Everything There Is To Know About Airless Pump Bottles
Airless pump bottles have grown out to become a new packaging hype in the cosmetics and beauty industry. These unique pumps have been around for a while, however, it was not until recently that their popularity began to grow. But what are airless bottles exactly and what is all the fuss about? In this article, we will explain to you what airless bottles are, how they work, and what advantages they bring along. Hopefully, this will help you to understand why airless bottles have become so popular among a large number of cosmetic brands.
What is an airless bottle?
As the name suggests, an airless bottle is a bottle that features an airless and vacuum design. This is made possible thanks to the unique dispensing mechanism that the bottle has. Unlike traditional pump bottles that feature an internal dip tube structure, airless pump bottles come with a non-pressurized vacuum dispensing mechanism. This airless mechanism features a disc located at the bottom of the bottle that, with ever press of the pump, moves up slightly. While this disc moves up, it pushes up the product simultaneously and causes it to dispense through the pump. Throughout this whole process, the product inside of the bottle remains in a vacuum environment. This is completely different from a traditional lotion pump bottle that features an internal tube and uses internal air pressure to dispense of the lotion or cream. The airless and vacuum dispensing method that airless bottles use is what makes them so special and what gives them their benefit over traditional lotion pumps.
What advantages do airless bottles have?
The vacuum and airless environment inside of the airless bottle is what creates most of the benefits that these bottles enjoy. Because the product is stored inside an airless environment, it does not get into contact with external air or moist at any given moment. As a result, the shelf life of the product is increased significantly. Research has shown that a product stored inside an airless bottle remains of good quality for 15% longer compared to the same product stored inside of a traditional lotion pump. The airless environment furthermore ensures that sensitive products such as natural serums won’t get affected by external factors. This is what makes airless packaging so extremely popular among cosmetic and medical companies across the globe.
Another important benefit of airless bottles is that the non-pressurized dispensing mechanism does not leave behind any product waste inside of the bottle. If you have used a regular pump bottle before, you must be aware of how difficult it can be get the last remaining product out of the bottle. Because the internal dip tube mechanism cannot reach all the lotion around the side and bottom of the bottle, it’s not uncommon that much is left inside of the bottle. The only way to empty a traditional lotion pump bottle completely is by opening it up and using water or a special tool to scrape them empty. With airless bottles, this struggle will be an issue of the past. Because airless bottles work by means of an upwardly moving and tight-fit disc, 100% of the product inside is pushed out through the pump. With airless bottles, you can be guaranteed that every last bit of product is used up by the time never comes out of the pump anymore. Not only does this increase the user experience of the bottles, but it also significantly reduces product waste.
Last but certainly not least, airless bottles feature a simple and minimalistic design that requires far less materials to be produced. This because airless bottles no longer require a bulky pump cap nor an internal dip tube dispensing mechanism. As a result, the production of airless bottles requires far less materials which results in less waste. Also, airless bottles are often crafted with reusage in mind. Unlike traditional lotion pumps that cannot be cleaned and are only produced for single-usage, airless bottles are easy to clean and refill after use. This allows companies to reuse their bottles time after time, significantly reducing their packaging waste.
Are airless bottles suitable for everybody?
By now, it has become clear that airless bottles bring along countless benefits in terms of user experience, product preservation, and sustainability. This may make you wonder; why isn’t everybody using airless bottles yet? Well, the truth is that, just as with any other type of packaging, there always are some things that need to be considered before making a move towards airless packaging.
One major downside of airless packaging is its costs. Airless bottles on their own are quite a bit more expensive to a similar sized lotion pump. Besides, airless bottles are a bit more complex to fill, which brings along extra costs as well. Due to the higher product costs as well as more expensive filling process, the use of airless bottles will likely drive up the costs of the end product quite a bit. This is one of the main reason why many companies today still choose to stay away from airless packaging.
Besides their higher price tag, airless bottles are furthermore much harder to find compared to regular lotion pumps. Whereas there are thousands of suppliers online who sell traditional pump bottles, there are not many sellers of airless bottles to be found. Because of this, the lead times to receive airless bottles are often quite a bit longer compared to those of regular pumps. Besides, the minimum order quantities for airless bottes often are quite a bit higher as well, making it hard for small and medium-sized companies to make the switch.
Author: Wouter Wargerink
