D. R. Baling Wire Manufacturers

News and Articles from the Baling Wire Industry by D R Baling Wire

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How we deal with our waste in the UK

Unless you work in the industry or take an active interest in the environmental side of things, you might not know what happens to waste here in the UK once it leaves our houses. In actual fact, the process is much more complex than you might have thought and it all goes through a number of steps before it reaches its final end.

Of course, the entire process starts in your kitchen, when you decide whether to separate your waste and put it into the recycling, or chuck it straight into the bin.

If you choose the former, it might be picked up from your home or maybe you have to take it to a drop off point, either way, from here it will be collected and taken to a biological centre, where it will be separated and cleaned. From here, the process will depend on what it is that needs to be recycled. Glass might be reused in its current form, or it could be melted down and reformed into something else. Whereas aluminium will have any covering paper or dyes removed, before it is then melted down, then reformed into big blocks. Whatever the material, once it has either been melted down and reformed or thoroughly cleaned for reuse, it can then be shipped off for reselling, either to manufacturers who can make something out of the basic fabrics, or to companies and factories who can repurpose the reused product. Obviously, this is a simplification of a lengthy process, but it covers the basics.

When your old rubbish destined for the landfill leaves your home, it too starts life in the same place as the recycling, which is at a biological centre. Here, the rubbish bags will be shredded and the waste will be dried out. Anything that can be recycled or composted will be taken out and hot air is passed over the remaining waste to help any biodegradable items decompose. The remaining waste can then be taken to either an incinerator or the landfill.

In the UK, most of our waste ends up in the landfill. Here it is put into the ground and covered over at the end of each day to ensure it isn’t exposed. Landfills are also lined to help protect the surrounding environment from the effect of the waste that is being put into it. However, even though this system was originally implemented as a cheap way to dispose of rubbish, there are now complications involved with it. Not least of which, that we’re currently running out of the space available for new landfills. So right now, there is an impetus on finding new alternative methods for waste disposal that will help solve the problem and still be environmentally and economically sound.

One of the possible alternatives would be incinerating our waste in order to extract energy from it. Unlike traditional incineration plants, these new plants needed for the process are not only much more efficient at reducing the garbage, but they also allow for energy to be extracted, either as electricity, heat or combustible fuels. They are also much more environmentally sound, as there are strictures in place to ensure they don’t release as many harmful gases and ash into the environment as traditional plants. Although there is still some debate surrounding the topic of whether these should be implemented in the UK, they are a viable final alternative for our old waste instead of landfills. 

But even with all these different paths and variables that our waste can take, they all have one thing in common and that is that every one of the different possible processes involves wire. More specifically, galvanised formers. Galvanised wire is an essential part of waste disposal and recycling and without it, we wouldn’t have the modern system we have today. Galvanised wire is a form of metal wire, usually iron or steel, that has been dipped into a molten solution of zinc. This zinc then acts as a protective layer against any corrosive forces that might otherwise have impacted on the metal underneath. Formers are simply big coils of this wire. Whatever the stage in the process and whether it’s waste off to the landfill or aluminium to be recycled, at various points, these materials are going to need to be handled, transported and probably stored. Imagine trying to do this if the rubbish was left uncollected in mountains or the recycled materials were left loose. Suddenly, the task would be huge and the entire system would involve a tremendous amount of time and manpower. So, it’s necessary to bundle all the waste together, in its separated forms, and keep them tied up in bundles. These bales of materials can then be stored easily, handled and transported, which is far more efficient and makes the entire system possible. Without the galvanised formers to provide this basic function, the entire system would soon collapse.

The galvanised wire also helps when the waste goes into the landfill. When it is all tied up in its blocks of waste, the mass of the garbage is compressed and reduced, which means it takes up less space in the ground. This helps make this final part of the process more efficient as well and ultimately helps conserve space in the landfill, so more waste can eventually be put in there. As it is all tied up with wire, it also means that individual pieces of rubbish can’t escape from their parcels into the ground, which makes it that much more environmentally sound too.

The process of how we deal with our waste is actually very complicated and far more involved than simply shipping it from our homes to the landfill. And of course, the way it currently runs is down in part to the galvanised formers that make it all possible. Without that to help aid the process and make it more efficient, we might not have the same refuge system that we currently have.

