We have a confession to make. We have not yet invented InfusionWrap . We apologise to everyone who responded enthusiastically to this announcement, we hope they haven’t already started revising their budgets…

But then again, if we don’t joke on the first of April, when should we do it?!

A couple of patents were obtained in the US in the 1990s for the creation of the scented bubble film, but it is still in development at the moment.

Can we sniff out an opportunity?

The last question got us thinking. If we take a look at the process by which the bubble wrap is made, can we introduce a long-lasting perfume or essence into it?

For all the curious followers, here is a peek at the bubble-making process.

How the bubble film is created:

Resin is cast in film/film layers

Initially, the polyethylene is in the form of granules, then it is melted to create the transparent or translucent plastic that will form the envelope of each bubble. The layers must be strong enough to protect the packaged goods, but also thin enough to burst when subjected to adequate pressure. The classic POP!

Two layers of film are joined at the flaps to create a bag

The bag is then filled with air.

The bag is placed on a metal vacuum roller

The air bag is placed on a giant metal roller. The roller closely resembles a beehive in the sense that it is covered in small bubble-sized craters. These suck in air, thus creating the typical bubbles.

During cooling, the plastic sheets bind together

With all the air in the bag now only occupying the bubbles, the foil sheets bind together as they cool. The bubble wrap is then removed from the roll already in the form in which the end customer will receive it.

From this process we can guess that the only way to create a scented version of the bubble film would be to fill the large initial bag with scented air. However, it would be difficult to guarantee the freshness of the essences in the long term. Most fragrances last because they are in liquid form.

When did bubble wrap come into being?

Although the scented bubble film has not yet been invented, it is amazing to observe how far this product has come since it was invented in 1957 by Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes.

They initially conceived it as a new form of extravagant wallpaper. The two fused two shower curtains together, trapping some bubbles inside. Not many people were interested in wallpaper, but more and more became interested in this new product because it turned out to be an ingenious way to protect fragile objects.