Heat shrinkable protective sheets

A heat shrinkable wrap-around sleeve adapted to be applied to an article in wrapping relation thereto comprising a sheet of dimensionally heat unstable flexible material having longitudinally spaced end portions capable of being brought into overlapping relation when the sheet is applied to the article, the material having been stretched in the longitudinal direction from an original heat stable form to a dimensionally heat unstable form capable of moving in the direction of its original form by the application of heat alone, and a crosslinked dimensionally heat unstable closure strip having one edge disposed on one of the end portions of said sheet and welded thereto, said strip being of sufficient width that when the end portions of the sheet are brought together and the end portion having the closure strip is overlapped on the opposite end portion, the free edge of the closure strip can be applied on the underlapping end portion and welded thereto by direct heating applied thereon, said closure strip having a covering of a hold-down adhesive across a transverse zone of a side of the closure strip to be overlapped on said opposite end portion;

• and wherein said closure strip exhibits shrinkage in said longitudinal direction on heating of about 10% to about 50% based on the length of the unshrunk strip.