If you wish to find out more about waste management and galvanised wire please see http://www.drbalingwire.co.uk/

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10 Need-to-Know Facts about Baling Wire

Baling wire might not be the subject of a pub quiz or the saving grace of a high-stakes game of Trivial Pursuit any time soon, but knowing more about it might mean that you realise that it could come of use to you in your life, whether that’s at work or at home. So here are the 10 need-to-know facts about baling wire that you— well— need to know.

    1. Without it, our basic sanity would be at risk

This might sound like a stretch. After all, how can wire help improve our basic sanity? That is, of course, unless you know how vital baling wire is to waste removal. The process of disposing of waste is a complicated one, but baling wire is used throughout to help make it safe and efficient. When waste is being transported from one location to another, before it reaches its ultimate destination of landfill or incinerator, it is bundled together into bales, which are easier to transport and handle. Without baling wire to help this all run smoothly, the process would be very different and we may well find ourselves living in a world where we are unable to properly dispose of our old waste, where it would soon be lining the streets as bins overflowed. This would in turn, entice more vermin, such as rats and flies, which would soon make their constant presence known and endanger our health in the process. Both of these species carry the kind of parasites and bacteria that can lead to the spread of some of the most dangerous and harmful diseases, including salmonella, tuberculosis, cholera, leprosy and dysentery. Attracted by untended waste, we’d soon be staring down a reality we left behind centuries ago, when our lives are put at risk by the unsanitary conditions and disease-ridden creatures.

  2. Going green would be difficult to impossible

  If baling wire didn’t exist, it wouldn’t just be waste disposal that would be affected; recycling would also take a serious hit. At the moment, we are all able to recycle much of our old waste easily and efficiently, with it collected from outside our doors or the banks we drop it off at. Much like with waste, baling wire is then used to safely bundle all of this old waste together as it continues on its journey. Recycling is even more complicated than waste disposal, so a safe method of dealing with the recycled materials is essential. Without the use of the durable and versatile baling wire, the entire industry would not be able to function as easily, meaning we wouldn’t get the same service we’re now used to and recycling would become a thing of the past. What would that mean for our planet?

  3. Our houses would be a lot less sturdy

 Baling wire is also an essential commodity to the construction industry, as it is strong and durable enough to securely contain heavy-duty metals like steel that are vital to the construction of buildings and structures like shopping centres. For this work, steel stockholders rely on baling wire in the form of catchweight coils to transport large amounts of steel securely from the stockholders to the construction sites where they are required. There are few products that have the properties required to be able to do this job safely, such as great strength, flexibility and durability. Without the baling wire to do the job, we would either have to find an alternative means to secure the steel in place, which could be dangerous, or steel wouldn’t be able to be used so freely and we would have to find other materials as an alternative to build these properties. This could then mean that these buildings would be a lot less safe to inhabit!

  4. Making galvanised wire could become a fatal process

 Galvanised wire is an essential commodity for many of the same purposes as baling wire. When metal is galvanised, it is dipped into a molten solution. Needless to say, handling molten metal isn’t something you take lightly. Therefore, you need to make sure you have all the precautions in place before you embark on any task that involves it. This is where the wire comes in. The process requires a type of metal that is heavy-duty enough to be able to withstand the molten solution and hold the galvanised wire as it is dipped into it. For this, cut bars of baling wire are used, helping ensure the process goes smoothly and safely. Without it, the merest slip up or mistake could make for deadly results.

  5. The packaging industry would be at a loss

 First and foremost, it’s used to package things together. It makes sense then that this most obvious use would go beyond packaging waste and be used for other industrial parcels and packages that need to be contained in a robust and resilient material that will be able to withstand any storage and transportation necessary without the contents getting damaged or escaping.

  6. Priceless packages can now be safely secured with confidence

 This also means it can be used to package very valuable items. For this, a greater precision might be required, that can only be achieved by a hands-on approach. This is where cut and looped baling wire comes in as it has been designed to be used by hand, meaning valuable items can be contained just as easily, but by hand, to give that extra confidence.

  7. It’s great for basic repairs and DIY projects

 Strong, hard-wearing and versatile, baling wire is often used by people in their personal lives, whether it’s for gardening jobs or DIY projects and repairs. Its basic properties mean it can be adapted to be of use in a variety of solutions, so having some around the house is never a bad thing.

