What's new

Soap Packaging: Paper or Plastic?

My first quality soap was Pirate's Cove. And I loved it. (Still do.) Being a good little save-the-planet dharma bum, I dig the way it's wrapped in enviro-friendly biodegradable paper, not plastic.

I searched all the other good gycerin (oh! I'm animal-friendly too) brands and found many come wrapped in plastic--HoneyBee Spa, Colonel Conk, etc.

Others come in plastic tubs only. (Oh, no!)

I'd still love to try HoneyBee Spa, Mama Bear, and a few other small business brands, but I don't want the plastic wrapping. (Hmmm...I wonder if they would wrap the soap in paper upon request.)

So...what other brands come wrapped in paper only? (I think the Burt's Bees and the C&E come in a paper box. And that's okay.)

Thanks,
Christopher
 
Is it b/c glycerin would soak into the paper, or bond with it enough that it would not seperate, unlike a oil based soap? Do they make bamboo cups/bowls to put your soap into afterwards? Any plastic that is sent would be recyclable. Just put it with the plastic bags you return to the grocery store.
 
So, let me get this straight, you don't use tallow based soaps? Surely you must be mad, I couldn't live without my Tabac, Penhaligons, etc.

However, I asked Mama Bear if she could send me a soap without the plastic tub, and se did (she put it in a sandwich bag wwith zip-lock). I am sure she would wrap in paper also. However, surely you can bring all plastic wrapping to a recycling centre.
 
J

Jarmo P

Arko sticks are wrapped in thin foil paper that does not get broken though while used as a shaving stick. Ecological if I may say so.
 
However, surely you can bring all plastic wrapping to a recycling centre.

Yes, plastic can be recycled. But it's even better for the planet not to use it in the first place.

That's good news on the Mama Bear and TGQ soaps. (Is Doc Harris glycerin?)

Thanks,
Christopher
 
Yes, plastic can be recycled. But it's even better for the planet not to use it in the first place.

That's good news on the Mama Bear and TGQ soaps. (Is Doc Harris glycerin?)

Thanks,
Christopher

DR Harris I think you mean, no it is not. Tallow based.
 
I bought some Pirate's Cove soaps as well, and the one problem I did notice, at least with the paper they used vs. the paper that C&E wraps their soaps in, is that it was all stuck to the soap. The paper is near tissue consistency, and I spent some time picking all the little pieces out of the soap.

I personally prefer the plastic tubs, as they can be re-used when you use up the one soap. You can get the Honebee soaps in plastic tubs as well, not just the shrink-wrapped plastic.
 
The C&E Almond soap rounds came in a paper box wrapped in wax paper, which is ideal, I think.

I think the Classic brand soaps come in wax paper, also.
 
Is the wax paper made of paper covered with wax, or is it some kind of synthetic poly-vinyl-whatever?

(On a similar note: Our library uses a ton of printing paper, and I often wondered if the wax-coated ream wrappers ought to be recycled with the printing paper. I finally asked. The Hammermill folks said the "wax paper" is not paper at all, but 100% plastic made to look and feel like paper. The plastic keeps the moisture away better than the old fashioned wax-coated paper. And the plastic look-a-like wrappers are used by every major paper manufacturer, not only Hammermill.)

Thanks,
Christopher
 
It looks like wax paper, it certainly tears like paper, although it's very very thin, and seems more translucent than real wax paper probably ought to.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was a composite of some kind.
 
I bought some Pirate's Cove soaps as well, and the one problem I did notice, at least with the paper they used vs. the paper that C&E wraps their soaps in, is that it was all stuck to the soap. The paper is near tissue consistency, and I spent some time picking all the little pieces out of the soap.

I don't mind a little paper on the puck. It scratches away easily enough.

Me
 
My puck of Mitchell's Wool came wrapped in paper, inside a cardboard box. Very elegant presentation, too. If only I could solve the enigma of the lather...

- tim
 
Honestly, I wouldn't worry about the difference between paper wrapped soap versus plastic packaged soap. The plastic packaging can be recycled or reused. However I've read that paper will not decompose in a landfill because of a lack of oxygen.
 
Top Bottom