Custom Bubble Mailers

A custom bubble mailer is a lightweight shipping envelope with a layer of air-cell cushioning built into the wall, printed with your brand on the outside. TBPB prints them with no minimum order, and if you bring a written quote for the same specs we will beat it under our price-beat guarantee.

What a bubble mailer actually protects

The cushioning layer is thin. It absorbs the small knocks and scrapes that happen in sorting facilities and van floors, and it stops hard edges from scuffing each other. It does not stop a crush. A bubble mailer is the right call for jewelry in a small box, cosmetics tubes, phone accessories, books, sealed supplements, small candles in a rigid sleeve and similar items that weigh a few ounces to a couple of pounds.

It is the wrong call for glass bottles with no inner box, anything with sharp corners poking against the film, or a product that bends. If the item can snap, ship it in a mailer box or add a rigid inner carton. We will tell you straight when a mailer will not do the job, because a damaged parcel costs you more than a better box would have.

Choosing the size

Lay the product flat and measure the longest and widest sides. Mailers are specified by usable inside width and length, and the seal strip eats about an inch or so at the top, so ignore the printed outside size and look at the usable interior. Leave a little slack: a tightly packed mailer strains the seam and the product pushes against the cushioning, which defeats it. For items that vary in thickness, size to the thickest point.

Tell us the product dimensions and we will recommend a size, rather than guessing from a chart. If you sell several items of different sizes, you can order several sizes with different quantities and no minimum order on any of them.

Print and branding

Artwork prints on the outside surface. A single flat logo is the simplest and the most economical to produce, while an all-over pattern or a full-color design makes the parcel read as a branded delivery rather than a plain envelope. Keep text clear of the seal strip and the edges, where the film folds and cracks ink. Dark, saturated colors look striking but show scuffs more than lighter designs, so choose with the delivery route in mind.

• Self-seal adhesive strip with a peel-off liner
• Air-cell cushioning layer inside the wall
• Custom outer print: logo, pattern or full design
• Multiple sizes in one order, with no minimum order per size

Bubble mailer, padded mailer or poly mailer

These three get confused constantly. A bubble mailer uses air cells for cushioning. A padded mailer uses a paper-based fill and is easier to recycle in some places. A poly mailer has no cushioning at all and suits soft goods like clothing. Our poly bubble mailers pair a poly film exterior with the cushioning layer. Pick by what you ship, not by price alone.

Seal strips, seams and the details people miss

Check the seal strip before you approve anything. A good one grips on the first press and holds through humidity, which matters if parcels sit in a hot van or a cold dock. Seams should be flat and even along the sides, since a wavy seam is usually where a mailer fails first. When you pack, press the product to one end, smooth the air out of the cushioning and then close the flap, so the mailer lies flat in the carrier network and does not burst under a stack of other parcels.

Next step

Send your product dimensions and the quantity you want, even if it is just one. TBPB prepares the artwork layout, confirms the size and quotes it.

Frequently asked questions