  8. It’s also used in agriculture

 Whether it’s to mend a broken tractor or fence or secure bales of hay together, baling wire is just as essential in the agricultural industry as it is in the industrial. So whether that means animals are securely contained in their pens, their food is all bundled together properly without the risk of masses of hay coming loose and littering the surrounding area, or the machinery used to plough fields of crops we all rely on for food runs properly, the use of baling wire in this industry is just as important to all of us as it is when it is used to build houses or dispose of our old waste.

  9. It can be produced to exact specifications

 Precision is important in many of the aforementioned uses of baling wire. After all, imagine if you didn’t get the exact length and tensile strength of wire you were looking for to transport a large amount of steel from place to place: it could get very dangerous very quickly. So the ability to purchase the exact form of wire to your required specifications is another positive point about baling wire that is very important to those that use it.

  10. Plastic baling wire can be used for incineration for waste to energy

 While metal baling wire has to be removed from the bundles of waste before it is put in the incinerator—making the process more costly and involved—plastic baling wire can go straight in there with it. It can then be used for procedures that translate the energy from our old waste into a valuable resource.

  To find out more about our extensive range of baling wire, please visit: http://www.drbalingwire.co.uk/baling-wire

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D. R. Baling's landfill infographic illustrated issues and how galvanised wire can help. 

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Waste, or resource?

We tend not to think about how much our waste is costing us. After all, the rising cost of milk and bread is rarely thought about in terms of how much the plastic packaging cost. But in reality, 16% of the money we spend on products actually goes on the packaging alone, which is quickly disposed of. Then there’s the fact that the contents of an average bin over the space of a year would be able to provide enough energy to power a television for 5,000 hours, while one recycled can could do the same job for three hours. Thinking about it this way, you get a sense of how our waste could equal money. And only 40% of what we put into our bins actually needs to be there and not in the recycling. When you look at the actual figures and what the implication of them is, you can get more of an idea of how we could be better utilising our waste, which is something we are desperately in need of doing.

Forgetting for a second the added environmental concerns of recycling and chucking away our unwanted things, there are many other implications of the amount of waste we are creating. With the average person in the UK generating their own bodyweight in garbage every seven weeks and the total amount rising annually at 3%, the concern over what we do with all this waste has serious financial and logistical issues. After all, at the moment, a lot of this waste might be going into landfills, but there is only so much land available for this and with the world’s population on the increase, we can’t afford to constantly give land away as a dumping ground. So it’s safe to say we’re all fairly aware that we need another alternative on these grounds alone.

The question is then, how do we translate all this increasing amount of waste into money made or saved and not wasted along with our old food containers? This is where new innovations in waste disposal come in. Refuse Derived Fuel, or RDF, is a process through which we could turn our waste into a new and partially renewable source of energy, so not only would we stop putting so much pressure onto our existing resources with our waste disposal, we’d have a new alternative. We could literally turn our waste into energy.

To read more about this subject, click HERE to be redirected to an extensive article. 

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The Main uses of Black Annealed Wire

For those in certain industries that come into contact with the product, black annealed wire is a vital commodity that is essential to their work. There are so many tasks that could not be done as safely and efficiently without the wire. However, outside of these industries, it’s a product that is not widely known about. Yet despite this, it is something that is crucial to the way many of us choose to live and run our lives, albeit indirectly, even if we’re not aware of it. If you don’t happen to work in agriculture or in one of the many industrial sectors, there’s no real reason for you to know much about black annealed wire or what it’s used for. But despite this, it might be something that you could use and benefit from in your daily lives, whether that’s in a professional or personal capacity. Black annealed wire is one of those products that can be used for a number of tasks and projects and becomes invaluable to those who rely upon it.

Here’s what you need to know about it.

The reason behind the popularity of black annealed wire is down to a few important factors. The first of which is the essential properties of the wire.

Black annealed wire is a carbon wire that has been annealed. This involves the carbon going through a process whereby it is subjected to a heat treatment, which improves the material’s properties to make it more usable for a number of different purposes. In the case of annealing, the ductility of the carbon wire is improved, which means that what was already a very strong wire now also becomes more flexible and malleable, perfect for use as a baling wire or for weaving, both in the industrial sense and for home use. Simply enough, it’s called black annealed wire because of the colour it gets from this thermal annealing process. 

