Every garment that leaves a factory goes into a polybag. It protects the piece during transit, storage, and retail handling — keeping it clean, wrinkle-free, and moisture-resistant from the production line to the customer. Specifying the polybag in your tech pack BOM is standard practice; not specifying it means the factory chooses, and that choice may not align with your sustainability or branding requirements.
Recycled PE (polyethylene) polybags are now the industry norm for brands with any sustainability positioning. They're made from post-consumer recycled plastic and are fully recyclable after use — a meaningful improvement over virgin PE with no functional downside.
Spec a 35×45 cm recycled PE polybag for a standard t-shirt. Always include the suffocation warning requirement — it's legally mandatory in most markets.
The suffocation warning — why it's mandatory
Any plastic bag with an opening larger than 5 inches (12.7 cm) that is intended for use with consumer products must carry a suffocation warning in most markets, including the US, EU, and UK. The warning must be printed directly on the bag — not on a separate label — in a font size proportional to the bag dimensions.
For multi-market distribution, the warning must appear in multiple languages. The standard wording in English is: "WARNING: To avoid danger of suffocation, keep this bag away from babies and children." Your label supplier or polybag manufacturer can provide the correct multi-language version for your markets.
Production specs for your tech pack BOM
| Spec | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Material | 100% Recycled PE | Post-consumer recycled polyethylene |
| Dimensions | 35×45 cm | Standard for folded t-shirt — adjust per style |
| Thickness | 30–40 microns | Thin enough to be flexible, thick enough to protect |
| Closure | Self-seal adhesive strip | No heat seal required at factory |
| Suffocation warning | Required — multilingual for EU/US/UK distribution | |
| Quantity | 1 per garment | Packed after final pressing and folding |
In FlatLabs PRO, the polybag appears as a line item in your BOM with material, dimensions, and the suffocation warning requirement pre-filled — ready to send to your packaging supplier.
Sizing the polybag correctly
35×45 cm is standard for a folded adult t-shirt in sizes S–L. For XL and XXL, or for heavyweight jersey that folds bulkier, consider 40×50 cm. The bag should be large enough that the garment slides in without forcing, but not so large that it shifts around and creates wrinkles.
If your style includes a hang tag or sticker label on the outside of the bag, make sure your BOM notes where it goes — some factories attach these before bagging, others after. Specifying the sequence prevents inconsistency at QC.