Hobby & Craft Forums

[soapitup]

I need some help as I can't seem to find what I am looking for, I need some kind of paper wrapping to go round my cp soap, either coloured or pattened.

I'm not sure if it needs to be a certain type of paper, so If you know or know of a suitable website I can get it from I would be most greatfull.

Also after I wrap the soap it the above paper I want to add a paper band that has my company logo plus the soap name, also the ingeediants and everything else you need to put on these things.

Thanks.

[Nickie]

I've had a quick look around tonight and don't think you need any particular type of paper to wrap your soaps in although a good quality wrapping will obviously make a difference. I've been giving this some consideration too and have been looking for ideas- something sturdy, not too expensive but looks the part etc and have read several things against plastic wrapping. My soaps will be purely organic so I want to make the packageing reflect this. There is a site here which does brown parcel wrapping either on a roll or in sheets and the company logo, soap name and ingredients can then be added with simple stickers- a bit like the image below but obviously personalised. I'm sure there are other companies out there who do parcel wrapping in different colours although you might not find enough colour varieties if you're making more than say 8 different soaps for example so you may be forced to go down the wrapping paper route- or maybe even wallpaper which would be another idea. The thing I prticularly like about parcel wrapping is its strength and it doesn't wrinkle or crease easily which means you can warp the soap and stack it without worrying that you're going to wrinkle the packaging. Anyhow, take a look here http://www.postpack.co.uk/acatalog/paper-rolls.html

If you're considering shrink wrapping, take a look at this youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W25soOkh ... re=related. You can buy the system here for about $259 which might sound a lot but it'd save you an age in trying to wrap multiple bars and again, you might find something similar in the UK for less http://www.nationalshrinkwrap.com/catal ... 118952.htm

Here's a pic of something similar to what I'm hoping to achieve with the parcel wrap and jazz up with colourful stickers of my logo and pictures to reflect the added botanicals etc. Here's a site which does matt, semi and high gloss stickers which are compatible with inket printers (not the gloss) and laser printers so you could print these yourself according to requirements. They can work out quite expensive though at just under a £1 per label but the more you order, the less they'll cost per sticker. This is just an example however and you may well find them a lot cheaper elsewhere if you shop around http://www.aalabels.com/category-T2-Cir ... abels.html



The finished product should look more like this one though once the stickers are added to the brown parcel wrapping



Here's some done with what looks like wallpaper

[soapitup]

Thanks for that Nickie,

I don't really want to use brown paper wrapping as to me it looks a bit cheap and doesn't say quality, plus when I add the images to my site I want to display a wrapped soap next to an unwrapped soap so presentation is important, otherwise If I just go for plain brown wrapping I wouldn't show the wrapped product on my site.

With the Images you have put in your thread, I like the 3rd Image wrapping the best with the 1st Images label, but do also quite like the 1st Image wrapping as well. (just not as much as the 3rd image)

As far as the sticky labels I thought I could probably create these myself, though never seem to have uch luck prining labels as they never turn out great and the layout I do on my computer never seems to fit the sheet of lables, so may try and find a place to buy the logo / product name labels and do the labels with the other requirements on myself.

Also from what I remember it's best not to wrap cp soap in film as it needs room to breath I think, so if I have got that correct then that would be a no no.

Anyway thanks for your help, you have given me some things to think about,

Shane

[Nickie]

That's what I thought about the shrink wrap but as long as you've given your soap enough time to dry out then it's apparently fine and there is now 'smell through' shrink wrap which has tiny holes in it which allows the scent to come through and for it to be handled without damaging it and also allows the soap to breathe. It's biodegradeable too which is an added bonus if you're like me and are going for the natural look!

I defo have the opposite view with the brown paper thing lol! I think it gives things a simple but not cheap look to them and I think the fact that the Body Shop are using this type of packaging goes at least some way to supporting this theory- I'm sure they've done their homework on what type of packageing sells etc. I do agree that they could be a little colourless though and maybe the patterned papers are the way to go- it just doesn't give me the 'natural' feel I'm looking for though and hence why I was thinking more about jazzing them up with colourful labels with images of the ingedients on them say cranberries and vanilla pods or something along those lines.

