soap packaging

[ilove2soap]

Although I do not sell my soaps, I give a lot as gifts. I have been wrapping in tissue paper which is a pain and you can barely smell the soap through the tissue paper. I have used small plastic sandwich bags but if my soap sits for a while in the plastic it gets DOS quickly. There is a seller on Etsy who sells small glassine bags and says that they are great for soap, but would that be the same as plastic? Can the soap breathe through the glassine bag? I guess I'm not sure exactly what glassine is? I have looked for small kraft bags, but cannot find any small enough for soap bars. Any thoughts? Suppliers you might recommend?Thanks for the help!

 

[paillo]

Although I do not sell my soaps, I give a lot as gifts. I have been wrapping in tissue paper which is a pain and you can barely smell the soap through the tissue paper. I have used small plastic sandwich bags but if my soap sits for a while in the plastic it gets DOS quickly. There is a seller on Etsy who sells small glassine bags and says that they are great for soap, but would that be the same as plastic? Can the soap breathe through the glassine bag? I guess I'm not sure exactly what glassine is? I have looked for small kraft bags, but cannot find any small enough for soap bars. Any thoughts? Suppliers you might recommend?Thanks for the help!

i decided recently that glassine bags sound PERFECT, and they're really inexpensive, but oh the shipping costs sunk that idea. if anyone has suggestions for major stores that carry them, that would be GREAT! or sources that don't cost an arm and a leg for shipping. adding my thanks in advance too!

 

[Hazel]

Someone mentioned she uses shrinkwrap but leaves the ends open. Maybe something like this would work?

 

[punkflash54]

i just use brown kraft paper but i leave the ends open

 

[glenolam]

If you're going to order something to wrap your soaps anyway, why not buy pre-made cigar lables that leave the ends open? Then all you have to do is wrap the soap and stick the ends together.

Or you can do what I do - print out your own "cigar wraps" on regular paper, cut into strips and tape them together.

 

[honor435]

I got clear plastic bags at michaels they have a zip top and were only 3$ for 50! I dont know if they have them eveywhere, but they fit a bar of soap perfect, I just leave the bag open til the soap is ready to be given away. They have cute soap boxes at wsp for 13$ for 50.( includes shipping)they have a nice cot out in front.

 

[IrishLass]

I use the plain, white french fry bags that I can buy in bulk down at my local Smart & Final. It's a restaurant supply store that is open to the public. I buy them in boxes of 2,000 there and it only costs me something like $14.00 per box.

When I first started using them, I would use them as shown in the link below in very last picture on my soap bragging site (click on the link and scroll all the way down to the bottom):

http://members.cox.net/ssfkjfalf/AllMySoap/Start.htm

They don't hold up as well or as crisp and pretty when shipped like that, though, so I now cut the french fry bags into rectangles and form-fittingly wrap my soap with them like one would wrap up a gift with wrapping paper. I don't have a picture of my new wrapping method yet, unfortunately, but I think you get the idea. On the part of the french fry wrapping that faces the front of my soap, I use a scolloped scrapbooking punch in the shape of an oval to punch out a decorative 'breathing hole' for my soap. It also doubles as a 'smelling' and 'looking' hole so you can see and smell a small portion of the soap. Anyway, it works great for me and I'm very happy with them.

IrishLass

 

[oh2bejoy]

I cut up a lot of soap to give away as samples at a friend's store's grand opening, and didn't feel it was worth my time to wrap the pieces. I went to Michaels for glassine bags, but they didn't have enough, so I went to Smart and Final and bought french fry bags! I cut off the tops (that make it look like food packaging) with one of my decorative scissors, put my soap in, stuck my labels (logo in front, ingredients in back), and it was good to go! The french fry bags cost about $16 for 2000. Not sure if I want to do it all the time, but it works in a pinch!

I am also wondering what to do about keeping my soaps covered and away from germy hands and noses...right now I am using the cigar band with the tops and bottoms open, so am very interested in this thread!!! I hope you get a lot of responses (with pics)!!!

 

[paillo]

the french fry bags look fabulous!!!

i make my own cigar labels with my logo, and like that most of the soap bar is visible. i find people really want to pick them up and smell them and look at the textures and design, so hate to cover them up much. leaning toward having a display bar and packaging the rest so i can give people a clean, neat bar, and ship them nicely packaged.

thanks for the great ideas, hope to see more -- with pics, of course

hmmm, now if only i could figure out how to upload one of my own photos...

