together when they're pulled tightly around another box?
Do any of you re-use those tightly wrapped plastic packing straps for anything?
Almost first hit on a google search for "plastic binding + strap" :
I save all that stuff. If you mean platic "ties", I learned early to cut them off at the right spot so they were still almost as long as when new.
[snip]
I haven't seen one in over a decade, partially because they're almost never used anymore, and partly 'cuz I'm not in that type of work these days, but we _loved_ the similar metal straps...
Those were just the right type of steel and thickness to cut into "slim jims" for opening many locked cars...
He means this type of strapping:
And then what do you do with them?
Oh. I don't think I've seen this exact thing. If he didn't mean one of those nylon ratchety wire ties,
I later thought he meant the ones that take a metal clamp. But the ones in the link are easy to sew, and flexible, not stiff. They sound great.
I save them! Every once in a while I use one. I used one to make a handle for a car battery charger that was mising one, and it broke after several years, so I'll get to use another. One I used to snake a wire for the vanity mirror light (when I got new sunvisors) through the top rail of the windshield. That worked great. I try to save a little of everything and late at night, I usually have whatever I need.
These things would let you reuse the straps.
This video may give hints:
I have seen these straps made and they are stretched and oriented like man made fibers to increase strength and stiffness. Heat sealing would probably disorient the plastic and weaken it.
Why go through the trouble of creating a tinyurl when shortening the original link is easier? Retains the name of the item too.
And yet it's done all the time. I'll wager that there is more heat sealed plastic strapping than mechanically clipped. At least that's my experience and has been for many years.
No scissors required.
1 - Find the seam 2 - Look underneath for the unsecured tab 3 - Grasp the tab and pull it away from the strap
Don't tell my guys in shipping. Used similar at work thousands of times.
Doh ! I wondered why folks were posting so many other links after mine - mine only linked to the google search instead of the actual video clip ...
Here you go...
Not that I know of.
Not me.
Assuming you don't need to pull them tight...or have another way to do that and also crimp the clip. Are the dedicated tools that are shown required? Maybe not, but they were designed with those purposes in mind.
Here's one for $180...no clue if it's any good or not.
What is the OP doing that he wants/needs to reuse the straps? Shipping stuff? Storing stuff? Just curious.
I've received packages that have been wrapped with the straps. Not sure I've ever had a need to reuse them, especially since they have been cut to a specific length. Any further use could only be with a shorter length (since they need to be overlapped to secure) or would require more than one clip to attach multiple pieces together. Of course, using the tool above would make it easier to link multiple pieces. I guess if you are reusing them often enough, $180 might be worth it.
Here is that "exact thing", in use:
Snow tires & wheels from TireRack.
...snip...
I went and re-watched the video - didn't see any tools .. It seems to pull nice & tight by hand.. The only thing he does "wrong" is fold/crease the long end that he subsequently pulls through. John T.
There have been a couple of videos related to the metal clips, I guess. The one I watched used one tool for tightening and one tool crimping the clip. I'll check yours out when I get a chance.
No doubt there are lots of commercial/industrial variations but the OP was talking about re-using the poly strapping - this video makes it appear that a ten-cent clip would work - which works-for-me. John T.
...and the tools in this video don't preclude reusing the poly strapping, just like the clips could be used in commercial/industrial applications.
Personally, I like the single tool heat bonding method. Well, personally, I don't think I've ever had the need (or desire) to reuse the straps. ;-)
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