# Packaging soaps to sell



## dianne70 (Feb 22, 2013)

Hi there everyone.....I need some feedback please.  Currently looking at changing my packaging for my soaps.  Currently I just use a paper cigar band, but I would like to know your thoughts on some other ways.
1.  Aponi, from this forum, uses organza bags.  This is what I am leaning towards...tried it out and with a hang tag I think it would look very professional.
2. Shrink wrap.  Can anyone who shrink wraps their soap tell me if they have any issues with the soap sweating inside it, if left for a long time?

These are the 2 I'm mostly interested in...the organza bag looks really nice, the customer can sill see and smell it, it can still breathe.  Shrink wrapping is an option, but with more then likely a label on the back and front you wouldn't be able to see the soap.....or sniff it!......and there is my sweating concern.

Anyone out there with thoughts, it would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks


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## paillo (Feb 22, 2013)

I love organza bags, yes, very professional looking and you can match bag colors to your soaps. Here's my favorite supplier for these: http://www.giftsintl.com/

IMHO they're a whole lot easier than shrinkwrap too. I only shrinkwrap M&P, and just cutting all those pieces of wrap is a major PITA.


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## dianne70 (Feb 22, 2013)

Thanks for replying Paillo.....if only I lived in the USA!!  I have found somewhere in Australia that I can get them for 20 cents each...this is the cheapest I have found so far.....most places are 50 cents to 1 dollar!  I figured that hopefully if I can get them for 20 cents, then maybe I can do the whole packaging thing for about 50 cents a soap, by the time I add on the label costs.....this is not too bad


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## Relle (Feb 22, 2013)

Dianne looks like this place sends O/S.


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## Hazel (Feb 22, 2013)

I like the look of organza bags. But I'm concerned the soap might rub inside it and make the bag look "dirty". Does anyone have any experience with using bags?


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## dianne70 (Feb 22, 2013)

That's a concern I think.  If I was going to do this for say a market, I was going to have about 5 ready in bags, and then bag them as I need to when I need to restock the display.....if you get what I mean.  I was only thinking of using white bags which would also lend themselves to getting dirty quicker I think......oh its too hard!!  I really do like the look of the organza bag, but there is a lot to consider before I change


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## paillo (Feb 22, 2013)

I actually don't use organza bags because I'm afraid they'll rub and look dirty, but I love the look of them. I'd guess you'd be fine sending these for mail order, packaging them up as needed. Good idea about packaging them up at a market only when you're low on stock. And now I'm remembering one lovely shop, which unfortunately had a lot of foot traffic, wind and dust, and a lot of space open to the air. The soaps packaged in organza bags had picked up a lot of dust and didn't look good.

 I use cello bags ribboned up with label on bottom, they're easy on the handling and easy to just blow any dust off. Would love to use something more attractive, like the organza bags, but just haven't wanted to tempt fate when I'm carting them back and forth to markets. Seems like there's no perfect solution here...


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## Hazel (Feb 22, 2013)

You might have to be a little patient. I think Lindy used to use organza bags so she may be able to give advice. I haven't seen her on tonight so it's possible she has a social life and is out having fun.


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## Relle (Feb 22, 2013)

Hazel said:


> I haven't seen her on tonight so it's possible she has a social life and is out having fun.


 
At least one of us is, Hazel


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## Hazel (Feb 22, 2013)

Going out and having fun? An unusual concept.  I'm planning on going to bed in a little while. How sad is that?

@ Dianne - 

You've probably already seen these ideas but in case you haven't...

http://pinterest.com/goodforest/soap-packaging-ideas/

Soap packaging images

http://www.flickr.com/groups/soappackaging/pool/


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## dianne70 (Feb 22, 2013)

Thanks for the links Hazel......looked at most of these at some stage or another......I love the look of some of the packaging....problem is finding something that looks good, does the job, and is cost effective!  Shrink wrapping is an alternative, but I'm unsure about the sweating factor...live in a humid climate, especially in Summer, and would hate to think of the soaps having a little sauna inside the packaging!!


