It’s a well-known cliché that people tend to buy with their eyes. Visual marketing is a very important aspect of any business as we are more likely to be drawn to a product if the overall look is appealing. If you’re looking for soap packaging ideas or how to wrap your handmade soap, we’ve got lots of great budget-friendly ideas for you in our post today including 5 video tutorials to get you started.

After all, the way you package and present your products helps to form your business's identity, allowing people to recognise your brand with just a glance. We’ll be looking at lots of different ideas for packing your handmade soaps inexpensively and effectively to make the best first impression with your business.

With so many different ways of presenting your handmade soaps, we’ll be looking at ideas for both cold process as well as melt & pour soaps. You’ll note that the two different types of soaps are often wrapped differently.

Whilst cold process soap can be left out in the air, melt and pour soap will need airtight packaging as the soap is likely to attract any moisture from the air. When melt and pour soap is left uncovered or is not in an airtight wrapping, it can end up with what is called ‘sweat beads’.

Sweating occurs because of the high glycerine content and will act like a sponge to any moisture that’s in the air. Whilst this doesn’t affect or hinder the product itself, it's just not particularly aesthetically pleasing – so we’ll show you how to work around this. Happily, cold process soap can be left out in the air with no problem.

Do I need to package my handmade soap?

There are a few things you may want to consider when deciding if you’ll need to package your soaps.

Gifting

Potential customers not only like to purchase for themselves but will also be purchasing for others. When people look for gifts, they are often attracted to items that are readily packaged to look like a gift and so this is always something to keep in mind when choosing your packaging. You may like to keep your soaps bare or with minimal packaging, but it is always worth considering having some available pre-packaged ready for gifting just in case.

Selling at Markets, Fairs or Wholesale to Shops

You may also need to take into consideration how you store your soaps or how they will be sold. If, for example, you attend markets and fairs or if you wish to have your products on a shop shelf, you wouldn’t want your products to become contaminated. Dirty fingers, dust and dirt need to be kept to an absolute minimum as there is nothing worse than lost stock due to your beautiful handmade products getting grubby!

What Are My Options for Wrapping Melt & Pour Soaps?

As we have already discussed, melt and pour soaps will attract any moisture in the air and this will cause the soap to sweat. It is always a good idea to wrap or cover these soaps in airtight packaging.

5 Creative Packaging Materials for Soap

There are many different ways you can package your handmade soaps along with many different materials. It can take some time (and cost!) to eventually find what you are looking for. You may like a minimalist look or go for something bold and eye catching.

Below are some cost-effective and simple ways you can package your handmade soap.

Using Kraft Paper to Package Your Handmade Soap

Kraft paper is a perfect wrapping material to package your handmade soaps. An eco-friendly choice and great value for money, kraft paper can come in convenient sheets or rolls, is available in different thicknesses and can be found printed or plain. Our video below shares our best tips and instructions for effectively wrapping your soap without having to be an origami expert!

Kraft paper tends to be thicker than most wrapping papers so is great for a more robust paper packaging. You can wrap it loosely securing with twine or you can achieve a more polished look with folded corners and tape.

There are lots of different looks you can achieve with different kraft papers. Looking for gift-giving options this Christmas? We are loving the seasonal prints which you can further decorate with ribbon or twine or using just a plain kraft paper with additions of colourful wrap around labels.

Kraft paper is perfect for packaging cold process soaps. If you would like to use it to wrap melt and pour soap, we would recommend using either cello or shrink wrap underneath the kraft paper to product the paper from moisture.

Using Wrapping Paper to Package Your Handmade Soap

Wrapping paper is a great cost-effective way to wrap your handmade soaps. With the endless pretty prints to choose from you will be spoilt for choice. We love the fact that you can use coordinating patterns and themes to present your soap collections. You can also use labelling, twine or ribbons to add to the look.

Our video below shares our best tips and instructions for effectively wrapping your soap with wrapping paper, including how to fold it around tricky delicate tops or embeds.

You can use wrapping paper for both cold process and melt and pour soaps but again, you will need to pre-wrap melt and pour soaps in cello or shrink wrap to stop the paper going soggy in case the soap sweats.

The only thing to watch out for with using thin wrapping paper is the fact that it can crease and rip if the soap is being handled/picked up regularly (for example at market stalls) so we’d recommend finding slightly thicker wrapping paper for these options.

Using Waxed Paper to Package Your Handmade Soap

Wax paper is a wonderful way to give your soaps a more rustic or crafty look. Wrap loosely and stack to achieve a unique display, wrap loosely with twine or ribbon or for a more polished look fold the corners and take down and use wrap around labels. Check out our video below to show you how to best use wrapping paper whether you’re packaging your melt and pour soaps or delicate designs for your cold process soap.

You can use this with melt and pour soaps but again, they can sweat, and the wax paper may eventually begin to stick to the soap due to the moisture.

It can also crease quite easily too but if used to wrap at point of sale like at a market or in a shop (similar to a deli counter) then this wrapping is ideal.

Using Cellophane to Package Your Handmade Soap

For melt and pour soap, many makers use cellophane wrap, it comes in all different shapes and sizes and can make a great airtight covering for your soap. The good thing about cellophane wrap is that is much more readily available in Eco-friendly versions which are compostable and biodegradable instead of the plastic versions.

Our video below shows how to use cellophane wrap to show off your soaps to their best advantage.

The airtight wrap is enough by itself with your labelling, or you can use extra wrapping over the top.

Many makers like this option as you are still able to see the product through the packaging. Not only does it keep your soaps free from dust and dirt, but your customers will also be able to admire your beautiful products through the wrapping.

Using Wrap Around Labels or Cigar Bands to Package Your Handmade Soap

We love the look or wrap around labels! They can either be purchased ready-made and printed or you can design and print your own. You can also include your ingredients details too, which saves you having to purchase and apply multiple labels on your packaging.

Our video below shows some simple options using wrap around labels alongside other packaging options for more ideas.

You can use cigar bands directly onto cold process soap bars allowing the customer to be able to see and smell the soaps available.

For melt and pour soaps, wrap around labels on top of a cellophane wrap means the customer can see the soap through the wrapping without the risk of the label become damp with moisture. These versatile labels can be coordinated with any other wrappings such as cello/shrink wrap, kraft papers and wax papers!

There are, of course, plenty of other options available such as kraft boxes, pillow boxes and glassine bags but we hope the ideas we have given you today will help you on your way to finding the perfect look for your products.

Be sure to check out our full range of soap making supplies, from hot and cold process soap products to melt and pour bases, soap colourants and more.

Looking to sell your products? Check out our melt & pour soap assessments and our ultimate guide to selling your handmade bath and body products.

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