Question about sealed packaging for seed saving

I recently have purchased some heirloom seeds from various online companies. I am not new to seed saving and grow 30 heirloom pepper varieties and over 60 heirloom tomato varieties each year to save seeds. In the past I have saved seeds in glass jars but I really like the seed packets that I have gotten in the mail. They are sealed all the way around and have an easy-tear tab at the top to open them. I sell some seeds online and give lots away to friends and family and these envelopes would be perfect for packaging seeds to sell or give away. Does anyone know about these packets or how they are made? The companies are small family-run operations so I wouldn't think it would be too expensive to make these. I did some checking on google and also asked one of the companies about the envelopes. They are called hermetically-sealed envelopes and are made of some type of silver material. I have also seen them made from plastic. I have heard that seeds last longer sealed in these packages.

Has anyone ever had experience using these or know where I could get the necessary tools and materials to create these? Thanks for any suggestions!

Not trying to bust your bubble here s&s, but unless you are planning on going commercial here this could be quite an expense. Personally I just use small mailing envelopes for my tomato and seed storage which I keep in a lettuce crisper in the garage refrigerator. These seeds can stay viable for years. For shipping seeds to friends, Twiggybuds (Dorothy) sent me a variety of tomato plant seeds which she wrapped in standard tablet paper. She wrapped a few seeds in little squares similar to the way I wrap crab ragu, and then place a small piece of scotch tape over the fold to hold it together and label the backside of the fold as to the variety of seed she sent. Ozarks (Sam) sends me dried peppers rather than the seed itself. I simply send him a request and some small zip lock bags labeled with the particular pepper plant. These two methods for sending tomato and pepper seeds to friends works pretty well.

If commercial packaging is what you are after I would suggest contacting various labeling companies. You would be surprised at how versatile these companies can be, plus their pricing might be cheaper than doing that yourself. Locating a source of plain envelopes like you mentioned might be obtained through these labeling companies as well. If you wanted to, you could make your own labels on the computer with an Avery label form with the size you require. Although not high tech this might suit your purposes.

They're called foil barrier packets or envelopes. Seed savers exchange has them.
http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=M1659

Do a search on heat sealed foil barrier bags.

Thank you so much for the info. I had looked everywhere and obviously overlooked SSE's bags. I need them in greater bulk than they sell but I will do a search for them and hopefully find them now that I know exactly what they are called!

IYou're welcome it's hard to search fr something when you don't know what it is called.

I make my own packets using mailing labels. I put a square of waxed paper in the center to hold the seeds, then fold the label round it, sealing the wax square in the center. You can also print the labels on your printer first for a custom packet.

I have tons of small size plastic baggies that are used like for jewery and such, how would those work out as long as I lable them. They zip closed at the top, and I have several sizes, would they also work for shipping seeds?

>> small size plastic baggies ... zip closed at the top,

That is all I ship and store seeds in, but I am totally small-scale.

I label them by printing double-sided in 8-10 point font for details, and names in 12-16 point bold font. Sometimes I print in color, with a 1.5" x 1.5" image about big enough for a postage stamp.

I put the label INSIDE the ziplock, where it won't fall out, and yet can be read.
I usually put 2 or more lables in each baggie, so I can split it and share wth someone easily, or take out enough for just one sowing with a label, and leave the rest indoors, dry and clean.

Some will tell you that "plastic holds in humidity and makes seeds rot".
Not if they were dry to start with!

Whatever you store or ship seeds in, it helps that they be very dry before you press them up against other packs of seed, daring any humidity and mold to spread from one pkt to the next.

Also, in climates that are at all humid, varying humidity is more likely to come from the atmosphere and get at seeds stored in paper. In fact, paper tends to attract and hold humidty right against the seeds.

I store my plastic seed ziplocks inside screw-cap plastic jars (2-pound peanut butter tubs or 2-pound jars of peanuts). I do put some dessicant and a "humidity indicating card" in each tub, but that might be overkill. Most people don't.