Yes, the stickers could prove a pain in the proverbial although with a couple of hours of trial and error it could be well worth doing your own and defo save a few quid. I've yet to even make any soap yet so I guess experimenting with packageing is some way off yet although as you can see, it's something I have started to think about and am weighing up the options for. How far along are you with making your soaps Shane? You got any pics you can show us yet? Would love to see them!

[Lighthousegirl]

I must say I do quite like the brown paper look - especially if teamed with a natural fiber tied round it, or with some brightly coloured images on

Mind you I love pretty patterned paper too - but only when its good quality paper - the feel of a wrapper is important to me too.

One idea may be to combine a plain wrapper with a coloured ribbon, with different ribbons for different products? Or it would be quite cool to use the same coloured background with a different coloured pattern on it? I make my own wrapping paper with plain paper (either brown or reasonable quality white or even wall paper lining paper for a neutral look) and roll a quick pattern over it. Fun, fast and effective.

[soapitup]

I just wrote a post and when I pressed submit it made me login again and I lost the post, don't know why that keeps happening but it's driving me crazy, anyway I'll type it again....

I suppose the brown paper / look and feel of the wrapping is down to personal preference and If you are looking for a more natural look then this could be good, also If it was recycled then being environmentally friendly could be another usp I guess.

And has been already suggested using coloured labels and ribbon could also enhance this, I have looked at loads of soap selling sites around the globe and just know what I like the look of and what I don't, just have to be careful over costing's for wrapping as If I go down the route I am currently considering then I will make around 50% on each bar of soap, but If I spend a £2 on wrapping / labelling each bar of soap then I will only make around 16% profit and that is before taking into account labour, tax etc so that would not be very good.

Obviously If I was selling my own soap then I would have better profit margins, however would still need to be careful. it's quite a big balancing act when I think about it.

I made some soap and it came out pretty well, not that I have used it lol, but will take some pics this afternoon and try and work out how to add them on here.

I have decided though I want to learn how to make CP soap, just a bit nervous about some of the ingredients, have been looking on Amazon for books but find it difficult seeing which are cp soap making books and what are m&p books, will have to have another look.

[Nickie]

I think what I'm going to do is find a recipe somewhere and take it from there- start with something really simple. I've watched loads of youtube videos on CP and aside from the lye it doesn't really worry me, I think I've got quite a good grasp on the basics after spending a wole 2 days researching it and constantly reading stuff I've found on the net.

Yes, I guess with those margins you need to be really careful about cost. Another idea I had today was flyers in a good quality gsm and designed to be folded like a wrapping paper but with the information already printed on them. if you get my meaning. I've got shed loads of samples here so I might try to wrap normal bars up in them and have a play around with which gsm works best. This would be a great money saver if it worked as each wrapper would cost less than penny each!

[Just Soaps]

Packaging is every producers nightmare!!!!

Just wander down the aisles of any store and see what draws you to product A before product B - it is usually the packaging.

Plus as pointed out, it needs to be breathable, and affordable.

Another important factor is - how does it react with the soap? some papers we have found have ended up with the colour bleeding onto the soap.

Best to wrap - leave for a couple of months to see what happens.

Which market are you going for? Cool sophisticated, young and hip, utility, arty etc etc.

Good luck

[soapitup]

That might work Nickie, you'll have too let me know how you get on with that, another thought I had was using fabric, they come in some great colours, patens etc and you can still add some ribon and labels. I think I may go to Dunhelm Mill today and buy a sample then I can roughly work out ow much it would cost per soap to wrap, and I guess I can use craft glue to stick it, we have a craft shop near here as well so they should sell craft glue (whatever the difference is)

Anyway let me know If you think fabic could be suitable.

[soapitup]

Packaging is every producers nightmare!!!!

Just wander down the aisles of any store and see what draws you to product A before product B - it is usually the packaging.

Plus as pointed out, it needs to be breathable, and affordable.

Another important factor is - how does it react with the soap? some papers we have found have ended up with the colour bleeding onto the soap.

Best to wrap - leave for a couple of months to see what happens.

Which market are you going for? Cool sophisticated, young and hip, utility, arty etc etc.

Good luck

Those are some other things I havn't even thought about, so may have to try a few different packaging and then see what works and looks best.

As for the target market, again, this is where I fall flat on my face, I need to sit down and think of who I want to target, and there was me thinking the regulations were confusing