 

[Hazel]

IrishLass,

Your soaps are absolutely gorgeous! Tell your son I'm sooo jealous of his swirls. Love the colors.

 

[Sillysoap]

If you're going to order something to wrap your soaps anyway, why not buy pre-made cigar lables that leave the ends open? Then all you have to do is wrap the soap and stick the ends together.

Or you can do what I do - print out your own "cigar wraps" on regular paper, cut into strips and tape them together.

What program do you use to make your cigar wraps??? I am looking to make something for Christmas and the only thing I have come up with is the mesh looking stuff you get at a fabric store & ribbon. I will try to upload a pic soon.

 

[xraygrl]

What program do you use to make your cigar wraps??? I am looking to make something for Christmas and the only thing I have come up with is the mesh looking stuff you get at a fabric store & ribbon. I will try to upload a pic soon.

I know that there are several programs out there that people use to make cigar labels like MS word, publisher, printshop etc.

Here is a tutorial with pics:

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=294614.0

also got to online labels, they have all kinds of free templates to down load.

http://www.onlinelabels.com/



also, do a search on etsy for handmade soap, you should get plenty of packaging ideas from there.

I have wrapped in just a plain cigar band, I have wrapped in shrink wrap bands with either a cigar band wrapped over that, or a sticker on the shrink wrap band.

I have wrapped in fabric with a hang tag. Basically I cut the fabric into about 2" wide long strips with a rotarty cutter with a deckle edge. This keeps the fabric from fraying. Then I set the soap into the middle of the fabric strip, and wrap it around the other side. Cross the ends of the fabric and pull it tightaround the soap, and wrap it back around to the front and tie in a knot. Attach a hang tag. It looks really cute this way!

Another thing I have done is I have scanned cute/pretty printed fabric, (remnants) and printed them out on plain 8.5 x 11 cardstock or paper. Those get cut into bands, and wrapped around the soap. Over that goes a plain colored or white band with the soap name ingredients and other info on it. Please note that these were for gifts and not for sale as I'm sure there are laws about copying the fabric.

Muslin bags are another great option. i have seen them with hang tags, with sticker labes, and I have seen the bags hand stamped with rubber stamps, and a hang tag. Here's a good place to get them, they are $14 for 100 bags....oh get the 4x6 size.

http://www.packcoinc.com/cloth-drawstring-bags.html

ETA just to give you an idea, I did a google search on soap packaged in muslin bags and came up with this:

http://www.wyldeivy.com/Handmade-Soap-c-1.html


That's about all the ideas I have right now. LOL!

 

[Lindy]

I shrink wrap my soaps leaving the top & bottom open to allow for breathing for my wholesale accounts. For my store I package the soaps in 4x6 organza bags with a label inside the bag.

This is a picture from my kiosk last Christmas....

 

[Jezzy]

IrishLass... Love, love, love your soaps! I tried looking for french fry bags here and the only ones that I have found have a big M on them or a BK.. Lol. I wonder how that would go over!

 

[Sillysoap]

xraygrl, thanks for the links!! It really helps, I am going to try to make something for Christmas. For some reason I am search challenged on this forum.

 

[ilove2soap]

Thank you so much for all the wonderful ideas and links. The info has been super helpful!!

 

[xraygrl]

xraygrl, thanks for the links!! It really helps, I am going to try to make something for Christmas. For some reason I am search challenged on this forum.

You are very welcome!

 

[glenolam]

What program do you use to make your cigar wraps???

I used this website: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46253.asp

If you scroll all the way down to the bottom, it gives you a link to download a sample cigar label. It's in microsoft publisher, which I have no idea how to use, but I was able to mess around a little and got something I really liked.[/url]

 

[honor435]

funny, I used to use the netting, then went to the bags with ties, now I use boxes, I didnt like how how the soap got on the fabric. Boxes are easy for traveling for me.

 

[nattynoo]

I like the french fry bag idea Irishlass. They look terrific.
I've been wrapping in brown paper that I buy in a roll.
Wrapped like a present with the soap type just written on.
Only for family & friends at this stage.
But was thinking I may be able to get small brown bags like your white ones & it would be easier & quicker.