Custom Printed Wet Wipes

What are custom printed wet wipes?

Custom printed wet wipes are single-use refreshing towels, each sealed in its own sachet that carries your brand artwork. The guest tears the sachet open, unfolds the moist wipe, cleans their hands after eating and discards both.

In foodservice the product is also called a refreshing towel, refreshing towelette, moist towelette or wet tissue. It is distinct from bulk wipes in a tub or flow-pack, which are used in kitchens and are not what a guest receives at the table. The branded item is the sachet: it is the surface that carries the logo, the lotion fragrance name (often lemon), and the legal information the market requires. Three sachet formats cover most restaurant demand: roughly 140 x 93 mm, 120 x 70 mm and 100 x 60 mm, in paper, kraft paper or a triplex laminate.

Who supplies what in a custom wet wipe order?

A custom wet wipe has five parts, and they are not all made by the same party. The printed sachet, the nonwoven wipe, the lotion, the filling and sealing step, and the regulatory file are separate items that must fit each other.

9 Packaging is a printed packaging manufacturer. How the wipe, the lotion and the filling are sourced, and which party carries the cosmetic-law responsibilities for your market, is agreed at quotation and technical review, so raise it in the first enquiry rather than after artwork approval. Wet wipes and the cosmetics rules explains why that question has a legal answer, not only a commercial one.

Which sachet material suits restaurant wet wipes?

Pick the sachet material by how long the wipe must stay moist and how the pack should look on a table. White paper laminates give the best print and the lowest cost, kraft gives a natural look, and a triplex laminate with an aluminium foil layer gives the strongest barrier against lotion loss.

Wet wipe sachets lose moisture and fragrance through the pack wall over time, so the barrier decision is really a storage-time decision. The full comparison, including seal behaviour, fragrance migration and recyclability questions, is in Wet Wipe Sachet Materials: Paper, Kraft and Triplex Laminates. The laminate science behind it is the same as for pouches; see Pouch Laminate Structures and Barrier Properties.

What are the standard wet wipe sachet sizes?

Three sachet sizes cover most restaurant use: about 140 x 93 mm for a full-size towel, 120 x 70 mm as a mid-size option, and 100 x 60 mm for a compact pack. The sachet size is set by the folded wipe, not the other way round.

The face area also decides how large the mandatory plastic marking must be where it applies, which is why size and compliance cannot be settled separately. Dimensions, wipe fold and size, lotion and fragrance choices (lemon, unscented, alcohol-free) are covered in Wet Wipe Sizes, Lotions and Fragrances for Restaurants.

Which lotion and fragrance should a restaurant wipe use?

Lemon or citrus is the market default for restaurant towels because it reads as clean and masks food smells; unscented suits hotels and allergy-aware service. Alcohol-free formulas are the usual choice for family dining and for halal-sensitive markets, while alcohol-containing lotions dry faster.

Fragrance is a regulated ingredient. Citrus fragrances commonly contain limonene, which must be named in the ingredient list above a set concentration, so the fragrance choice feeds directly into the label. The lotion composition is a decision for the party who fills and legally places the product on the market. The detail is in the sizes and lotions guide linked above and in the cosmetics article.

How is a wet wipe sachet printed?

The sachet web is printed in spot colours before it is converted, normally by flexographic or rotogravure printing depending on the structure and run, and the printed web is then formed and sealed around the wipe. Method, colour count and registration are confirmed at technical review.

Layout is where wet wipe projects differ from other packaging. A sachet face is small, and it must carry more than the logo:

• Front panel: logo, brand colours, fragrance name or short line of copy.
• Back panel or reverse: ingredient list in INCI names, responsible person name and address, batch or lot reference, any use precautions, and the disposal instructions.
• Plastic marking: where the wipe contains plastic, the harmonised EU marking must sit on the front or top face at a minimum size.
• Seal zones and tear notch: print-free or low-ink zones where heat seals form, and a notch position that does not cut through text.
• Print-to-seal behaviour: heavy ink coverage across seal areas can weaken a heat seal, so seal areas are normally kept clear or tested.

Spot colour matching and artwork preparation follow the same rules as other flexible and paper packaging: see Packaging Printing Methods, Pantone vs CMYK and the Packaging Artwork Guide.

Are wet wipes single-use plastic products?

A wet wipe is treated as a single-use plastic product when the wipe contains plastic, such as polyester or polypropylene fibre. In the EU that triggers a mandatory "PLASTIC IN PRODUCT" marking on the pack and producer-responsibility costs; in Germany it also triggers a registration and a levy per kilogram.

A wipe made entirely from regenerated cellulose (viscose or lyocell) is outside the plastics definition under the Commission's guidelines on the Directive. The sachet is regulated separately as packaging. In the UK, the sale and supply of plastic-containing wet wipes is being banned nation by nation between December 2026 and August 2027, with an exemption for business-to-business supply. The bans cover supply whether sold or given free, so a restaurant handing plastic-containing wipes to diners should assume it is caught. These rules are the reason the wipe fibre must be decided before the sachet artwork. See Wet Wipes and the Single-Use Plastics Rules: Marking, EPR and Levies for sources, dates and the sachet-size marking arithmetic, and Plastic-Free Wet Wipes: Viscose, Lyocell and Cellulose Nonwovens for the alternatives.

Are branded wet wipes cosmetics?

Yes in most cases: under Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 a product placed on skin to clean it counts as a cosmetic, and a refreshing hand wipe fits that definition. The brand that puts its name on the wipe can become the party responsible for the product file, safety assessment and notification, unless another party legally takes that role.

