20 April, 2022
What Makes A Good Promotional Plastic Drink Bottle
There are literally hundreds of different plastic drink bottle styles available in Australia, so what makes a drink bottle good or bad quality. We thought we’d run with this today and go through some of the better features to look out for and ones to try and avoid.
1. Material: The first big thing to check with any plastic drink bottle – or for any drink bottle – is whether it is BPA free or not. BPA stands for Bisphenol A. It has been around since the 1950s and is used to make certain plastics and resins. BPA can seep into a beverage if it is in a plastic container made with BPA. In very small doses, it is deemed safe, however, if you use a drink bottle often, then it is best to avoid anything made with BPA. It has been linked to increased blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. It’s also believed it has effects on the brain and prostate gland of infants and foetuses. To be safe, it is just best to avoid this altogether. Luckily at drinkbottles.com.au, all of our drink bottles are BPA free.
2. Lid: There are many types of lids available, but the basic two are either a flip top or screw top lid. Both have features that are positive, but in the end, we lean towards a screw top lid. A flip top lid usually means it “clicks” over the top of the bottle. The issue with this is if the bottle gets overheated and the plastic gets “soft”, liquid can leak out of the top. Also, the continuous flicking motion of taking the lid on and off to add liquid can weaken it over time. A screw top lid makes it secure. Liquid can not leak out and there is no weakening of the plastic.
3. Shape: This might sound like a strange one, but the shape of the bottle will determine what type of branding you can do. The ideal drink bottle should have straight sides. The reason for that is with straight sides mean you can get a print wrapped all the way around the bottle at one cost. If the bottle is tapered, it means instead of wrap printing, you have to print each side individually, which makes it a lot more expensive. Straight sides will give you the maximum print area of the bottle. It’s also good to look for bottles that have a collar. This can then be printed separately with either a phone number or website. It is a great way to separate a call to action from the rest of your design.
4. Straws: Some bottles have inbuilt plastic straws. These sound like a convenient way to extract the liquid from the bottle, but there are design flaws with this. It is fine to use, if it is a bottle, you are not going to use it frequently. If it is a bottle you are going to use frequently, we do not recommend getting a bottle with an inbuilt straw. In our experience, the straw breaks down after a while. In its close state, the straw is bent. When you open the lid, the straw straightens out, so you can drink from it. Going from it’s bent state to a straight position over and over again, it slowly weakens the structure of the straw until either it splits, or it separates from the lid. They are fine as a novelty factor, but not great for people who use their drink bottles every day.
5. Pop Top Versus Screw Top: If you want to 100% guarantee against leaks, a screw top is best for accessing the liquid. For convenience a pop top is great. All you have to do is pull the top rubber piece up and you can access the liquid straight away, rather than having to hold the bottle and undo a lid. The only issue with the pull top is they are not 100% water tight. If the bottle falls over or is sideways in your bag, with liquid inside, there is a strong chance a small amount of liquid will seep from the top. The pull top bottles are not designed to have liquid in them while travelling. They are more for when you are at your destination to then fill with liquid to drink.
We hope these tips will help you in deciding the best type of plastic drink bottle for your next promotion. If you are unsure what would work best, contact us, and we’d be happy to assist.
The Drink Bottles Team