Bath and Body Packaging for Bath Bombs, Salts and Soap

They also shed: bath bombs crumble, salts leak and fresh soap sweats. The box has to cope with all three.

This range splits into bath bombs, bath salts, soap and loofahs. Soap has the most options because a bar can be sold in a sleeve, a window box, a lid box or a gift box depending on the price and the shelf.

The twelve products and what each one is for.

Many start with sleeves and move to boxes as the price per bar goes up.

Spa and wellness brands order gift sets. Farm shops and delis sell own-label soap. Subscription box companies need bath bombs that arrive whole after a journey in a parcel.

For a plain kraft start, bath bomb boxes with a lift-off lid are the item most makers price first.

• Bath bomb makers selling singles and sets
• Cold-process and melt-and-pour soap makers
• Spa, salon and wellness brands with a retail shelf
• Gift shops and farm shops with an own-label bar
• Subscription box and hamper companies
• Wedding and event favour makers

A 65 mm bomb weighs about 160 to 200 g and needs a box about 70 x 70 x 70 mm inside. That leaves 2 to 3 mm each side so the bomb does not roll and chip.

Sets lay bombs in a row or a grid. A three-bomb box for 55 mm bombs is about 180 x 60 x 60 mm. A nine-bomb display for 45 mm bombs is around 160 x 160 x 50 mm with a 3 x 3 cell insert.

The sizes below are starting points. Bath bomb window boxes are made at any of them, with the window cut to the bomb diameter.

Bath bombs are made to look good, and a customer who can see the swirl buys the swirl. The white box in our photos has a window the full height of the bomb with a clear film behind it.

The trade-off is dust and scent. Bath bombs give off fragrance through an open window and pick up dust on a shelf. Film behind the window solves both for a small extra cost, priced on the quote.

For bombs sold online rather than from a shelf, skip the window. The box will be inside a parcel and nobody sees it until it opens.

Drop it from waist height and it chips; let two bombs touch in a box and they rub each other smooth. The fix is a cell per bomb and fill around them.

The kraft mailer in our photos uses crinkle paper fill with four bombs nested into it. A card insert with a round cut-out per bomb is the tidier version and costs a little more. Either way, the mailer closes with a tuck flap and needs no tape.

Bath bomb mailer boxes with a tuck flap are made in kraft or white board, printed inside the lid if you want a message on opening.

It ships flat, folds up in a minute and goes straight onto a till counter or a market table.

Twelve cells in a 3 x 4 grid is the usual layout for 55 mm bombs. The pink display in our photos holds twelve with a printed header and a sprinkle pattern on the tray.

Bath bomb display boxes with a header are quoted from the bomb size and the number of cells.

The answer is a sealed inner bag and a carton that closes fully, with a window if you want the colour to show.

The gable-top boxes in our photos are the classic shape: a milk-carton style with a carry handle and a window on the front. A 350 g fill of coarse salt sits in a box about 80 x 60 x 120 mm.

Bath salt boxes with a gable top are printed in full colour, which suits a photograph of the ingredient on the front panel.

A market bar at a lower price point goes in a sleeve, which is a printed band of board wrapped around the soap with the ends open. It costs the least and shows the bar on two sides.

A retail bar in a gift shop needs a full carton. A window box shows the pattern of a swirled or layered bar. A lid box suits round and oval bars that do not sit square in a tuck end. A handmade bar with an uneven top needs a box with a few millimetres of headroom.

The pink box in our photos shows a window shaped to the bar with bold type beside it. Window soap boxes are cut to any bar shape you send.

It is glued or tucked, and the soap is visible at both ends. Sleeves are the cheapest printed option and suit high volumes.

A lid box is a shallow tray with a lid that folds over or lifts off. The lilac box in our photos holds a round bar with the lid folded back. A gift box is a deeper lid box with tissue or crinkle fill holding two to four bars.

Soap sleeves printed for market stalls are the entry point. Gift boxes for sets of bars are the top end, and lid boxes sit between.

An uncoated kraft board lets that moisture out; a laminated board traps it and the box can go soft. For handmade bars, kraft with no lamination is the safer choice.

Melt-and-pour and milled bars are drier and sit happily in a white laminated carton. Bath bombs and salts are fine in either. Rigid boxes are rare in this range except for gift sets.

Handmade soap boxes in kraft board are printed in one or two colours, which suits the look most artisan makers want. Board options are available on request.

All of them are avoidable with one measurement and one question about where the box will be sold.

• Measuring a bath bomb straight from the mould, before it has been trimmed
• Boxing fresh soap in a laminated carton that then goes soft
• Fitting a window on a box that will only ever be posted
• Leaving no weight statement or batch area on the back panel
• Ordering one box size for bars that vary by 5 mm from batch to batch
• Choosing a display without sending the counter depth

List them all and they are quoted on one sheet.

Loofah boxes with a wide window follow the same steps as everything else here.

1. Measure the product after trimming or curing, at its widest and tallest point.
2. Decide where it sells: shelf, market table, parcel or gift set.
3. Choose a box type per product, with or without a window.
4. Send artwork, quantities and any fill or insert you want priced.
5. Check the written quote and approve the free proof.
6. Printing takes 4 to 6 business days; your boxes then go out free and tracked to any UK address.