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## Hazel (Feb 23, 2013)

dianne70 said:


> would hate to think of the soaps having a little sauna inside the packaging!!



Yes, I can understand how this might be a problem. 


You had mentioned about having 5 bars for display and then bagging them as you sell them. This is just a thought - have you considered storing soap in muslin? Below is a link to Soapsmith's DOS experiment which you might find interesting if you haven't already read it. 

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/blog_post/Soapsmith/136/soapsmith_s_dos_experiment

Suggestion - display an unwrapped bar of each type of soap and have the rest in muslin bags or another type of 100% cotton material. You could stamp the bags with your logo and info for marketing purposes. I used to make bags, stamp them and then add paint, glitter, etc to make them fancy. They were quite nice if I do say so myself but time consuming. However, I made them for gifts so I wasn't concerned about the amount of time.


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## ruby61 (Feb 23, 2013)

I use the muslin bags with a label with my logo/ soap inform  on front.  I then put some decorative colored raffia around the top.  I used to use the organza but it did get dirty and if you are at a fair hurrying to put your soaps in bags while customers are at your tent is a pain.  It looks rustic and no you can't see the soap but it can breather and they can smell the product. They cost slightly more than your organza bags. If your customer needs to see the soap I put a sample on the table by the displayed item.  Most times they just care about the smell and what I put in the soap.


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## Hazel (Feb 23, 2013)

Thanks for sharing your method. I like the idea of tying with raffia.


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## Badger (Feb 23, 2013)

The place where I I used to buy soaps from used pieces of cotton fabric and a paper label to wrap hers in.  She would pick out fabric themes that matched the soap scents and they are attractive and let the soap breathe still.  I can find the website for them if you would like.


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## bridgetmoon (Feb 23, 2013)

you say you use shrink wrap right, I think if i'm right after a while it does tend to "sweat", try the organza bags or even tissue paper, or waxed paper and hand made paper


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## Hazel (Feb 23, 2013)

I wouldn't recommend tissue paper if there's the possibility the soap will sweat. It would seep into the tissue paper and be a mess. Also, I was sent some soap which the person had wrapped in wax paper. Most were okay but I had a hard time peeling the wax paper off a one of them. It almost appeared the wax paper had adhered to the soap. I don't know if she wrapped it too soon or if it was something involving the recipe she used. So, you might want to test wax paper on each different soap to make sure it comes off easily.

Handmade paper would be nice to wrap with but again there might be issues with the soap sweating while packaged.


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## Birdie Wife (Feb 23, 2013)

I'm moving towards muslin bags too... biodegradable, unbleached and breathable and suit my rustic/eco look. I found a place that'll print a logo on a bag for quite cheap... but overseas... so undecided. I think they look very elegant and understated though. I would probably tie them with a piece of co-ordinating tartan ribbon and put a business card inside.


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## Hazel (Feb 23, 2013)

Could you have a custom stamp made and stamp the bags yourself?


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## dianne70 (Feb 23, 2013)

I did have some soaps wrapped in tissue paper, and some of them did sweat and adhere to the paper, which is why I was concerned about the shrink wrap!  Thanks everyone...will check out the prices of muslin bags......I love this forum, and all the advice you get.  It's priceless


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## Soapsense (Feb 23, 2013)

What about shrinkwrap sleeves like they sell at Brambleberry that leave a hole on either end open?


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## Relle (Feb 23, 2013)

That would make the soap breathe, but still lets the sides get dirty.


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## Shannon_m (Feb 23, 2013)

Has anyone tried to use a hole punch on shrink wrap? Like maybe punch a few holes near the top, this way it can breathe and you can still smell the soap but it won't get dirty.


