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Soapmaking
All Containers›Shop by use case›Soapmaking›Wrapping and presentation›Wrap, box or nakedShop all soap and wash →
Wrapping and presentation

Wrap, box or naked

By Dwight Davis, Founder

Updated

On this page5

The container decision in this craft, and unusually it is a decision about how much not to enclose.

Three positions

Soap is the one product in this estate where the packaging's main job is to let the product breathe.

Because a cured bar still exchanges moisture with the air, and glycerine draws it in, sealing a bar is a technical decision with a failure attached.

Naked

Unwrapped, with a band or a tag, or loose in a basket.

The customer can smell it, which is most of the sale at a market, and it is the cheapest option.

Against it: the bar is handled by everybody, it picks up dust and other bars' scents, and it has nowhere to carry the label.

Which is the catch, a bar sold with no label carries no identity, net quantity or business name, and those are required on a consumer commodity however it is presented.

Wrapped

Paper, a printed band, a cigar band, or a fabric wrap.

Breathable, which is the technical requirement, and it carries the label.

A band leaves the ends exposed so the bar can still be smelled, which is why it is the category standard at markets.

Full paper wrap protects more and hides the bar, which is a trade against an appealing product.

Boxed

A carton, which gives the largest printable surface, the best protection and the most premium presentation.

It breathes adequately if it is not sealed.

Against it: cost, and a minimum order measured in thousands, and it hides the product entirely, so a boxed soap has to sell on the box, which is a different marketing problem.

Makers often end up with a band for markets and a box for retail, which is two packaging lines for one product.

References

Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, and the consumer commodity requirements: a statement of identity, a net quantity of contents and the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor. ftc.gov
US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Soap Business Guidance. Products meeting the FDA soap exemption fall to CPSC rather than FDA, with labeling under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act where relevant. cpsc.gov
Written from the federal regulation and FDA and CPSC guidance named on each page, not from a laboratory or a legal practice. Whether a particular product and a particular label make exempt soap, a cosmetic or a drug is a determination about your product, and this is not that determination.