Horizontal stretch wrap machines, or orbital or ring wrappers, are used to bundle long or narrow items such as pipes, lumber, and textile rolls. Windows and doors are most commonly wrapped with this method.

The horizontal stretch wrapper is sometimes used in combination with a vertical wrapper to provide six sided wrapping.

The machines are available in three levels of automation:
Manual - The operator attaches the film by hand. He then steps on a foot switch and pushes the load through the machine. He then cuts the film and attaches it to the load.
Semi automatic - The film is attached to the load by the machine, but the operator has to start the machine cycle.
Automatic - The machine moves the load into position, attaches the film, wraps, cuts the film, and moves the load out of the machine position. This without operator intervention.

Other important parameters are:
Ring Size - This determines the largest size the machines can wrap. Multiplying the ring size by 0.82 determines the largest dimension the machines will accept.
Minimum Load Length - This determines the shortest load length that the machine can handle. For stability, the load has to have firm support.

The plastic film used is 30 cm (12 inches) wide, unlike the other stretch wrap machines that use 50 cm (20 inch) wide film.