Baling wire is an immensely diverse material. Thin, often galvanized lengths of steel are used in everything from recycling to construction. This article takes a close look at some of the most important uses of baling wire today.
Recycling
Today, baling wire is most commonly used in the recycling industry. In fact, companies like balingwiredirect.com make a large portion of their sales to recycling firms. Recyclable material is often incredibly awkward to store and transport when it is loose. This is one of the reasons why recycling companies compress material inside a baler before tying it into a cube using baling wire. Baled materials take up considerably less space than loose materials, and can be loaded efficiently into trucks or shipping containers.
Packaging
Bulk packaging is often secured with baling wire. Palleted goods are typically either wrapped with plastic or tied with wire before being shipped. Though palleted goods are not really intended for consumers directly, a large portion of the products purchased at stores – by said consumers – will have been delivered in this fashion.
Construction
Baling wire is often used to fasten massive girders together while they are being transported to a construction site. Because baling wire is extremely thin and strong, it is a natural choice for tying heavy-duty materials together that need to fit onto a truck or trailer bed in an efficient and compact way. Baling wire is also occasionally used to secure temporary structures that are erected during the construction process.
Repairs
Baling wire has been used as a repair material since the late 1800s, when it was often used to mend fences on farmland. Today, baling wire is an indispensable material for people looking for a quick, ad hoc fix for a number of issues, including attaching an exhaust pipe to a vehicle in an emergency and fixing a garden fence. Baling wire is immensely strong and flexible, making it the perfect material to use as a heavy-duty tie.
Baling wire used to be such a common repair material that it had its very own colloquial term of phrase: ‘held together with baling wire‘. For example, tinkerers frequently used baling wire to replace broken throttle cables in vehicles – something that wouldn’t really be advised today. The use of baling wire as a repair material is typically associated with more rural communities, where baling wire would have been very readily available.
Galvanization
Galvanization is an immensely effective method of increasing the resistance of iron and iron compounds to oxidization. Oxidization – better known as rusting – occurs when the iron is exposed to moisture and oxygen. Oxidized iron is far less durable than iron that has been protected from rust. During the galvanization process, iron or steel is dipped into a bath of molten zinc that has been heated up to around 450 degrees Celsius. This is an extreme temperature that would challenge the structural integrity of just about any material. Baling wire that has previously been galvanized, however, is temperature resistant enough to be used to lower other items into molten zinc without melting itself.
