Packaging Material Calculator

About this calculator

Ordering packaging material by feel is how a run stops halfway. Bubble wrap is sold by the metre on a roll of a given width, tape by the metre, stretch film by weight or length — none of which tells you how many parcels a roll covers until you work out the surface area of the parcel.

Enter one parcel's dimensions and how many you are packing. The result is what to order, with the per-parcel figures alongside so you can check them against a roll you have already used.

How to use this calculator

1. Enter the dimensions of one packed parcel.
2. Set how many parcels the run covers.
3. Choose the number of wrap layers and the overlap allowance.
4. Order above the figures shown - waste is not included in them.

The formula

Surface area = 2 x (LW + LH + WH)                   two of each face
Bubble wrap  = surface area x layers x (1 + overlap)
Tape         = 2 x (L + 2H) + 2L                    an H-seal on both faces
Stretch film = 2 x (W + H) x layers x (1 + overlap) girth per turn

The tape figure allows for an H-seal: the centre seam plus a turn down each side, on the top face and again on the bottom. It is the standard seal for a corrugated carton and it is what most sellers actually do.

Stretch film is worked out from the girth, so a taller parcel needs more film per turn even where its surface area is similar.

Worked example

A 30 × 20 × 15 cm parcel, 100 of them, one layer with a 10% overlap:

Surface area = 2 x (600 + 450 + 300) = 2,700 cm²
Wrap each    = 2,700 x 1.1 = 2,970 cm² = 0.297 m²
Wrap total   = 29.7 m²
Tape each    = 2 x (30 + 30) + 60 = 180 cm = 1.8 m
Tape total   = 180 m

A 50-metre roll of bubble wrap 1 metre wide covers 50 m², so one roll does the run with room over. A 65-metre tape roll does not — you need three.

Notes and limits

• Waste is not modelled. Buy above these figures, particularly on tape, where the last few metres of a roll are usually unusable.
• The wrap figure assumes the wrap is cut to fit. Tearing lengths off a roll by eye uses noticeably more.
• Bubble wrap is sold by length at a given width. Divide the area here by the roll width to get the length to order.
• Two layers doubles the wrap but not the tape. Tape depends on the carton, not on what is inside it.
• For the cost rather than the quantity, use the packaging cost calculator.

What this calculation assumes

• The parcel is a rectangular carton and the wrap is cut to fit rather than torn by eye.
• Tape allows for an H-seal on both faces.
• Waste is not included, so order above these figures.