Tips for choosing the right envelope

Did you know that all the houses in the world, even in the most remote areas, can be reached by post?

In the European Union alone, and according to data from the European Federation of Envelope Manufacturers, 30% of households do not have access to the Internet, which means that post mail remains the only way these people can receive things at home.

According to this organization, consumers have, contrary to what is often led to be believed, a very positive perception of traditional post and even prefer it to electronic mail in situations such as:

Personal messages (holiday cards, for example);
Important and confidential information sent by your management, your employees, your insurers or your banks;
Diplomas, certificates or other similar documents;

The paper comes from a renewable source – the trees.

For each tree that is cut down in Europe to produce paper, two other trees are planted.

The European organization of envelope manufacturers also adds that an electronic direct marketing campaign produces between 3.5 and 4.4 times more CO2 than the same campaign thought and executed with the printed paper as the base, with at least 3 emails being required for the impact / return of the campaign to be equivalent to that of regular mail.

Now that we have shown you the arguments that (rightly) defend the prevalence of paper over e-mail, it’s time to tell you about another very important thing: the envelopes.

Indeed. Although it is an issue that seems irrelevant, it is anything but that.

When deciding what we are going to send and where we are going to send it to, we must be careful to understand the path that this envelope will make to ensure that an appropriate envelope is used, especially if we are talking about envelopes that are going to be used in automatic enveloping machines.

So, there is much more behind the production of envelopes – or rather, of better-quality envelopes – than you might think.

Automatic enveloping machines.

Producing the best of envelopes also means that we pay attention to the fact that it passes the most difficult and demanding of the tests with distinction: automatic enveloping machines that examine each envelope, one by one, thereby making these machines the most demanding consumer we may have to face.

These machines have very high quality standards and require a huge prevalence of manufacturing techniques:

The paper must have the fibres in the right direction, as well as perfect porosity, strength and stiffness;
The envelope must have the same perfect and extremely specific folds as it should be properly sealed;
Lastly, adequate glue is necessary.

All of this proves one very important thing: making (good) envelopes is much more than simply folding paper.

Some tips to help you choose the right envelope

Finally, here are some tips to help you with this difficult and demanding process of choosing the right envelope for your communication piece.

Enveloping: know the model and brand of the machine that will automatically process the envelopes.
Size: it is fundamental that you choose the right size for that particular machine;
Uniformization: this is one of the fundamental aspects of the whole process. There can be no variation in size or shape, as it could risk causing greater problems in the machine that will delay the enveloping process;
The paper: must be thought of and specially designed as well as made for envelopes. The paper used for envelopes is different from all the other types of paper.
The glue: must be appropriate for the envelope function. That means that, if it involves automatic enveloping the glue that is used should be one that reacts to the moistening with water (used in enveloping machines), if it is intended for normal use, active glue with protective tape should be used (to prevent the envelopes from sticking together inside the boxes and to facilitate the closing of the envelopes without the need to use normal glue).
The envelope window: which is normally made of acetate (plastic) – must ensure enough transparency to allow the automatic or human reading of the address during the mail processing and distribution process by postal operators.
Storage: Envelopes must be properly stored and ready for use at any time. The area where these will be stored should be dry and well ventilated.

In summary, the above are some of the most important points which should not be overlooked when we are talking about envelopes and automatic enveloping machines which, as we have been able to show you, are extremely sensitive and have very demanding standards.