More likely than not you're using bubble wrap wrong(bookofjoe2.blogspot.com)
bookofjoe2.blogspot.com
More likely than not you're using bubble wrap wrong
https://bookofjoe2.blogspot.com/2026/03/imore-likely-than-not-youre-using.html
18 comments
It always has been.
Summary: Bubbles should face inward.
Article lacks evidence to support its titular claim that most instances of bubble-wrapping, or most bubble-wrapping wrappers, face the bubbles outward.
Article lacks evidence to support its titular claim that most instances of bubble-wrapping, or most bubble-wrapping wrappers, face the bubbles outward.
> Article lacks evidence to support its titular claim that most instances of bubble-wrapping, or most bubble-wrapping wrappers, face the bubbles outward.
Reason says the bubbles should go on the inside:
There are gaps between the bubbles. If they're on the outside, something can impact the item in a gap and bypass the padding. If the bubbles are on the inside, they become supports for the flat side (which, IIRC, is usually heavier plastic), so if there's an impact on a gap, there's still padding because the plastic is being held away from the item and the force is transferred to the surrounding bubbles.
Reason says the bubbles should go on the inside:
There are gaps between the bubbles. If they're on the outside, something can impact the item in a gap and bypass the padding. If the bubbles are on the inside, they become supports for the flat side (which, IIRC, is usually heavier plastic), so if there's an impact on a gap, there's still padding because the plastic is being held away from the item and the force is transferred to the surrounding bubbles.
Correct. My point was that there is no evidence that most people do it wrong, as the title suggests.
Yup. It's obvious they go on the inside, so how many people are actually putting them on the outside apart from imaginary ones used to justify a clickbait post?
Bubble envelopes are all wrong? Flipped bubbles would make it harder to slide objects in and out of the envelope, but they would reduce movement inside the envelope.
The difference seems minor other than the ability to tape the flat side, and we have cling bubble wraps that don't need tape anyway.
The difference seems minor other than the ability to tape the flat side, and we have cling bubble wraps that don't need tape anyway.
This is about the secondary use case, namely in packaging.
If you like to pop the bubbles the correct orientation is indeed the one you‘ve been using all along: bubbles towards your fingers.
If you like to pop the bubbles the correct orientation is indeed the one you‘ve been using all along: bubbles towards your fingers.
My guess is that the flat side provides a better surface for distributing pressure so long as the thing you are wrapping isn't a porcupine.
I think it's simpler than that. Bubble wrap the wrong way round means the only air cushioning is provided by the bubbles, and all the space between the bubbles is just a thin layer of plastic flat on the object that needs protection. Bubble wrap the right way round means the object is air-cushioned from the outside by both the bubbles themselves and the space between them (with the added bonus of the wrapping keeping a flatish outside surface).
Mine as well.
Imagine a small enough object, like a tip of a screwdriver, or a table's corner, touching an object wrapped bubbles out.
It simply makes contact with the object - here covered with only a very thin layer of plastic - between the bubbles, and given enough force, damages the object.
With bubbles inwards, it has to pierce or stretch the now airgapped layer of plastic first.
Even with multiple layers, bubbles inside give +1 airgapped layer.
Imagine a small enough object, like a tip of a screwdriver, or a table's corner, touching an object wrapped bubbles out.
It simply makes contact with the object - here covered with only a very thin layer of plastic - between the bubbles, and given enough force, damages the object.
With bubbles inwards, it has to pierce or stretch the now airgapped layer of plastic first.
Even with multiple layers, bubbles inside give +1 airgapped layer.
Well, the most obvious thing would be that the airpockets created by in-between the bubbles _have to_ be on the inside next to the item, otherwise there is no air pockets at all, so obviously the bubbles most face inwards.
That's how I was thinking about it before this article at least.
That's how I was thinking about it before this article at least.
Only the bubbles inside, flat-outside prevents direct, non-cushioned impacts
I am ironically disappointed to learn that I have always been using bubble wrap correctly.
If it makes you feel better, I can tell you that using any form of plastic for shipping safety is bad and you should feel bad about it, because we have better alternatives like paper or even mycelium-based packaging matreials?
Thank you for your attempt to make me feel better, I would be truly devastated to learn that information if I were in the business of shipping fragile items in plastic bubble wrap, and that devastation would certainly assuage my current disappointment. Unfortunately I am not in that business and cannot even remember the last time I bubble-wrapped anything, so I cannot take any morally-masochistic solace from learning about the better alternatives. My disappointment remains immeasurable, but I will keep that info in mind in case I ever need it.
>Below, what Perplexity Pro had to say.
When will this be as socially embarrassing as sending someone a “let me google that for you” link?