On top of this, black annealed wire is essentially relatively cost effective to make and produce, which means that it can be easily done and doesn’t then cost the earth to supply, helpful when it is being used for large scale projects that require a lot of it, as some of the main industries that employ it in their work do.

Finally, the specifications of the wire supplied can be tailored to the client’s exact needs and requirements, something that is essential when the wire is being used in conjunction with a baling wire machine, as is often the case. The length, diameter, weight and even tensile strength of the wire is all customisable down to the customer’s specific requirements, which makes this tool even more useful for any number of purposes.

But when it comes to the main different uses of annealed wire, the distinction really comes down to the different forms it comes in. It’s not only supplied in varying sizes of spools, after all. In fact, black annealed wire can be made in five different forms, all of which imbues them with properties and qualities that are essential for a number of different reasons.

Packaging and rewound coils

The predominant use of black annealed wire is for packaging. In the packaging industry, rewound coils of black annealed wire are primarily used. These can again be produced according to the customer’s exact requirements and are used in conjunction with a baling machine. Most commonly, rewound coils are packed and supplied shrink wrapped on palettes, which makes them convenient to transport to the location where they are required as well as easy to handle and store. The strength and ductility of the wire makes it incredibly efficient as a tool when packaging items of various materials, shapes, sizes and weight.

Recycling and waste management and black annealed formers

It’s for similar reasons, although ultimately a slightly different purpose that black annealed wire is also extensively used in recycling and waste management, though for this, it is usually formers that tend to be used. Whether the waste is being transported to a dump, is going to be recycled, or the recycled products are waiting to be resold, the wire is vital in compressing and encompassing the waste materials. By using the formers, again with a baling machine, bales of the materials can be created. This then keeps the waste in manageable bales of the same size and shape, which makes them much easier to store, handle and transport. As well as this, it ensures that any potentially dangerous materials are safely encompassed within the block and not likely to escape and the entire process becomes immediately more efficient.

  Catchweight coils and steel stockholders

When it comes to construction work and that which involves the use of a lot of steel, catchweight coils are an absolute necessity, which is why they are so heavily relied upon by steel stockholders. It goes without saying that carrying a lot of heavyweight steel from one location to another could be potentially dangerous without the guarantee that the steel was safely secured in place, which is where the catchweight coils come in. They can safely and efficiently secure the steel in place, which makes it much easier and safer to transport, store and handle.

  Cut and looped wire and manual work

Also used for packaging, cut and looped wire allows for that precision and care of hands on work when it is required. If, for example, it was necessary to secure a valuable package in place, the ability to fasten the packaging by hand would be important. The cut and looped wire has been designed to be fastened by hand as opposed to with a machine, which gives that peace of mind that the package is secure and safe. Of course, the manual use of the wire also means it’s a product that can be used around the home and in the garden for basic repairs and DIY work, useful for fixing materials together and mending things like a broken fence, so it’s well worth considering in your home life as well as your professional.

  Cut bars and galvanised wire

The strength and density of cut bars mean that they are an important factor in the manufacturing process. When galvanising wire, it is dipped into a molten solution. Cut bars are a part of this process that allow for the wire to be securely dipped into the solution. Few other products would be able to withstand the process, which is why the cut bars are so important.

The properties of the wire, the ability to customise it to your exact requirements and the many forms it comes in means that black annealed wire really is a product that can be vital to any number of people and industries. 

Give us a call today to discuss your needs or visit our website to find out more about our black annealed wire products.

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How Black Annealed Wire Helps Create Steel Products that Hold Our Lives Together

The story of the three little pigs and their silly houses usually makes most people giggle. After all, why would you build a house made out of straw? Even areas of the world where thatched roofs are still common, you would be hard pressed to find a structure whose walls were straw. Obviously, something stronger is needed. 

And that is the prevailing idea for good reason; permanent structures should be built using the materials that are the most durable and the most weather resistant. No one, shopping for a new home, would consider a house made out of straw if they could afford one made of sturdier materials. That means homes built from wood or bricks (or a combination) and joined together with steel. Indeed some structures are primarily steel – like shopping centres.

