What is Void Fill?

When Shipping, Void fill is what you use to fill up excess space in your package, and to protect your product from damage during the shipping process. Here we are going to explore varying types of void fill you could use when shipping.

Bubble Wrap

By far one of the most common forms, bubble wrap is extremely cheap when bought in bulk and protects well from nicks and scratches, but isn't that effective if you're package is dropped as bubble wrap doesn't have a lot of impact support. Bubble wrap is most often used within mailers, for small items that fit within envelopes. It is also used for smaller boxes and in combination with such other void fill as Packing Peanuts.

Packing Peanuts

Another common void fill, packing peanuts are almost exclusively used in boxes, as they are irregular in shape and don't fit neatly into mailers. In large boxes, packing peanuts do great for impact support as they will absorb much of the force from a strong blow to the box. However, Packing Peanuts have one major con: they greatly increase the size requirement of your box. When shipping, small but extremely fragile objects are usually bubble wrapped then surrounded by packing peanuts in a box. This large amount of void fill can commonly double the combined length, width, and height of your box compared to a box with the same product, yet not using packing peanuts. Another cool thing about packing peanuts sit hat they don't really deteriorate, so you can reuse ones you get when items are shipped to you. Furthermore, packing peanuts are good for the environment since recently; packing peanuts have been manufactured to be able to dissolve in water for easy, green disposal.

Newspaper

Sometimes, newspaper is all you need to sufficiently protect your item within its box or mailer. Newspaper is great for an outer layer when protecting items such as glass, china, and other easily-breakables within packing peanuts. Newspaper is cheap, as you can either use Your local newspaper when you're done reading it, or for a more serious alternative, you can order blank newsprint in rolls for extremely cheap prices at your local UPS Store (or other such stores), your Post Office, or the internet.

Cardboard

Cardboard is almost exclusively used in mailers, as it is near useless within a box. Cardboard is a suitable alternative to bubble wrap within mailers for flat documents or items. It is however not that effective unless combined with bubble wrap for irregularly shaped objects.