A body butter container is a wide-mouth jar, 100–500 ml, in PP (chemically robust, lightest, from ~500 stock pieces), PET (clear, economical, for butters without high essential-oil loads) or glass (inert, premium, 2–3× the weight) — never unlined acrylic, because oils craze PMMA. Finishes are Ø63, Ø70, Ø83, Ø89 or Ø100 mm with a screw lid, disc liner and optional inner lid or foil seal. Stock jars ship in 7–25 days, printed from about 2,000 pieces; a private mould is a 90–120 day programme.
Which material for a body butter
Body butters sit in the "balms, body butters, oil-rich masks, essential-oil formulas" row of the jar compatibility table: glass or PP, never AS or unlined PMMA, because oils and essential oils craze acrylic, attack AS and extract plasticisers. The full product range is on cosmetic jars and cream pots.
| Material | Strengths | Watch-outs | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| PP (clarified or opaque) | Chemically robust against oils and essential oils; lightest; PCR-PP available; the standard for balms and butters | Lower clarity than PET; moulded-in colour carries a 5,000–10,000 floor | Most body butters, whipped formulas, high essential-oil loads |
| PET / PETG | Clear, strong, economical; shows the product | PET is cautioned against strong essential oils and hot-fill above ~60°C — confirm with the actual bulk at 48°C for 30 days; PETG tolerates more | Lightly scented butters where the colour is the story |
| Glass (press-formed, high-flint or opal) | Fully inert; best barrier; premium shelf presence; recyclable | 2–3× the weight; suspended-tray packing; breakage allowance agreed up front; 30,000–200,000 floor for made-to-order shapes | Prestige bodycare, refill programmes |
| Acrylic (PMMA) double-wall | Heavy hand-feel, high gloss | Only with a PP inner cup; PMMA must never touch the bulk — an acrylic jar quoted 'without liner' is a different product | Gift and premium sets, with the cup specified |
| Aluminium tin | Light, recyclable, travel-friendly | Lacquer lining needed for many formulas; dents | Travel and solid-bar formats |
Specification: sizes, finishes and lids
| Parameter | Published value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Capacities | 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 ml, to 500 ml for body and mask | 200–500 ml is the body-butter and mask range; brim-full capacity ±5% at 20°C water |
| Wide-mouth finishes | Ø63, Ø70, Ø83, Ø89, Ø100 mm | Ø63–Ø70 for 100–200 ml; Ø83–Ø100 for 250–500 ml (typical partner-factory range) |
| Lid | PP, ABS or acrylic outer; PP or PE inner lid; disc liner; optional foil seal and spatula | Metallised or plated lids are exterior only — never in contact with bulk or skin |
| Fill capacity | Nominal size is brim-full, not fill weight | A whipped butter at low density fills the jar by volume, not by gram — specify the fill line in ml and the target weight in g |
| Wall type | Single-wall · double-wall (weighted feel) · jar-in-jar with inner refill pod | Double-wall gap uniformity checked on 10 samples per batch |
| Dimensions | Fit-critical ≤0.5 mm; overall height / width ≤1.0 mm | Lid-to-jar thread clearance 0.1–0.8 mm |
| Plastic wall | ≥0.3 mm; variation ≤0.3 mm | Large-diameter lids need enough wall not to oval under torque |
Why a 200 ml jar does not hold 200 g of whipped butter, and how to write the fill line, is explained in why a 50 ml jar holds less than 50 ml; the acrylic-liner rule is worked through in acrylic vs glass vs PP cream jar.
MOQ, tooling and lead time by route
Large wide-mouth PP and PET jars are stocked in most sizes, so a first order is usually a stock jar plus a label or a one-colour print. Ranges are indicative via partner factories already tooled for small runs; the published single-factory floor is 5,000–10,000 per item. Cross-category tables: MOQ index, lead-time index.
