Highlights
- Plastic shrink wrap is cheap and easy to use, but falls apart quickly as it’s thrown around (making it poor for transportation in stacks) and can compromise your wood by trapping moisture. It is quick and easy to use.
- Mesh poly bags are the strongest option. While not the cheapest, mesh allows your wood to breathe and can withstand extended periods under direct sunlight. It looks great in retail displays and holds up to abuse. We recommend UV-resistant mesh firewood bags to ensure you can pre-package your firewood with confidence.
- Strapping is traditional for firewood bundling but is not as fast or user-friendly for you or your customers. What it lacks in cost-effectiveness and resilience, it makes up for in versatility for larger wood. Using wires or rope to bundle your wood allows you to sell pieces that you might otherwise not even think of processing.
How To Bundle Firewood: You’ve Got Options
While some do it just for the casual campfire with their friends, many Canadian homes depend on firewood to get through the winter. Of course, that’s not your target market.
As spring draws near and the days get longer and warmer, so does the demand for firewood bundles at roadsides and campsites. For those of us in the business of selling firewood bundles, it’s our time to prepare. Whether you’re just selling some extra bundles you won’t use, or decide to make a go of it as a business, the question of how best to bundle what you’ve split and seasoned comes up time and again.
If you’re preparing to package firewood for wholesale or retail, your customers are thinking of a few things:
- How easy are the bundles to stack?
- How easy are the bundles to pick up and move around?
- Is the wood seasoned and moisture-free?
- Will these firewood bundles make a mess in my store?
And you’re thinking of some OTHER things:
- How quickly and easily can I form and finish bundles?
- What size wood should I use?
- How much will my firewood packaging cost?
As such, getting the packaging right is crucial to ensuring a great customer experience, recurring customers, and ultimately, growing your business.
Your three main options for bundling firewood quickly and easily are shrink wrap, mesh bags, or straps. Here, we take a look at the pros and cons of each, and some personal feedback (ours or our customers) on the best way to bundle firewood.
Plastic Shrink Wrap For Firewood Bundling
You’ve seen them at gas stations and campsites: the firewood bundle wrapped in plastic stretch film. Most of them have no handle, so if you frequent gas stations you’ve probably seen campers carry them awkwardly under one arm while struggling with a 2-liter in their other hand.
Plastic shrink wrap is used for firewood bundles because it’s an easy, cost-effective solution. You can package hundreds of bundles with a single roll of shrink wrapping. It has its downsides but is overall the most popular option for small bundles and places outside of more urban areas.
What is Firewood Shrink Wrap?
Plastic wrap is a packaging material mostly used to secure cardboard packages before shipping.
But, it’s used in the firewood industry due to its convenience, low cost, and ease of use.
It consists of an extremely thin sheet of transparent plastic film, which contracts and conforms to the shape of the firewood bundle when you apply heat, or simply upon wrapping it tightly. This helps to keep the bundle together even with heavy handling.
One of its advantages is that it allows potential customers to see the wood through the film and check for wood quality or size! It also allows you to create small bundles with leftover pieces of wood, and with a firewood bundler, it’s easy to quickly wrap your firewood in shrink wrap in a few seconds.
Yet, while plastic wrap is a cost-effective solution, it has its shortfalls.
Plastic wrap is not biodegradable and it tends to disintegrate with constant handling, meaning tiny pieces can contaminate the environment and mess with the local wildlife. Because it is so thin, it also tends to rip and tear easily, which is common when it’s being transported in piles, beiing handled by the customer, and during long exposure to the elements out doors. Plastic wrapped firewood bundles stored outdoors probably won’t stay bundled for long, leading to complaints from your middlemen partners.
Lastly, plastic wrap can trap and retain moisture, either naturally from within the wood (if not fully cured) but also if stored outdoors and rained on.
If you find firewood shrink wrap works for you, we carry a high-quality 4-roll case that’s perfect for most wrapping stations.
Mesh Poly Bags for Firewood Bundles
Mesh poly bags are the deluxe option for bundled firewood, in our opinion.
Why?
They cost a few cents each and have clear advantages over other bundling options. While they can be a little more expensive than shrink wrap, you can still buy them wholesale, please your customers, and maintain great margins along the way.
How Are Mesh Bags Better?
Firewood mesh bags are much stronger than plastic wrap, and they resist longterm exposure to sunlight. This is a crucial point if you want to save time by bagging your wood before or at the tail end of the curing process.
A study by Oklahoma State University found that most wood generally takes over 150 days to fully cure, and it can re-absorb moisture. You want your packaging material to also allow for good ventilation.
(A 17 foot log that is 18 inches in diameter can contain approximately 130 gallons of water in its cells!)
In our view, mesh bags are pretty much the perfect option for bundling firewood. They are recyclable, come with a drawstring/handles for easy carrying, and allow your firewood to dry out even after rainfall.
Most importantly, St. Boniface Bag’s mesh firewood bags can last for months in direct sunlight thanks to built-in UVI protection, making them great for both your retailers and your end customers. This is a clear distinction over shrink or plastic wrap, but it’s also a unique selling point that isn’t common to all firewood bag companies! Make sure you look for UV-resistant bags specifically.
And, if you need to deliver your wood bundles over long distances, bags are easier to move and hold up much better to rough handling or stacking compared to plastic wrap.
Lastly, opting for mesh poly bags also enhances the appeal of your brand’s retail display.
The one downside to mesh bags for firewood is that packaging can take a little longer. We recommend cutting your firewood lengths to match your mesh bag size.
Strapping For Firewood Bundling
Strapping remains a go-to method of bundling firewood for many traditional sellers, and it’s often used for larger bundles. It comes in various materials but is generally a thick vinyl that is cut at the point of use.
Strapping can be fine way to bundle wood if you have the equipment for rapid strapping, but using firewood straps by hand can be slow and tedious. It can also be tough to get firewood stacks or bundles arranged just write to accommodate straps perfectly.
While strapping may not offer the same visual appeal as mesh bags, it can be used to fulfill special orders of larger or more processed pieces of wood. Some sellers even strap their bundles before applying shrink wrap.
Firewood Bags by St. Boniface
Looking for mesh firewood bags in Canada? That’s what we do!
We’re Manitoba’s top supplier of UV-resistant and functional mesh firewood bags, and we carry plastic wrap, too. Whether you’re taking up a new hobby or simply looking for a better way to bundle firewood, we can help. Shop for mesh firewood bags online or call today for bulk wholesale pricing.
