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Has anyone out there found a viable alternative to using packing peanuts for shipping? I ship a ton of fragile items every month and need something that will absorb impact and prevent motion inside the box. Packing peanuts are getting too expensive, not to mention the harm they do to the environment. Newspaper would be the obviohs replacement, but it isnt all that effective in my opinion and it can get quite heavy. Any thoughts?
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I use an awful lot of Newspaper when I’m packing.
Another alternative is to get larger Styrofoam pieces and chop them up. It can get a bit messy, but they are generally easy to come by.
I’ve also used shredded paper and the stuffing from old quilts and pillows, not to mention foam rubber if you happen on some.
Good luck
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Where I work we replaced peanuts with air pillows – they require an upfront investment of a machine to make the pillows (I think it was almost $2000) but after that you just need to buy cheap rolls of film.
I think the air pillows are an option if you are shipping out lots of items. They also allow control – you can make different lengths (the width of the film is the same), or add in as much air as you like to make “stiff” pillows, or fill them each with less air.
We ship out dozens of boxes of glass bottles this way a day – and have very few issues.
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I pack in the large bubble wrap, then sandwich between cardboard pieces cut to fit, then bubble wrap again, and then float on air pillows. It comes out much lighter (much, much lighter) than newspaper or other paper wrap. The more fragile an item, the thicker the sandwich. So far, so good!
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I have had two pyrex break in shipping. I shipped a large mirror, no problem — pyrex, not happening! I did do a sandwich the second time still broke, possibly need more layers. If any of you have shipped pyrex, I would love to know how you did with it.
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So sorry that happened. Pyrex is hard to break. Maybe it was just packed too tight? Sometimes the pressure of other heavy boxes thrown on top may cause breakage if packed to tight. I posted below how I ship it. I’ve also tossed a box up and let it dropped from 8-10 feet before shipping, just to make sure.
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My local convenience store sells a lot of those freel milkshakes. They come in recycled paper holders. The material reminds me of the multiple to go drink holders you get at dunkin, except sturdierand longer. They save them for me. They’re light weight, bendable, easy to cut and work great for lining shipping boxes. I wrap breakables with big bubble wrap, surrounded by peanuts and a box lined with those drink holders. That’s how I like to ship Pyrex and Fire King.
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Punk: Yes, it may be hard to break Pyrex but I seem to be good at it. I think you are right, it was packed too tightly. I really thought (after the first disaster) that I needed to make sure it was secure so I packed it up very tightly in a styrofoam sandwich (separating the lid from the base) but I think that with no “give” it had no where to go when there was shock so it broke. I did have it labeled fragile and I did have insurance so I got the money back but still, no fun.
Joe: Yes, that is a good method and I use it often. I shipped a large mirror, plates, glasses, you name it, in exactly that way. That’s why the Pyrex situation baffled me. But I have another Pyrex and one of those Teracotta baking things still in my listings so I have a couple of more chances to get it right.
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Pryex Bowls: So today I’m listing about 10 of my vintage Pyrex bowls. Instead of listing the matching ones together (I didn’t have complete / full sets of anything), I listed them separately so I wouldn’t have to ship them together. I recently had some porcelain nesting canisters break when I shipped them inside each other even though I did the floating box thing.
So, other than the floating box method, any other tips / tricks for shipping Pyrex bowls?
Thanks!
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I wrap in several layers of bubble wrap. Then I either put it in a box, or actually roll it in a long line of cardboard, and then pack cardboards in either end. I use large, generic boxes for my “cardboard stash”. That goes into a plastic bag to keep it all together and safe from wet. Then that box gets wrapped in bubble wrap and packed into another box with either air pillows or packing peanuts. Every now and then, I pick up the box and shake it around. When stuff stops moving/rattling, I stop. Packing peanuts settle, so I make a little buffer. Air pillows can pop, so I add a couple extras.
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No matter how hard I try at using re-usable bags shopping by the end of every month I still end up with plastic bags collecting in the closet. Scrunched up they make great packing material, I use them a lot for filling the voids inside bowls, vases, or cups and then follow with bubble wrap and air pillows, sometimes I scrunch them up to fill tiny voids in corners or on the sides of a bubble wrapped item also, they don’t shift, they keep stuff from moving around, and don’t add to the weight. I double box the really fragile stuff.
I hesitate to say this because I have a couple really fragile things to list…but so far my score has been one casualty in the last 15 years…and it was unverifiable because she “was unable to upload a picture” of the broken item (a small candy dish)…but total cost wasn’t enough to make me want to question it. I’m not a high volume seller like many here, but have sold more glassware than I ever wanted to, because I didn’t want it broken here.
We are a corelle, paper plate, tervis tumbler type of family, with a cat that pushes stuff off the table.
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