Image Courtesy of sritangphoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Steel also transcends architecture; it is also found in cars and trains. People do not eat steel, but without it, our diets would consist of solely local produce. After all, that delicious fresh fruit in winter needs to be transported to our shop shelves somehow.   

Steel practically holds our lives together. But along with steel, the world also has weather. That means sun, snow, wind and rain. And the UK is home to all of those. Unfortunately, weather, such as rain, causes steel to rust, which weakens it. So, before steel can be used to build new parking garages, to replace old bridges and to form part of trains and aeroplanes which bring our food, it must be treated somehow.

Galvanised Products

Galvanised Formers / Image Courtesy of D R Baling Wire Manufacturers

In 1742, the French royal Academy was presented with a scientific paper by the chemist, Paul Jacques Malouin. In his work, Malouin detailed a method of coating iron with zinc, which is more resistant to the effects of weather (and water). His idea was to dip iron into a molten bath of zinc. Nearly a century later, another French chemist, Stanislas Sorel, patented his method of coating iron with zinc (as well as his pre-treatment methods). Interestingly, the word “galvanise” and its offshoots come from an entirely different scientist, who was hardly concerned with metals at all.

But, while the process may have been discussed and developed centuries ago, it was hardly as easy as having an idea. After all, it is not easy to dip one metal into a molten bath of another metal, and then retrieve the coated metal from that bath. The sturdier metals, that will not melt at the same temperature as zinc, had to be considered first.  After that, the process had to be refined so that the metal dipping arms did not affect the final product. And that is exactly when black annealed wire entered into the picture.

A (Very) Brief Introduction to Black Annealed Wire

To create annealed wire, carbon steel wire is annealed with various other metals through a heating process. This is done, because the process of drawing the raw material into wire form often strips or reduces the qualities found in any metal. Annealing assists the wire to regain its initial properties - whether those are strength, resilience or flexibility. Typically referred to as “black annealed wire” the first word is very simply a colour description from its earliest forms.

Black Annealed Rewound Coils / Image Courtesy of D R Baling Wire Manufacturers

Black annealed wire has many different uses, within many different industries. And, each one of these different uses and industries specifies different standards and cut lengths required from wire manufacturers. In the case of the galvanising industry, cut bars are the forms demanded. This is decidedly different from the other forms of black annealed wire typically in use.

The Different Forms of Black Annealed Wire

In some cases, the differences in black annealed wire have mainly to do with the form in which it is sold. In addition, the industries using the wire may develop different certifications and subtleties that impact the qualities of each type of wire.

Rewound Coils – These are smaller coils of black annealed wire that are primarily used in automatic baling machines. Coils are primarily distributed on pallets.

Formers – Black annealed wire plays a pivotal role in waste management, recycling, and waste incineration for power.  Formers are used to contain waste within these industries.

Catchweight Coils – Larger construction materials, such as steel must be stored and transported in highly specific ways to comply with safety and security.  Catchweight coils answers this need.

Cut and Looped – These are shorter lengths of black annealed wire, sold with looped ends for manual tying. 

Black Annealed Wire – Cut Bars

Black Annealed Wire Cut Bars / Image Courtesy of D R Baling Wire Manufacturers

The black annealed wire used in the galvanising process is typically sold as cut bars. Pieces are cut to client specifications, including the diameter and length. There is no such thing as an industry norm as the specifications for each product and machine vary widely. That, however, does not mean that there are no standards or industry indicators.  Indeed, the British Galvanising Association plays and influential role in regulating the industry and the wire supplied to it.

In order to be effective, cut bars require a flawless and sale-free surface. This must go hand in hand with the dual requirements of pliability and strength. If these needs are not met, the finished product is not the only concern. Small imperfections could jeopardise safety and security within the galvanising factory. 

D R Baling Wire Manufacturers test for precision and compliance of all our cut bars and we provide their clients with test and compliance certifications for each order. 

Steel, and indeed other galvanised metals, hold our lives together, just as they hold our homes in place. After all, rusted metals are more than just unattractive; they are also unsafe.

And while steel may be the unsung hero of the modern age, more so are the black annealed wires that are required to create a stronger, more resistant product. Here at D R Baling Wire Manufacturers we take pride in our work, continually innovating for a safer world.  Give us a call today to discuss your needs or visit our website to find out more about our black annealed wire products!

