Many brands are clamoring to include airless packaging into their skin care brands without understanding what it is. The reason this technology is popular is due to the fact that, in the right application, the functionality and innovation is superior. However, the finicky details about the technology itself remain a mystery to many. If you are not a packaging and design expert, proponent or a technologist, you will be greatly appreciative of some crucial information about airless packaging that we have summarized in this article today.
What is Airless Packaging?
A traditional lotion dispensing pump or spray product is pressurized or atomized. Whereas airless packaging uses a certain level of difference in the environmental pressure, which creates a vacuum. This is responsible for pushing out the product from a valve that opens up the reservoir of the product itself. The packaging and dispensing world is becoming reliant on this technology due to the functionality of it.
Consumers are elated because they know they will be able to get out the last drop of product. It is somewhat different from aerosol packaging which needs a propellant to work. They work seamlessly by creating an equilibrium between the natural pressure of the external environment and the one which is created internally in the product reservoir by the lack of air. As a result, the product comes out easily as it is eager to seek free space outside the container.
Types of Airless Packaging and Their Functions
There are 2 types of airless packaging:-
1. The first one is designed around the concept of a medical syringe in that an interior plunger that creates an airtight seal internally. When it is activated, the product is pushed up from the bottom until it is emptied. Keep in mind that the syringe works according to the physical energy of the person, whose potential energy becomes kinetic energy during activation.
However, the airless packaging differs slightly. The pressure applied on the outside is not amplified and no matter how much pressure is applied to the container valve, a 
conduit is opened from which the product is allowed to escape the interior reservoir which houses the product. The product first enters the small orifice valve and stays in the barrel beneath the cap until the plunger is pushed and allows the product to move outside. Airless packaging is a conservative system that needs less energy to activate due to the vacuum created inside the product reservoir.
2. The second type of airless packaging differs in that it has a hard container with a flexible bag inside that is filled with the product. When the product comes outside, the air doesn’t come in and doesn’t push the barrel up. Instead, the bag shrinks in size and collapses on itself due to the added pressure. It’s more like a toothpaste tube, without the whole squeezing thing. The bag is able to collapse and shrink due to the air evacuation, pressure actuation, and equilibrium of pressure.
Why do We Need Airless Packaging when We Have a Pump and a Bottle?
Depending on the application, it could be that you need to continue with a pump and bottle, especially if the viscosity is high, therefore airless packaging may not be the correct application. This type of packaging excels with serums and gels, as in most of these applications you are looking to control the delivery and dosage, and not want excessive oxygen contact so that preservatives in your formulation can be minimized. In this case an airless application is generally more easy to use and user-friendly. A traditional pump and bottle pulls the product from the bottom of the package to the top through the dip tube and requires the bottle to be straight or slightly tipped to ensure the base of the dip tube is submersed in the formulation. Whereas the airless package empties from the top, dispensing even in an inverted position.
There are so many options, sizes and styles that function this way. We carry stock and sell many more from airless tubes, to recyclable bottles and off the shelf solutions.