New York tea merchant Thomas Sullivan regularly sends tea samples to potential customers. In order to reduce the cost, he thought of a method, which is to pack a little loose tea in several small silk bags. At that time, after receiving those silk bags, some customers who had never brewed tea, they often put the silk bags into boiling water directly because they did not know the procedure of making tea. But gradually, people found that the tea packaged in this way is convenient and easy to use, and gradually formed the habit of using small bags of tea. Someone suggested to him that the silk bag was too dense, so he switched to cotton gauze and officially sold it commercially. In 1903, Sullivan patented the tea bag, and by 1920, the tea bag was widely used in the American restaurant industry.

Nowadays, tea bags have become popular around us. Tea bags are favored by many tea drinkers due to their portability. If you need to start a tea bag production business, you must understand the material, shape and production process of tea bags. This will be a boost for your business.

Tea Bag Material

There are basically three common materials for tea bags: paper Filter, non-woven fabrics, nylon(silk) and corn fiber. Each material has different properties, and different materials can be selected according to specific needs.

Paper Filter

Filter paper provides tea bags with high softness and high wet strength properties. Most filter papers consist of cotton fibers. Because it is a fiber product, there are countless small holes on its surface for liquid particles to pass through, while larger solid particles cannot pass through. Filter paper is the most widely used material and is degradable, making it the first choice for most tea bag merchants.

Non-woven fabrics

Non-woven fabrics are generally made of polypropylene (pp material) pellets as raw materials. Many traditional tea bags use non-woven fabrics, and the biggest feature is that the cost is relatively low. Compared with corn fiber and nylon, the tea water permeability and tea bag visual permeability of non-woven fabrics are not very strong.

Nylon/silk

Nylon tea bags are non-toxic, bacteria-free, heat-resistant high-quality food-grade filter media that have been safety-tested to reduce environmental pollution problems. Its sealing method adopts ultrasonic seamless sealing, which is tight, hygienic and safe, reduces the excess width of edge sealing, and does not waste filter materials. In addition, the tea bag is not easy to be soaked, and can be brewed for many times and for a long time, which highlights the toughness of the packaging material. The transparent mesh design makes the flavor of the tea more vividly displayed.

Corn fiber

Corn fiber (polylactic acid fiber, PLA fiber) is a kind of synthetic fiber that uses starch such as corn and wheat as raw materials, and is converted into lactic acid by fermentation, polymerization and spinning. It is a kind of biodegradable fiber. Its waste can be decomposed into carbon dioxide and water under the action of microorganisms in soil and seawater, which will not pollute the global environment. It conforms to the environmental protection policies of each country, and is especially popular in European and American countries.

Tea Bag Type

Since the invention of tea bags, tea bags have developed different shapes to meet different needs. The following introduces several common bag types, and also recommends the machines that can manufacture this type of bag.

Flat tea bag

Flat tea bags can be packaged individually and are also easy to carry. They are the most commonly used type of tea bags. Simple packaging saves packaging material and therefore costs. It allows the tea bag to be exposed to the hot water from both sides when making tea. This extra packaging preserves the taste of the tea better. However, the sides of flat tea bags tend to stick together, or stick to the inside of the container, preventing the release of all flavors during the brewing process.

Suitable packing machine: Inner and outer tea bag packing machine

Dual chamber tea bag

Dual chamber tea bags are very similar to flat tea bags, made from double the packaging material, and have a W-shaped bottom for much greater interaction with warm water. Tea bags will slowly spread apart when soaked in warm water. The tea leaves are trapped on both sides, and the four sides of the tea bag are exposed to warm water, so that the tea leaves can be steeped to the greatest extent, which is conducive to the release of fragrance.

Suitable packing machine: Double-chamber tea bag packing machine

Triangle tea bag

The triangle tea bag has a regular tetrahedron structure, and the appearance is exquisite and clear, and the space inside the bag is large. It can pack large particles of materials, especially for scented tea. After the hot water is injected, the tea leaves can be stretched out in the fastest time and keep the original flavor of the material, which is conducive to the release of fragrance. At the same time, you can also watch the morphological changes of tea leaves, which is the mainstream trend of tea bags in the future.

Suitable packing machine: Triangle tea bag packing machine

Round tea bag

The round tea bags are die-cut through the upper and lower two-layer packaging. When brewing tea, both sides of the tea bag are in contact with warm water, which is similar to a flat tea bag. The overall shape is round, like a flying saucer, which is more prominent among the tea bag types, and the appearance is beautiful and innovative.

Suitable packing machine: Round tea bag packing machine

If you would like to get other information about tea bag and tea leaves packaging machine, please contact Soonfer Machine at any time. We will offer you professional and comprehensive packaging solution.