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## SpiralTouch (Feb 24, 2013)

Shannon_m said:


> Has anyone tried to use a hole punch on shrink wrap? Like maybe punch a few holes near the top, this way it can breathe and you can still smell the soap but it won't get dirty.



I am curious about this too. I have a bunch if shrink wrap bags that I haven't used yet, wonder if I should punch a few holes in it before shrinking


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## Scentapy (Feb 25, 2013)

How about pages from a book?  I used to wrap my soap in that.  People loved it and it is super cheap.  Think about how many pages are in a book AND you can get them at a used book store or salvation army.  I only wrapped the bottom half of the soap.

I used scrapbooking archival bags - HATED it.  The soap would sweat and leave residue on the inside of the bag.  Looked awful.  I also tried Saran Wrap and hated that too.

Now I use cigar bands and LOVE the look and my customers do too!  I use natural colored coffee filters for my round soaps and I like that too.  You can smell (but not see  ) the soap through the packaging.


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## Lindy (Feb 25, 2013)

I used to put my soaps in organza and overall they worked good enough.  I made a tag out of cardstock about the size of a business card that had the name of the soap, ingredients and my contact info on it that I slid into the bag with the soap.  The problem with hang tags is they get ratty looking really, really fast.  Organza bags look fantastic on a display because it is just so colourful.

Now for the cons - if the soap is getting handled a lot, they rub on the bag and it does get dirty looking.  However I was able to make it work for over 3 years although there were times I would shrink wrap using shrink bags from U-Line and I left the edges open to let them breath.

I have now moved into shrink wrapping using National Shrinkwrap's Polyolefin Film that is perforated.  I love this stuff!  It lets the soap breath, keeps it tidy and I can wrap over a hundred an hour!  It's a little pricey to start, you need the wand, the roller, the underlay, the heat gun and the shrink.  If you buy the kit you get a free roll of shrink.  I recommend the 75 gauge film and 18" system.  You can look at it HERE.  Tell him Lindalu from Malaspina Soap sent you.

Art is fantastic to deal with, and they have a video on the website showing how you wrap soap.  It will blow your mind.  When they send the system out to you you get a CD that shows you how to wrap baskets even and I'll tell you I learned how to make some nice looking gift baskets that were a hit over Christmas.

With this system you can smell the soap through the wrap and if you want to you can go with a Bio-Degradable Shrink in the Polyolefin too.







Here is the Organza Bags in a Christmas Display.  If you go this way go to the 4x6 size of bag.  You want a snug fit.


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## Mommysoaper (Feb 25, 2013)

Wow!  Never heard of perforated shrink wrap but sounds like an awesome product.  May have to look into that if I ever get enough sales going!


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## dianne70 (Feb 25, 2013)

Thanks Lindy.....I'still don't really know what to do!!!  Maybe muslin bags....  Will have to look into the perforated shrink wrap, and see if anyone sells it in Australia.....odds are they don't!  It's hard sometimes to get stuff here     Thank you all for your ideas though...it has given me a lot to think about


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## msidahocgirl (Feb 25, 2013)

*continuing thought*

ok so I'm still working on my company name and logo...but once I've completed that, where do you get the cigar bands or muslin from? I'm looking for reliable retailers vs google random site lol


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## lizflowers42 (Feb 25, 2013)

SpiralTouch said:


> I am curious about this too. I have a bunch if shrink wrap bags that I haven't used yet, wonder if I should punch a few holes in it before shrinking



For the 2013 EO swap I used cello bags that I punched a hole on both sides...we will see what the other swappies think of it after shipping in March!


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## DeeAnna (Feb 25, 2013)

msidahocgirl said:


> ...where do you get the cigar bands or muslin from?...



Well, cigar bands are something I think most people make on their own. The bands need to be sized to fit your soap bars and designed with your logo and such. Too many variables for a generic product. 

If you want someone to make the bands for you, I would recommend creating a design and taking it to a printing company in your area. A full-service printing service should be able to print your design on paper and cut straight-edged bands with a simple "guillotine" cutter.

