thermal fabric lined picnic bag
thermal fabric lined picnic bag

Thermal Fabrics for Bags

Published by Steve Hill on

Fabric that can keep food and drink products hot or cold!

If this wasn’t clever enough then there is more amazing news. There are three different categories of thermal fabrics for bags.

Thermal fabrics can be categorised like this:

  • Synthetic thermal fabric that can resist very high temperatures without burning.
  • Natural thermal fabric.
  • Recycled thermal fabric.
  • Thermal batting which has insulating attributes.
  • Thermal interfacing that is lightweight and has insulating properties.

Thermal fabrics for different styles of bags

Thermal fabrics can be used not only for wine bags, bottle bags, lunch box bags, champagne cooler bags, reusable bags, bags for life, tea cosies, kettle warmers, oven mitts and picnic bags.

Thermal fabric is great for all kinds of bag projects where you need to keep the bag contents hot or cold. Temperature control is important for kinds of products including food, drink, medicine and some industrial chemicals.

Other forms of thermal fabrics include more industrial uses use as the fabric used as protection for fire fighters and astronauts.

Domestic products that use thermal fabric can include picnic bags, zipped shopping bags, ironing board, tablecloths, teapot covers and oven gloves. The thermal fabrics tend to be on the inside of the product and covered by other fabric according to its end use and style.

cool bag with thermal fabric

Synthetic Thermal Fabric

Thermal fabric is made from aluminium with cotton backing. It can protect from temperatures of up to 200C (399F). It doesn’t have insulation attributes but is useful for items such as tablecloths, oven gloves and ironing boards.

Natural Thermal Fabric

Wool is an incredible natural insulator and has such been used for hundreds of years for clothing. Not limited to sheep wool, alpaca wool is also a great option. Not only is it a renewable source, wool is an incredible insulator. There are thousands of air pockets that can trap air and create a thermal barrier from outside temperature. Alternatives to this is are recycled plastic fibres.

Recycled thermal fabric

Not quite as good as natural wool as an insulator but is less susceptible to get damp and is not as flammable. Benefits are that is recycled! Great for thermal insulating shopping bags to keep products cool when in transit and less affected by spillages than a wool lining.

Thermal Batting

Polyester fibres make up this thermal fabric, which are woven in a reflective metal film. The polyester fibres insulate by resisting conduction and the metal poly film resists radiant energy by reflecting it back to its source. It’s a noisy fabric and perfect for bags but not great for clothes.

Thermal interfacing

Popular in ski wear, thermal interfacing is synthetic fibres and can be used as a very slim lining and reflects back temperatures. It retains insulating properties when damp.

thermal lined lunch backpack

Thermal fabrics for lunch bags

The most popular thermal fabric for bags is thermal batting.  Found in lunch carriers, picnic bags and bottle bags, the thermal fabric for bags is useful for reflecting heat or cool temperatures. Popular choices for additions to picnic bags and cools bags are ice packs that generate the cold temperature for the thermal fabric to reflect the cold back to the contents of the bag.

A customised cool bag or bottle bag will include the thermal batting plus a PVC wipe clean fabric to allow for an easy clean-up when spillages or crumbs occur. PVC wipe clean linings in bags are available in various colours and thicknesses.

Making a bag with thermal fabric

We specialise in manufacturing fabric product packaging for large corporations with household brands as well as retail and product packaging for independents. We work with you to create sustainable marketing tools that promote your brand and encourage repeated use.
Our friendly client services team take your brief, understand your exact requirements and go on to create a bag or packaging specific to your objectives. We will provide advice on fabric, print, finishing plus shipping options as well as effort to ensure your bag has green credentials.
Our impeccable manufacturing facilities are in the UK, India and the Far East and are all regularly audited to ensure high standards of quality as well as the maintenance of social and environmental compliance.

It is not recommended to microwave thermal fabrics.

custom bag manufacturer

Personalisation options for bags with thermal fabric

Decoration of an insulated bottle bag

Logo printing on a bag doesn’t need to be limited to the centre of the bag and a screen print. There are multiple print options and choosing the right one will be determined by the artwork you want to print on the bag. Other decoration options include embroidery and applique. It’s also possible to print all over the panels of a bespoke tote bag, on the handles and on the inside of the bag or on the lining. Other decoration options include badges and labels.

Insulated bottle bag in canvas and vegan leather

Labels for insulated bottle bags

Adding a label to a bag can offer a variety of branding opportunities. Fabric labels can be woven or printed and sewn in various external or internal hems on the side or over the top of the tote bag. PU leather badges or leather labels can be debossed or embossed and be sewn in on the panels of the bag, the straps or pockets.

Metal badges or labels can be branded and attached at any place on the bag. Colours range from metallic colours to overpainted Pantone matched metal.

Accessorising your bespoke bottle bag

Pantone matched trim, piping and thread are tiny details that can make a big impact on your customised tote bag. For a truly bespoke bottle bag, the devil is in the detail itself and matching the colour of the thread to the print in the logo or internal taped seams for a precise and neat finish will give your bag the edge over your competitor’s bag.

Reasons to choose The Bag Workshop

Custom bag manufacturer, specialising in manufacturing branded bags for events, launches, promotions, retail and product packaging. We work with brand agencies, property developers, lifestyle brands and for the financial services industry to create sustainable marketing tools that promote brands and repeated use.

Our friendly client services team take your brief, understand your exact requirements and go on to create a bag or packaging specific to your objectives. We will provide advice on fabric, print, finishing plus shipping options as well as effort to ensure your bag has green credentials.

Our impeccable manufacturing facilities are in the UK, India and the Far East and are all regularly audited to ensure high standards of quality as well as the maintenance of social and environmental compliance.

team in factory with Steve Hill the owner of Bag Workshop

Bespoke merchandise

Adding branded merchandise or premium umbrellas to your portfolio is something our sister companies can help with. Other solutions we can help you with include a fulfilment and pick and pack service.

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