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The Recycling Circle

Recycling is one of those simple tasks that we all do, or know we should, to help the environment and limit the waste we produce, thereby decreasing the size of our carbon footprint. We know that by doing so, we’ll reduce the waste that ends up in huge landfills. Not only does the breakdown of these create huge amounts of toxic chemical waste slowly polluting the planet, but using all new materials to create products is slowly depleting the Earth’s resources as well. And in the light of climate change and an increasing call to action to consider how we treat the planet, that’s something that more and more of us are beginning to think of now. But considering how much faith some of us unthinkingly put into the service, it’s one that we may not know much about beyond separating our plastic and glass and picking up the recycled loo roll over the quilted stuff when doing the weekly shop. The actual recycling process is really quite an involved one and there may well be more to it than you would initially think. So how does recycling work?

               Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling

The initial stage, when the waste to be recycled is picked up, is most likely the one you’re most familiar with. This can be done in one of four methods.

Either from: •    Outside of your property, when the material you have put out for pick up is collected. Some of the sorting process is done at this point by workers. •    Recycling centres and banks. •    Buy-back centres, where you can sell back scrap materials, such as metal or wood, for a profit, depending on the market value. •    Refund/deposit programs. The availability of these will depend on where you live, but anyone who’s ever spent a weekend at a festival will no doubt be familiar with trawling through the crowds looking for old cans to return to the vendors for a small refund. Or at least, have noticed other people doing so… From here, the materials will be transported to a recycling facility where the materials will be properly sorted and separated. The process from here on out will differ according to the product being recycled.

Image Source: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2009/feb/26/recycling-waste

Paper, for example, accounts for a large amount of household waste and although trees are planted to provide pulp, this involves a far greater amount of energy than recycling waste paper takes. When paper is picked up, it will be sorted according to weight, use, type, colour and whether or not it has been previously recycled. From there, different chemicals and solutions will be used to turn it into a pulp and extract dye, while various other methods are used to remove any staples and other unwanted chemicals. Following this, it will then be ironed out into sheets, before it is cut into different sizes to be shipped off for resale. Glass, on the other hand, can be recycled in one of two ways: either by thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting the existing bottles for reuse, or by sorting the glass according to colour, grinding it down where it is sorted through using layers and then melting it down before it is reformed into new glass. Plastic sees a similar process: sorted by colour before they’re broken down or melted into smaller parts that can then be reused. While cans are also broken down into smaller parts, which are then heated to remove the paint, before they are melted and formed into sheets in order to be resold. At this point in the process, regardless of the form the waste takes, it then needs to be compressed and stored before it can be transported for resale. To do this, recycling centres rely heavily on the use of baling wire, which is essential to the process. The material is put through baling machines, which will process and compress the waste into bales of a standard size, which makes them easy to store, handle and then transport. Baling wire is used in conjunction with these machines, to create these bales. The type of wire used can vary, as it is entirely dependent on the baling press used.

Cut and Looped Black Annealed Wire / Image Courtesy of D R Baling Wire Manufacturers

The different types that can be used include: •    Black annealed or galvanised formers: both are used on automated baling presses. •    Cut and looped: a special type of wire that’s finished with a looped end, for manual tying. This can also either be black annealed or galvanised. •    Rewound coils: used for automatic baling presses. Depending on the customer’s requirements, these can be created in different sized.

(Please, visit our website to browse our extensive range of black annealed wire products: http://www.drbalingwire.co.uk/black-annealed-wire)

It’s only following this part of the process that the material can be transported and sold to companies to be made into new products. After this, recycled products can then be sold to companies, who can then use the recycled waste materials to create new products, which are then, obviously sold on to the consumer, thereby effectively completing the cycle. While the environmental benefits of recycling are widely known and often quoted, the process can also reap huge economic ones. The most obvious way in which it can create these benefits is by creating and maintaining an industry that in its turn leads to a huge number of jobs. For some companies, recycling is the sole source of their income, as they rely on buying, recycling and reselling waste materials. And in areas that are densely populated, the money that can be saved on landfill space can amount to millions. Not only that, but when it comes to certain types of materials, recycling waste can be much more cost effective than creating products from raw materials. Steel is an excellent example of such a product. As a result of this and an ever-increasing demand from more environmentally aware consumer base, an increasing number of companies now use recycled materials to create their products. Of course, it’s up to you to choose the recycled loo roll over the quilted stuff.

