Protective Packaging
Bubble wrap, kraft paper, tissue paper, void fill and foam net protective packaging. Wholesale quantities from Hobart, delivered Australia-wide.
Protective packaging is what stands between your product and a damage claim, and the right choice depends entirely on what is doing the damage: impact, abrasion, movement inside the carton, or moisture. Associated Plastics stocks the full working range, including bubble wrap for impact protection, kraft paper for wrapping and void fill, tissue paper for surface protection and retail presentation, hexwrap paper for a plastic-free bubble alternative, biofill and other loose void fill, foam net sleeves for bottles and produce, cello bags and film for retail wrapping, and moulded egg cartons. Everything is held in our Hobart warehouse and shipped Australia-wide, with pricing that drops meaningfully at carton and pallet quantity. Most packing benches run two or three of these materials rather than one: something to cushion, something to fill the void, and something to protect the surface. The guide below sets out which material does which job so you stop over-packing cheap items and under-packing fragile ones.
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Cushioning, void fill and surface protection
These are three different jobs and using one material for all of them is where packing costs blow out. Cushioning absorbs impact energy: bubble wrap and foam net do this, and the item should be fully wrapped so no hard face touches the carton wall. Void fill stops the item moving inside the box, which is what causes most transit damage, and paper, biofill and loose fill do it cheaply by weight. Surface protection stops scuffing and marking between the item and its wrapping: tissue paper and kraft do this and cost very little. A well packed fragile item usually has all three, with tissue against the product, bubble around it and paper filling the remaining space.
Bubble wrap and paper alternatives
Bubble wrap remains the most effective cushioning per dollar, with small bubble suiting light items and surface protection and large bubble giving more travel for heavier or more fragile goods. Wrap with the bubbles facing the product so they sit against it and are not crushed flat by the carton wall. Where customers want plastic-free packaging, hexwrap expanded kraft paper is the closest substitute: it stretches into a honeycomb that nests around the product, cushions well and goes straight into paper recycling. Kraft paper on the roll handles both wrapping and void fill, and crumpling it loosely gives far better protection than laying it in flat.
Buying protective packaging in bulk
Protective packaging is bulky and light, so freight is a real part of the cost and buying by the carton or pallet is where the saving is. We hold stock in Hobart for fast dispatch across Tasmania and the mainland, and most warehouse and e-commerce customers set a standing order rather than reordering under pressure. If you are unsure how much a given roll or carton actually covers, call the team with your monthly order volume and we will work it out with you.
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