That does not mean a restaurant must run a laboratory. It means someone must be named as responsible person, a qualified assessor must sign off the formula, the product must be notified, and the sachet must carry specific label content. Are Wet Wipes Cosmetics? EU Cosmetics Regulation Duties for Branded Wipes walks through the duties, the label content that has to fit on a small sachet, and how UK and US rules differ. Nothing on this page is legal advice; confirm obligations with the relevant authority or a regulatory consultant.

Are there plastic-free wet wipes for restaurants?

Yes. Wipes made from viscose, lyocell or cotton-type cellulose contain no synthetic polymer, and plastic-free wipes exist in refreshing-towel formats. Two cautions apply: a plastic-free wipe is not automatically a plastic-free pack, and general claims such as "biodegradable" are now tightly restricted in the EU.

Most sachets still use a polymer heat-seal layer for sealing and moisture retention. Whether that layer matters depends on the claim being made and the market. The article on plastic-free wipes covers materials, how claims are judged, and the trade-offs in feel, cost and wet strength: Plastic-Free Wet Wipes. The wider claims question is handled in Recyclable, Compostable and Biodegradable Packaging: What the Claims Mean.

Where are custom wet wipes used?

Branded wet wipes are used wherever guests eat with their hands and a napkin is not enough. That includes chicken, rib and burger restaurants, kebab and grill concepts, seafood venues, hotel and resort dining, airline and rail catering, and event and takeaway service where a sachet goes into the bag.

In takeaway and delivery the sachet is a bag insert, so the smallest size is common. In table service it is often handed over with the bill or placed beside the cutlery. For chains, the wipe is one item of a coordinated set alongside custom printed napkins, cups, wraps and bags; the approach to keeping those items consistent across sites is in Packaging for Restaurant Chains and Franchises.

Which packaging rules apply to the sachet itself?

The sachet is packaging in its own right, separate from the wipe. In the EU it falls under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU) 2025/40, which applies in general from 12 August 2026, and national schemes such as Germany's packaging law decide who registers and pays for it. A foil laminate also affects recyclability grading.

Responsibilities depend on the role of each company in the chain and on the market. PPWR Explained for Foodservice and E-commerce Packaging Buyers, PPWR Recyclability Grades Explained and Packaging Compliance in Germany and Austria cover the packaging side, and UK Packaging Regulations the UK side. For a quick self-check, use the PPWR compliance checklist.

How does a custom wet wipe project run from artwork to delivery?

A wet wipe project runs in a fixed order: specification, regulatory decisions, artwork, sample fill, approval, then production runs. Skipping the regulatory step is the most common reason a sachet design has to be redrawn.

• Specification: sachet size and material, wipe fibre and size, lotion and fragrance, target markets.
• Regulatory decisions: who is responsible person for the cosmetic product in each market, whether the wipe contains plastic, and which marking and label items follow. These fix the content of the back panel and the marking on the front.
• Artwork: the brand panel, the regulatory panel, the plastic marking where needed, seal zones and the tear notch, set up on the sachet template.
• Sample fill: a trial with the real wipe and real lotion in the real sachet, checked for fit, seal strength and leaks, and aged to see moisture and scent loss.
• Approval and production: sign-off on the printed sample, then the production run. Timing depends on material, print method and run configuration; see packaging lead times.

Repeat orders of the same design are simpler than the first, because the artwork, regulatory content and fill settings are already settled. Changing fibre, fragrance or market restarts parts of the sequence.

Which quality checks matter for filled wet wipe sachets?

The checks that matter are seal strength, leak resistance, print durability, and moisture and scent retention over the intended shelf life. Each can be specified in the order and tested on samples before production.

• Seal strength and leak test: confirms the weld holds when the wipe is wet, including under transport pressure.
• Print rub and lotion resistance: confirms the ink does not smear when a guest's wet fingers handle the sachet.
• Moisture and scent retention: a hold test of filled sachets at the planned storage temperature, compared with the fresh wipe.
• Marking and label check: confirms the regulatory content is present, legible and the marking is at the required size.
• Batch identification: a batch or lot reference printed or coded so a production lot can be traced.

These are checks to agree at technical review; the general approach to samples and approvals is in Packaging Sampling, Pre-Production Approval and Quality Control.

What are restaurant wet wipes called in each market?

The same item is named differently by market, and search behaviour follows the local term.

• UK: wet wipes, refreshing wipes, moist towelettes; "wet tissue" in some trade usage.
• US: moist towelettes, wet wipes, refreshing towelettes.
• Germany and Austria: Erfrischungstücher (restaurant and airline use), Feuchttücher (the legal term used in the Einwegkunststofffondsgesetz), "mit Logo" or "bedruckt" for branded.
• Netherlands: verfrissingsdoekjes, natte doekjes; "bedrukt" or "met logo" for printed.

Use the local term in artwork copy where the guest reads it, and the legal term when dealing with authorities and levy registers.

What to send for a wet wipe quotation

Send enough detail for the sachet, the wipe and the paperwork to be specified in one pass:

• Sachet size and material preference (paper, kraft, triplex) and any storage-time requirement.
• Target markets, because marking language, label content and plastic rules depend on where the product is placed on the market.
• Wipe requirement: plastic-free or not, size, feel, and any existing supplier or filler.
• Lotion: fragrance, alcohol-free or not, and who holds the formula.
• Artwork (vector logo, Pantone references) and the number of designs or fragrances.
• Annual volume range and delivery locations.

Cost, minimum order and timing depend on material, size, print method and run configuration, and are covered in the general guides: packaging RFQ guide, MOQ, cost drivers and lead times. The RFQ template lists the fields to complete. To start, contact 9 Packaging with the points above. For production background, see How Pouches and Laminates Are Made and the packaging glossary. Importing from Türkiye is covered in Sourcing Packaging from Türkiye.

Wet wipes sit in the foodservice accessories category with printed napkins.