| Route | Indicative minimum | Tooling | Lead time, factory gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock PP or PET jar, undecorated, stock colour | From about 500 pcs (sometimes lower, by the carton) | None | 7–10 days if in stock; 15–25 days if a run is required |
| Stock glass jar, undecorated | Low thousands on stock glass; from ~500 where a partner factory holds stock | None | 30–60 days if a glass run is needed |
| Stock jar + screen print / hot stamp | About 2,000 pcs | Screen or foil plate — trivial | +5–7 days |
| Stock jar + full-wrap or IML-style label | From about 100–500 (label); IML needs a mould modification | Label artwork only | Inside the jar cycle |
| Stock jar or lid + sprayed custom colour | 2,000–5,000 pcs per shape; jar and lid are two set-ups | Colour matching per shape | 30–40 days |
| Moulded-in custom colour (PP) | 5,000–10,000 pcs | Material changeover and purge | 15–25 days |
| Electroplated or metallised lid | Around 10,000 pcs — the floor does not move | Racking only | 25–40 days including plating queue |
| Private mould (your own jar shape) | 3,000–10,000 pcs plus tooling | RMB 25,000–70,000 ≈ USD 3,500–9,700 per tool; 4–8 cavities; paid 30/40/30; rated 800,000 cycles; brand-owned | Mould 45–60 days; full programme 90–120 days |
| Made-to-order glass jar | 30,000–200,000 pcs | ≈ RMB 4,000 ≈ USD 555 per cavity | 30–60 days |
| Buffer | — | — | × 1.3; +15 days across Chinese New Year; sea 18–25 days to US West Coast, 30–35 to Northern Europe |
Jar, inner lid, foil seal, lid and spatula are separate minimums from separate lines — quote them as a set. The worked calendar is in cosmetic jar MOQ and lead time from China.
QC thresholds a body butter jar is signed against
Big jars fail at the seal and at the lid torque. The battery below sits under the four gates and the golden-sample rule on our QC standards page.
| Test | Method | Pass threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Seal (colour-water) | Jar 3/4 filled with dyed water, lid and inner lid fitted, lying and inverted in a vacuum chamber | −0.06 MPa for 5 min; no dye outside the seal area |
| Static seal | Filled, lidded, inverted | 24 h, no leakage |
| Opening torque | Torque meter after application | Standard caps 0.2–0.7 N·m; larger wide-mouth lids agreed per diameter; reverse ≥2.5 N·m; no thread strip |
| Compatibility | Actual butter in the PP, PET or glass jar at 48°C for 30 days plus ambient and cold controls | No discolouration, odour, swelling, crazing or decoration attack; no oil weep at the seal |
| Thermal cycling, filled | Oven +50 ± 2°C 24 h; freezer −10 to −15°C 24 h; 2 h recovery | No cracking, deformation, colour change or leakage |
| Drop | Filled, onto concrete | 1.5 m at 45° with closure; no functional damage |
| Wall thickness (plastic) | Gauge | ≥0.3 mm; variation ≤0.3 mm |
| Decoration adhesion | 3M 600 over print / hot stamp; 3M 810 over cross-hatched spray or plating | 10 passes, 45° pull, no lift; hot-stamp loss ≤0.5 mm²; sprayed pencil hardness ≥2H |
| Decoration position (lid) | Top artwork vs cap OD centre | Offset ≤0.6 mm; joint mis-step ≤0.3 mm |
| Colour | Signed golden sample under D65 | ΔE within agreed tolerance; jar and lid judged side by side |
| Cleanliness | 75% alcohol flush, light box | No particle >0.5 mm, no fibre >2 mm |
| Acceptance / heavy metals | ISO 2859-1 level II; third-party lab | AQL 0 / 1.0–1.5 / 2.5–4.0; Pb+Cd+Hg+Cr(VI) ≤100 ppm |
Vella is a Guangzhou-based beauty packaging solutions provider — a sourcing partner, not a factory — that specifies, sources, samples, quality-controls and ships body butter jars, lids and liners from vetted partner factories operating to ISO 22716 / GMP, against the thresholds above and a signed golden sample. The method is on how we work; the questions to ask any supplier are in how to evaluate a China packaging supplier.
Frequently asked
- Sunscreen Bottle Options: Tube, Airless, Pump Bottle and Stick — Sizes, SPF Compatibility and MOQ
- Toner Bottles: Glass vs PET, 100–200 ml Sizes, Flip-Top, Disc-Top and Spray Closures, MOQ
- Airless vs Tube for Sunscreen: Dose, UV Protection, Cost and MOQ
- HDPE vs PET for a Shampoo Bottle: Material, Neck Finish (24/410 vs 28/410) and Leak Test
Launching a body butter?
Get the jar and the seal quoted as a set.
Tell us the formula, target fill weight and quantity. We reply within 24 hours with PP, PET and glass jar options, lid and liner choices and a compatibility-test plan.
Send a brief →