A New Peanut Strategy

This is not the first time I've written about my hatred of packing peanuts. I hate them a little less now, thanks to a new approach. A fellow potter from the Ceramic Arts Network Community Forum named Rae Reich suggested putting the peanuts into plastic bags first, so they don't go flying everywhere when the package is unpacked by the customer. This is one of my biggest gripes about peanuts: I hate receiving boxes packed with peanuts, because of the way they go flying. Therefore I cringe knowing that I'm putting my customers through the same experience. 

This year for my annual online sale (the only time of year when I am willing to ship pots), I bought my usual bags of peanuts, along with a box of thin, clear plastic bags. And a pack of twist ties. 

Here is one the pots I shipped, a small teapot with a stainless steel handle.

The handle is fairly rigid, but just in case I stuffed a roll of cardboard into its negative space.

The pot and its lid were wrapped separately in 1/16" thick foam sheets (available at Uline.com). I like using white paper tape (available at art supply stores) because it sticks well but also peels off easily. 

I filled a plastic bag with peanuts, enough to fill half of the shipping carton. I made a depression in the middle to cradle the pot.

The teapot body and lid were placed side by side in the depression. One more piece of foam was folded and placed between them.

I placed another plastic bag on top of the pots, and filled it with peanuts. I borrowed a tool from my garden shed. 

I shoved the peanuts down the sides of the pots, trying to fill in all the empty spaces. I kept adding peanuts until they formed a mound over the top edge of the box.

The second bag was closed with a twist tie, then the box tops were squeezed shut. The closed box should be slightly dome shaped. The entire contents of the box should be under pressure. 

​Travel safely, pots! 

I shipped out all of the orders two weeks ago, and have not had one report of damage. Hooray! It's a small sample size, but so far I am much happier with this. At first it took me a lot of extra time to pack a box, as I figured out how to work with the bags. By the end I was packing about as fast I did before with loose peanuts. There were two boxes that I unpacked and repacked. After thinking about it, I decided I hadn't filled in all the corners as well as I could have. They were a cinch to unpack, due to the bagged peanuts. I hope the customers experienced the same thing.