Start with the wipe, not the sachet. A sachet is a wall around a folded towel: the folded wipe sets its inner dimensions, and the lotion in the towel sets what the wall has to resist. Below are the three usual restaurant sizes, how to read a sachet dimension on a quotation, and the lotion and fragrance options guests actually meet.
What are the standard wet wipe sizes for restaurants?
Three sachet sizes cover most restaurant demand: about 140 x 93 mm, 120 x 70 mm and 100 x 60 mm. The largest holds a full-size towel for messy food, the middle size suits general service, and the smallest suits light use and bag inserts.
| Sachet size (mm) | Face area | Typical wipe | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 140 x 93 | about 130 cm2 | Largest folded towel, often the heavier feel | Ribs, wings, burgers, kebabs, seafood |
| 120 x 70 | about 84 cm2 | Mid-size folded towel | General restaurant, café and hotel service |
| 100 x 60 | 60 cm2 | Compact folded towel, lighter | Delivery and takeaway bag inserts, events, amenity use |
These are common market formats, not fixed standards: custom sizes are possible and are confirmed at quotation and technical review. A larger sachet costs more in material and takes more shelf and carton space, so the right size is the smallest one that cleans the hands of the typical guest in your service.
How does the wipe size set the sachet size?
The folded wipe, plus the seal margins, determines the sachet. The unfolded sheet is folded in half or in thirds to a compact rectangle, that rectangle must fit inside the sealed area, and the seals on three or four sides take a few millimetres each.
Before ordering, settle four things with whoever supplies the wipe:
- Unfolded wipe size and fold pattern. A sheet folded in thirds and then in half has a different folded footprint from one folded once, even if the sheet size is the same.
- Fabric weight and feel. Refreshing towels are usually spunlace nonwovens, and a heavier fabric is thicker when folded, which affects fit and how the sachet feels in the hand. Weights vary by supplier; confirm the figure rather than assume it.
- Dimension convention. State whether the quoted size is outer or inside the seals, and which dimension runs along the seal. A "140 x 93 mm" sachet is a different pack if one supplier measures the cut size and another measures the usable inside.
- Orientation of the print. The way up on the table is part of the layout, and it decides which edge is the tear side.
A sample fill, with the real wipe, in the real sachet, answers fit and seal questions better than a drawing. Many wipe projects change the size once after the first sample: allow for it.
How much lotion is in a wet wipe, and what is it made of?
A refreshing towel carries a lotion load that is a multiple of the dry fabric's own weight, so the wipe feels clearly moist rather than damp. The lotion is mostly water with a preservative system, a humectant, a mild cleansing agent and a fragrance, and sometimes ethanol.
For a restaurant, the lotion has three jobs: lift food residue from fingers, leave skin feeling clean, not sticky, and stay stable and microbiologically safe for the stated shelf life. It is a cosmetic formula, so its safety assessment and preservative system belong to the party who formulates and legally places it on the market; the sachet manufacturer does not choose or approve it. Who that is in your project is an item for the quotation; the legal side is in Are Wet Wipes Cosmetics?.
For the sachet, the lotion matters because alcohol and fragrance affect how the laminate performs. The tested combination matters, so the real lotion should be known before the sachet is specified; see Wet Wipe Sachet Materials.
Lemon, unscented or something else: which fragrance?
Lemon (or citrus) is the market default for restaurant towels because guests associate it with cleaning and it masks food smells. Unscented is the safer choice for hotels, family venues and guests who react to perfume. Other fragrances exist but are rare in restaurants.
| Option | Strengths | Watch-outs |
|---|---|---|
| Lemon or citrus | Familiar, fresh, covers fried and grilled food smells | Citrus oils contain limonene and similar allergens that must be labelled; stronger load stresses the sachet |
| Unscented | Fewest allergen issues, simplest label | Wipe can smell of the base fabric or lotion; low appeal for strongly flavoured food |
| Other (herbal, floral, regional) | Brand differentiation | Often more allergen declarations; may clash with food aromas |
Fragrance has a legal side. Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 extended the list of fragrance allergens that must be named individually in the ingredient list when they exceed 0.001 % in leave-on products and 0.01 % in rinse-off products. Limonene is on the list. A towel that is wiped on the hands and not rinsed is usually assessed as leave-on, so the stricter threshold normally applies; the safety assessor confirms it. For the newly listed entries the transition ended for placing on the EU market on 31 July 2026, with a sell-off period until 31 July 2028, so a new sachet design should be drafted to the extended list.
Word the claim carefully. "Lemon fragrance" or "lemon scent" describes a smell; wording that implies real lemon extract or benefits to skin is a product claim, and cosmetic claims must not imply properties the product does not have (Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Article 20).
What does "alcohol-free" mean for a wet wipe?
An alcohol-free wipe is formulated without ethanol. It is the usual choice for family dining, hotels and markets where guests avoid alcohol for religious or personal reasons. Alcohol-containing wipes dry faster on the skin and can feel cooler and cleaner.
Two cautions. First, the word "alcohol" appears in cosmetic ingredient names for substances that are not ethanol, such as fatty alcohols and benzyl alcohol, so define what the claim means before putting it on a pack. Second, an alcohol-free wipe is not automatically a disinfecting wipe, and the reverse is also true: antibacterial or disinfecting statements move the product out of ordinary cosmetic claims and into biocide territory, which is a separate regulatory route. Keep the sachet copy to what the formula is documented to do.
How do size, lotion and service style fit together?
Pick the service style first, then the size and lotion that match it. The rows below are starting points to be confirmed against your menu and guest profile.
- Rib, wing or burger restaurant, high mess: 140 x 93 mm, lemon, alcohol-free or alcohol-based depending on market.
- General casual dining or café: 120 x 70 mm, lemon or unscented.
- Delivery and takeaway insert: 100 x 60 mm, lemon; consider a barrier-appropriate sachet as bags sit in warm vehicles.
- Hotel and resort: 120 x 70 or 100 x 60 mm, unscented or very light fragrance.
- Airline, rail and event catering: 100 x 60 mm, long shelf life, often triplex sachet.
- Chain-wide programme: choose one size and one lotion, and vary only the artwork, so reordering and compliance files stay simple.
Two later checks avoid surprises. The face area of the sachet sets the minimum size of the mandatory plastic marking if the wipe contains plastic; see Wet Wipes and the Single-Use Plastics Rules. And if the wipe fibre is plastic-free, the feel, thickness and wet strength differ: see Plastic-Free Wet Wipes.
What to send to specify wet wipe size and lotion
- Target sachet size or the folded wipe dimensions, and whether the dimensions are outer or inside the seals.
- Wipe fibre and fabric weight if you already have a wipe supplier.
- Fragrance (lemon, unscented, other) and alcohol-free requirement.
- Service style and typical storage time.
- Markets of sale, because label content and language depend on them.
Cost, minimums and timing are covered in packaging cost drivers and packaging MOQ. Send the specification through the contact page, and see the Custom Printed Wet Wipes hub for the full product picture.