And most people store fine for years in paper!

My question about shipping seeds is "how often will they be crushed by the Post Office, if I just tape them in a Ziplock right in the exact center of a First Class envelope?

Some rail against that practice, and other do it all the time, seemingly successfully.

Does anyone know how far apart the postal sorting-crushing rollers are, and what size or shape of envelope is safest from them?

I would label them "please hand cancel" and pay for it, but several postal clerks have told me that "if it fits, they will run it through the sorter no matter how you label it".

I'm thinking of folding my own envelopes from some thin, light, stiff card stock, and pad uniformly with some very thin foam, such as U-Haul sells for packing dinner plates.

So I'm wondering what size and shape First Class envelope would be most immune to the sorter-crusher rollers.

When I've tried in the past, it was always judged thicker than 1/4", and hence charged as a package - even though I think they sorted them anyway, becuase one got lost (I assume it jammed a sorter, making both me and the P.O. P---ed Off.

If I cut a square out of the center of the foam, it should meet the Post Office's rule about "uniform thickness".

I have recieved things packed like that, from people who must have more tolernat postal clerks. Sometimes they use bubble wrap inside paper, and all the bubbles are crushed flat over much of the enevelope ... but not the seeds, when the seeds are small.

I just hate spending 45 cents on a bubble mailer, and paying $1.20 or more to send a small fraction of an ounce.

Corey

If the envelope is more than 1/4" thick, it can't go through the machine, so they won't get crushed. I used to use bubble packs to send seeds and would stuff a wad of newspaper inside to put it over the 1/4". Keeps them safe and weighs hardly anything.

For saving seeds I use coin envelopes. If you want resealable ones or the foil types, Safety Seed Packaging has them.

>> I used to use bubble packs to send seeds and would stuff a wad of newspaper inside to put it over the 1/4". Keeps them safe and weighs hardly anything.

!

I used to think that ANY bubble mailer was thick enough to assure that! I'll be mor3e careful in the future.

I'm trying to come up with a First Class mailer that will protect the seeds for 44 cents, by working WITH the sorting machine. I.e., keeping the seeds in the center.

It also has to meet reamss of regulations such as "less than 1/4" thick", uniform thickness, "aspect ratio", max and min sizes, etc etc.

All of which annoys me, becuase I met all those rules once, and they STILL made me pay package rate, and STILL lost it (I assume they forced it into the sorter anyway and shredded it).

Corey

I actually switched from bubble mailers because they aren't recyclable to cardboard CD mailers. The bubble mailers with a wad of newspaper are way cheaper but they are a bit of a hassle if you are mailing a lot also. I sometimes get seeds returned to me because the address is wrong. Bubble mailers without the wad of newspaper would often be returned with the sides damaged (with the wad, they were never damaged). Returned cardboard mailers have never come back damaged. These are NOT the ones that the PO supplies for priority mail, which have much thinner cardboard. I don't see why you couldn't just make your own with box cardboard and tape and time. Rigid mailers go under the category of 1/4" and thicker envelope in terms of mail price. If you wanted to get a delivery confirmation on it, you could.

I did look at a case "CD mailers" from ULINE but wound up not buying any.

>> Bubble mailers without the wad of newspaper would often be returned with the sides damaged (with the wad, they were never damaged).

Groan! I haven't noticed any chewed-up bubble mailers yet, but maybe it is only a matter of time. I thought that even without the wad, they were to thick for the sorter-crusher-mauler.

Corey

I always thought that if you wrote "fragile" on the envelope they would not put in the machine. Maybe I will ask our post office.

Or, maybe, they take that as a challenge!

One clerk told me that "if it fit, they will try to put it through the sorter" ... even if I paid for "Hand Cancel" and no matter how I marked it.

And she still seemed to think it would be my fault if the sorter jammed.

:-(

Corey