Muslin bags ... just do a google search! Lots of good companies pop up. I used the keywords "muslin drawstring bags" and "cloth bags". Uline and Papermart are large companies I have used, and they both carry fabric bags. MuslinBag.com looks like another good source.

--DeeAnna


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## siobhan1011 (Feb 27, 2013)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260964361...eName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Here are the best value organza bags I found on ebay 3000 for £109
I have been using wallpaper to wrap my soap bars in basically I use a strip about 8 cm long and then cut it in half. I then use a border stamp to make the top bit pretty then wrap and glue with a glue gun.
I also used this printer to do my labels with
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271025405570?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649


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## Aponi (Feb 28, 2013)

Hazel said:


> I like the look of organza bags. But I'm concerned the soap might rub inside it and make the bag look "dirty". Does anyone have any experience with using bags?


 

I package every soap we sell in organza bags which are then packed in display boxes my husband made - these display boxes are great as they have a "lid/top" that clips on/off.  When we get to the markets all we have to do is unclip the lid off the boxes as the soaps are already displayed in variety etc.  We have 19 of these boxes we take to markets.  Lots of hands each time picking up/putting down the soaps but honestly, we've never had any problems with the organza rubbing with the soap showing on the bags, I replaced 5 Patchouli 'n' Vanilla bags yesterday only because I had to fill an order, was short and had to take from my stock so I wanted the bags for this order to be "new" for our customer.  In saying that, remember I do get my bags made to size for our soaps so there's no room for slipping around and because I buy in 5000 lots they are cheap so I can replace if needed, that's why I didn't hesitate yesterday to replace.

I did shrink wrap at first but the soaps sweated and I ended up throwing several away, I still have the shrink wrap roll which I sure won't use again - the worst soap for sweating was Goatmilk 'n' Oatmeal!!!!  But "touch wood", I've never had any problems with sweating in the organza bags.

The shrink wrap I used was the one which had thousands of tiny holes in it - supposed to let whatever inside breathe!!!!!!  Hope this helps.


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## Relle (Feb 28, 2013)

Aponi, do you have the link for the organza bags please ?


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## Aponi (Mar 1, 2013)

Relle9 said:


> Aponi, do you have the link for the organza bags please ?


 
Hi Relle9,  

Link for the "company" that I first contacted is :
http://colorfulpackaging.en.alibaba.com/​BUT...........
I've just sent an email to the girl I deal with asking if I can post her email address here on the forum.​ 
I'm currently trying to buy from her 500 each of light green, light pink, light blue, light mauve and light lemon in the same size as I get the white organza bags made but because I want only 500 of each and their not a "stock size" I'm finding this very difficult.​ 
BUT AGAIN...................
Relle9, I noticed your in Australia, which state are you in (?) and what size organza bag are you after (?) the white organza bags I use are 10cm x 12cm and this is the size I'm wanting in the coloured bags also.

Here are some pic's of the box we display the soaps in, sorry I didn't have one of the lid but if anyone would like to see the whole thing I'll take another pic, this one I already had in my photo file - the cardboard displays are what I put in shops, these are for the Australia National Parks & Wildlife shop that have a lot of people walking through each day and because I'm not there daily to check on how the soaps look, I go to the shop each month to top up and check on how the soaps look - fingers x'd I haven't had to replace an organza bag yet - but the charms do go missing now and them!!!!!​


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## Trxflyer (Mar 1, 2013)

Thanks for the link!!


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## Aponi (Mar 1, 2013)

Aponi said:


> Hi Relle9,
> 
> Link for the "company" that I first contacted is :
> http://colorfulpackaging.en.alibaba.com/​BUT...........
> ...


 
Here's the contact email address for the organza bags - contact name is Yoyo   [email protected]


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## Hazel (Mar 1, 2013)

*Aponi *- 

Thanks for telling us about your experience! I appreciate the information. :grin:


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