There are lots of things in life that you don't want to shrink. A new pair of pants, the portion sizes at your favorite restaurant, and your height are all things you likely hope won't ever shrink. 

But sometimes, a thing's ability to shrink makes it amazing. Such is the case with shrink bands from Container and Packaging. In fact, the more they shrink, the better they are! So, let's take a look at what shrink bands are and what makes them so darn awesome.

What are shrink bands?

Shrink bands are thin plastic sleeves that cover a container and closure to help provide tamper evidence.  They are commonly used on bottles, jars, tins, and other containers. They provide an easy visual method of determining whether or not a package has previously been opened. 

Shrink bands are also used for decorative purposes to label products. As an alternative to classic sticker labels, customized shrink sleeves can be used to provide a full-wrap design and tamper-evidence to your packaging. 

How do you use shrink bands?

Shrink bands come in stacks or bundles of plastic sleeves. To use them, simply slide the sleeves over the containers and apply heat using a heat gun or heat tunnel. The heat causes the bands to shrink snugly around the containers. The shrink bands will have to be removed before the containers can be opened. But how do you shrink a shrink band in the first place? 

There are many different ways to make a shrink band shrink. From dunking the tops of your containers in boiling water to using your bathroom hairdryer, there is no shortage of ways one can apply heat to these thin pieces of plastic. However, the best tools for application are heat guns and heat tunnels. Heat guns lightly blow incredibly hot air, and they work great for applying shrink bands and shrink sleeves in short production runs. If you have a big production, a heat tunnel would be more efficient. Heat tunnels are large hot boxes that are usually used by manufacturers and filler companies to evenly apply shrink sleeves and shrink bands to containers in an assembly line style process. Both heat guns and heat tunnels are great options for professional application; the deciding factor for choosing one over the other comes down to your own production volume. 

What are the benefits of shrink bands?

Shrink bands are very cost-effective. They are less expensive than tamper evident caps or pricey induction sealing equipment. Also, you can choose how convenient or time-consuming it is to open your product by choosing either perforated or non-perforated shrink bands. Perforated bands have a little dotted line down the sides of them, so all you need is an opposable thumb to remove them, while non-perforated bands require scissors or something sharp to remove. Additionally, shrink bands provide a quick visual method of checking for tamper evidence without requiring users to open the container. 

What else should you know about shrink bands?

Before you jump onto the shrink-bandwagon (see what we did there?), you need to consider a couple of things:

One thing you need to consider is the shape of your container. If the container or lid does not have a lip, then the shrink band might slip off. When using containers that do not have a lip for a shrink band to grab onto, a shrink sleeve that covers the full container and wraps around the bottom is usually a more effective option than a shrink band that only covers the top.

Also, be aware that shrink bands do not provide a hermetic seal, so don't depend on them to seal liquid or gasses in or out of the container. They are for tamper evidence, not liquid and air protection.

If you are looking for an easy and cost-effective method of tamper evidence, then shrink bands might be the perfect solution. We think they are pretty amazing, and we hope that now you do too!