Shrink wrapping

[Catscankim]

So, girl at work was asking about my soaps tonight and i think she is more excited about homemade soaps than i am lol, if thats possible. I have ONE bar that is ready at 5 weeks. And it was seriously my first bars made.

So im like...ok, i have been using one to test it out all along. I really like it A LOT. Anyway..if she wants to be a guinea pig for my first soap....might as well practice with a shrink wrap as well lol

i cant get it nice and smooth. I guess my issue is that i am afraid of melting the soap Lol. Which hasnt happened yet

the little buckles dont smooth out. I guess its not too bad for my first go round. I only did 4 bars so far. And i have spots where you can tell i stopped or paused. Maybe im asking for a technique?

 

[Todd Ziegler]

So, girl at work was asking about my soaps tonight and i think she is more excited about homemade soaps than i am lol, if thats possible. I have ONE bar that is ready at 5 weeks. And it was seriously my first bars made.

So im like...ok, i have been using one to test it out all along. I really like it A LOT. Anyway..if she wants to be a guinea pig for my first soap....might as well practice with a shrink wrap as well lol

i cant get it nice and smooth. I guess my issue is that i am afraid of melting the soap Lol. Which hasnt happened yet

the little buckles dont smooth out. I guess its not too bad for my first go round. I only did 4 bars so far. And i have spots where you can tell i stopped or paused. Maybe im asking for a technique?

Shrink wrap bags can be a pain in the butt to get right. I only shrink wrap MP bars and not CP soap. CP soap should be kept in the open air so that the curing process can continue.

When I do shrink wrap something, I put the bar in and then I trim off the excess with an impulse sealer. Then I use my hot air gun keeping it about 6 - 8 inches away. I then make continuous passes over the plastic, slowly shrinking it until it is tight. I then turn the soap over and repeat. Then I do the ends. Make sure that you don't hold the heat gun to close or for to long in one spot or the plastic will tear itself. I you do get a tear, just put another bag around it and do it again. You can leave the torn bag on it or remove it and try again.

You will eventually develop your own technique and tact for how to do it.

 

[Misschief]

I shrink wrap my bars once cured and may take the heat gun to them again after a few weeks as the soap does tend to shrink more over time. It takes a little getting used to but, as Todd said, just don't get your heat gun too close or you will melt the plastic. Keep the heat gun moving and don't get your fingers too close.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

I shrink wrap my bars once cured and may take the heat gun to them again after a few weeks as the soap does tend to shrink more over time. It takes a little getting used to but, as Todd said, just don't get your heat gun too close or you will melt the plastic. Keep the heat gun moving and don't get your fingers too close.

Keeping your hot air gun moving when using it I think is the most important thing to do. If you stop moving with it pointed right at the plastic and to close, it will melt a hole in a fraction of a second. I learned that the hard way. Do you double wrap yours? I saw a sales demo for one of the "professional" shrink wrap kits and they double wrapped theirs.

 

[shunt2011]

I shrink wrap my soap but I use bands. I like having the ends open. I don’t wrap mine until close to when I’m doing my first show of the year. I just hit it with the heat gun if they get a bit loose. It just takes some practice. I do totally shrink my salt soap. I’ve found it helps with sweating during hot humid days. But my salt soaps are at least 12 months old when I wrap them.

 

[TheGecko]

I tried the shrink wrap, but really didn't like it. It makes for a nice display of your soap, but it's a PITA. I then got the idea of using decorative wax paper...bought a couple of boxes to check it out. Parchment paper works nice too. Recently found a cheap sale on boxes...supposed to be 'black', but are a very dark brown...hense the sale. I bought ten to test them and have put in an order for 250.

 

[DeeAnna]

Practice makes better, as a friend says. Shrink wrapping soap goes pretty fast after some practice, but it's frustrating at first, just like any new skill.

If you have bubbles and ripples in the shrink film, it's probably because the film isn't shrunk down enough yet. Although it's important to keep the heat gun moving to avoid blowing holes in the shrink film, it's also important to move slowly enough and get the heat gun temperature adjusted just right so the film gets hot enough to shrink enough and form a smooth surface.

I did a little tutorial a few years ago including photos that shows the general idea of how I shrink wrap soap. Since that tutorial, I've changed my methods a bit, but the original method is a good way to get started -- Soapy Stuff: Packaging soap

 

[Megan]

I make my own bags from a long tube of shrink wrap I have. I seal one end with my impulse sealer, cut that off, put the soap in to one side (I like to have the top face the side with no seam, and seal as close to the soap as I can manage on the other two sides. I then take my stack of soaps sealed in my shrink wrap and heat the sides first. The sides wont be fully shrunk as I do this, but it starts the process. I then take a bar off the stack and do the front and then the back cursorily. I then go over the sides again and repeat. As I do this, I specifically heat over the beveled edge to get the wrinkles out. Usually, when I am doing this, I will take the bar and rub the seams on the table to flatten them out. I still get holes every now and again, but I don't re-wrap unless it is major. Sometimes, even if I get a major hole, depending on where it is I will just cover with the label.

 

[Misschief]

Keeping your hot air gun moving when using it I think is the most important thing to do. If you stop moving with it pointed right at the plastic and to close, it will melt a hole in a fraction of a second. I learned that the hard way. Do you double wrap yours? I saw a sales demo for one of the "professional" shrink wrap kits and they double wrapped theirs.

I never double wrap. Depending on where the hole is, I may put the label over it; if it's a small hole that I can't cover up, I call it the sniff spot. And if it really bothers me, I'll rewrap. TBH, sometimes I make a hole on purpose as a sniff spot. That way, the soap can be picked up but customers aren't actually touching the soap.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

I never double wrap. Depending on where the hole is, I may put the label over it; if it's a small hole that I can't cover up, I call it the sniff spot. And if it really bothers me, I'll rewrap. TBH, sometimes I make a hole on purpose as a sniff spot. That way, the soap can be picked up but customers aren't actually touching the soap.

I will have to remember that.

 

[Ford]

I felt so bad after shrink wrapping a bar. I apologized to it. Looked like it was choking to me. Found some little Plastic bags at my usual spot. just the right size. And with a little sticker for a closer. cigar band label on bars. So this is just a loose covering. Helps with handling.

 

[cmzaha]

I shrink wrap all my soaps. I use 4x6 shrink bags which I purchase from Papermart because they are cheap. I seal off as close to the soap as I can use a heat sealer then cut off the extra and cut off a tiny piece across a corner so the package does not expand when you heat seal it. My heat sealer does not have the cutter.