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A Brief History of Baling Wire

It’s a shame that something as incredibly useful as baling wire should have inspired a slang word with such a negative connotation: ‘haywire’. Sure it’s been used for baling hay, but how on earth did ‘haywire’ get to mean someone who’s a little mad or erratic?

               Image Courtesy of D R Baling Wire Manufacturers

It seems a little strange, especially when baling wire wins awards all the time – actually, baling wire is listed at number eight on the list of the handiest tools of all time! And that’s saying something. It is right up there with spray lubricants and duct tape. 

In addition to holding bunches of hay together, baling wire has been used on farms across the world for holding tractors and other heavy machinery. It has been used to repair fences (and probably even build a few). If you visit just about any farm, you’ll probably see it being used to hold the gates to the cow pastures closed. Or, any one of the gates you passed through to get to the main house (perhaps, even the picket fence to the front garden). It has been used to gut fish and roast marshmallows. In fact, it has been used for just about any repair imaginable.

However, many farmers have found other methods of securing their hay, and these days baling wire is largely relegated to industrial uses. Of course, it is still used to hold grouped items together. For example, heavy baling wires can often be found in steel stockholder yards. Industrial baling machines use it to prepare an order for transport.

Baling wire is also used to dip steel into molten zinc; this is a process known as ‘galvanisation’. This process protects steel (and other metals) from rusting. The important thing to note here is that not many metals can do what galvanised wire does; it can be dipped into molten baths with another metal without damaging it in some way.

Baling wire also wins accolades when it comes to waste management and recycling. Once again, this may not sound as glamorous as holding a muffler onto a tracker for an entire harvest, but without baling wire, our cities might smell like...  well, it’s not a pleasant thought, is it?  Whenever garbage is compacted or transported, it is held together with baling wire as it moves to the next step of the process. Whether it heads towards a landfill or an incinerator, baling wire is certainly one of the most indispensable tools in the waste management industry.

The same applies in recycling. When your recycling container is emptied from the curb of your house, it’s got everything in it, right? There is plastic, and aluminium, and a host of other packaging bits all stamped with the recyclable symbol. From there, your items head off to a sorting centre with divides number 4s into groups of number 4s; the same goes for number 7s, and so on. From there, items head off to the right recycling plant. And guess how they get there? That’s right; baling wire comes to the rescue once again. But that’s not the end of its involvement in the recycling process. Take plastic recycling as an example. Once it’s been transformed into renewed pellets of plastic, it needs to be transported to the manufacturer that ordered it.

So, it’s not hard to see why the world should be in love with baling wire. For years, it’s been the fix-it all and make life easier for everyone tool. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always receive the accolades that it should. 

However, one can imagine that when it comes to offloading the giant ocean freighters carrying garbage to remote parts of the globe, the dock workers are happy enough to have something strong enough to hold their merchandise in order, but flexible enough to remove without a blow torch. (Incidentally, that won’t work. Baling wire is used in the galvanisation process, which should be enough to let you know that it doesn’t melt away all that easily.)

For all the incredibly positive things people have to say about baling wire, you have to wonder just how it got to mean anything negative. 

So, getting back to the entomology of the word ‘haywire’, and how it has come to mean ‘crazy’, ‘overly excited’, or ‘deranged’. Farmers, while they still used baling wire for tying up their hay bales would simply cut the wire off their bales and toss it into a barrel. Well, maybe not barrels, but in any case, they would toss varying bits of baling wire somewhere. And they would amass a collection of this wire; after all, it’s handy just about anywhere, as we have seen. So, when they would attempt to grab a length to repair their fence, or hold the muffler of their tractor in place, they would find their pile of haywire was inevitably tangled up on itself. Trying to pry a single piece from the lot was a bit maddening; as it seems the wire had a mind of its own (and that was all over the place). Hence, we get haywire to mean a crazy mess.

Fortunately, today’s baling wire manufacturers keep to much stricter regulations, which enable users to keep spare baling wire neat in storage. And it also arrives nicely wound and bound, making it easier on everyone.