Packaging bag thickness and material
Two numbers decide how a packaging bag feels in someone’s hand, and most suppliers will not put either of them in writing. Here is what they mean and what to ask for.
What a micron actually is
A micron is a thousandth of a millimetre, and it is how the thickness of plastic film is measured. It is the single most useful number when you are comparing two quotes, because it is the one thing that cannot be dressed up in adjectives. A bag is either 60 micron or it is not.
The range you will meet in South African retail packaging runs from about 60 to 80 micron at the ordinary end, with heavier films above that. The jump sounds small written down. It is not small in the hand.
Why 60 and 120 feel like different products
A 120 micron bag is exactly twice the thickness of a 60, and half again the thickness of an 80. What that buys you is structure. Thin film has none: it takes the shape of whatever is inside it, it creases when it is folded or squashed, and a crease in PVC is permanent — it goes white and it stays white.
Heavier film holds its own shape. The bag sits square on a shelf rather than slumping, it survives being handled by customers without looking second-hand, and it reads as something that was chosen rather than something the product happened to arrive in. That is the whole difference between a polybag and packaging.
There is a printing consequence too. Artwork on a thin, flexible bag distorts as the surface moves. On a heavier film the print stays flat and square, which is why a logo looks sharp on one bag and slightly wrong on another with the same artwork.
Not all clear plastic is the same plastic
Thickness is only half of it. If a quote comes back noticeably cheaper, the next question is what the bag is actually made of.
The common substitution in this category is LDPE or CPE film rather than PVC. Those are softer and cloudier, they crease into permanent white lines much more readily, and they will not hold a square shape at any thickness you would reasonably buy. They are not bad materials — they are cheaper materials doing a different job, usually bulk storage rather than presentation. If what you need is a bag to keep stock in, they are fine and you should not pay more.
PVC costs more as a raw material and behaves differently: it stays clear, it stays flexible without going floppy, and it takes print cleanly. A customer will notice the difference without ever being able to name it.
The two questions worth asking any supplier
What micron is it? and what material is it? Both are quick to answer if the answer is good. A supplier who will not put a figure in writing is telling you something.
It is also worth checking how dimensions are written. Some suppliers list the larger number first, so the same bag appears as “20 × 28” on one quote and “28 × 20” on another. Match width to width before you compare anything else.
For reference
| Common retail packaging | 60–80 micronThe ordinary end of the South African market, where a figure is published at all. |
|---|---|
| Our frosted matte bags | 100 micron PVCTranslucent. Contents read as a shape rather than in detail. |
| Our clear bags | 120 micron PVCFully transparent, and the heavier of the two films. |
| Material | PVC throughoutNot LDPE or CPE film, which are the cheaper substitutions in this category. |
| Minimum order | 50 units per sizeEach size is its own production run. |
The two finishes we supply
Same PVC, same printing, same seven sizes. The choice is about how much of the product you want visible.
Packing something that hangs round a neck instead? The lanyard pouch sizes guide covers insert size versus external size, which is the same class of mistake in a different product.