Wood curling: are there alternatives? | RAJA

When preparing a parcel or a box, it is essential to ensure that the product is well protected in its basket or carton. There are many protective packaging and cushioning solutions available for this purpose. Although the importance of wood crimp in protective packaging is well established, alternatives seem to be winning the hearts of suppliers and sellers today.

But what is wood crimp, when is wood crimp used and what are the alternatives?

Wood crimp and its advantages

Wood shavings are a 100% natural and environmentally friendly material and are often packaged in bales.

The advantages of wood shavings are that they are compact and take up little space for storage.

In addition, wood shavings do not contain any chemicals or excessive dust.

When should wood curl be used?

Thanks to its appearance and natural qualities, wood crimp is an ideal cushioning or filling material for even the most fragile food products.

Above all, it is aesthetically pleasing and can be used to prepare and present baskets filled with food products, boxes or gourmet baskets. Some people use wood shavings as bedding for animals.

However, although it provides good product protection and is aesthetically pleasing, crimping no longer seems to meet the taste of some consumers who prefer alternatives.

Alternatives to wood curling

There are alternatives to wood crimp to better protect and present your packages, products or goods.

These include cushioning particles and air cushions:

What are the properties of dunnage particles?

Cushioning particles are materials made from polystyrene or organic vegetable starch and are very light, so they have less impact on the total weight of the packages.

This is an ideal solution to reduce shipping costs as much as possible.

The cushioning particles are elastic and can return to their original shape after compression

Thanks to their shock-absorbing properties, which reduce the impact of shocks during the transport of parcels, they guarantee optimal protection for goods over long distances.

Generally, cushioning particles are used to cushion, protect and give a decorative touch to products.

Air cushions

Air cushions are pockets of air that cushion and protect products (parcels, goods, etc.) against shocks during transport in containers, ship holds, trucks, wagons and crates.

The characteristics of air cushions are numerous:

• Shock resistant;
• Resistant to humidity; – Puncture resistant
• Puncture resistant;
• Reusable and recyclable;
• Time saving in order processing;
• Improve and secure the storage space for your goods;
• Can be produced on demand thanks to a compact packaging system.

Substantial savings on shipping costs

When you buy 20 tons of crimp per year, it means that you also send these 20 tons by post, parcel after parcel… We now use air cushions, produced on demand by a machine. We save space and time in handling, and we save on postage costs. With, as a bonus, a wink to our customers to whom we send air from Lozère.

Laurent Caplat (Founder of BienManger.com – 40,000 packages per month).extract from the RAJA white paper

Wood curling is a good and proven packaging solution, but there are more economical and space-saving alternatives in the warehouse, such as dunnage and air cushions.

Three key points to remember:

• Wood curl is an excellent cushioning and padding solution for the presentation of fragile products.
• Cushioning particles are used to cushion, protect and give a decorative effect to products in their box.
• Air cushions are an excellent “shock-proof” solution for the transport of all types of goods.