Glassine paper bags are flat, open-topped bags made from a dense, polished sheet that holds back butter and oil without any wax. On a bakery counter they let a customer see the macaron or the slab of fudge before the fold goes down.
From £0.25 a bag. Written quote in one working day and a free design proof; the exact number depends on size, ink count and quantity.
From £0.25 a bag. Exact price on the written quote.
| Bag style | Flat and open-topped with a back seam; bottom pleat or fold-over flap on request |
|---|---|
| Base sheet | Polished glassine, about 30–40 gsm, white or a pale cream tint |
| Coating | None; the grease hold comes from the pressed, close-packed sheet |
| Heat | For cooled and ambient goods only; steam from warm bakes softens the paper |
| 1–2 colours as the usual pick, food-safe soy and water-based inks, Pantone matched | |
| Packing | Flat in cartons, 1,000 bags of one size and one design as the minimum |
A glassine bag is a small translucent paper bag made from a sheet that has been pressed between hot rollers until it is almost glass-smooth. The pressing is what stops grease, so there is no coating to taste or to peel. Bakeries, sweet shops and coffee roasters use them for single portions, samples and small gifts, and we print them with your name in one or two colours.
| Format | Typical size | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Bag | 90 × 140 mm | Single biscuit, sweets |
| Bag | 120 × 170 mm | Two cookies, macarons |
| Bag | 140 × 190 mm | Pastry, brownie |
| Bag | 190 × 250 mm | Bread roll, croissant |
The four sizes above are the usual picks; any other size is a custom cut, so ask on the quote. Full sheet and roll size chart.
Pick one of this paper's photos, drop your logo on it and send the mock along with your quote request.
Upload a logo and it appears on this sheet
The first photo shows four plain bags fanned out on a pale blue card. You can see the back seam running up through the front of each one, which tells you how thin and clear the sheet is.
The second photo is the biggest style, a tall bag with a fold-over flap and a folded garment inside. The pattern on the fabric reads straight through the paper, and that is exactly what a customer sees when a slab of tablet or a stack of biscotti sits inside.
The third photo shows a bag with a pleat folded into the base. Open it and it stands on the bench for filling, then the pleat flattens again when the bag is folded shut.
Glassine starts as an ordinary pulp that is beaten for far longer than usual, then run through heated polished rollers. The sheet comes out so tightly packed that butter and oil cannot find a path through it.
There is no wax layer and nothing to peel, so a glassine bag has no smell and leaves nothing on a pale macaron shell. It also takes a crease and keeps it, which is why the top folds flat and stays put under a sticker.
The weak point is water. A warm sausage roll or a cookie still soft from the oven will steam inside the bag, and the paper goes limp within minutes. Cool everything on a wire rack first, then bag it.
Lay the item flat, measure it, and add about 15 mm to the width and 40 mm to the height for the fold at the top. These four sizes cover most counters.
| Typical size | What it holds | How it closes |
|---|---|---|
| 90 × 140 mm | Two macarons, a single truffle, a tea-bag sample, a guest bar of soap | One fold and a sticker |
| 120 × 170 mm | A brownie, a flapjack, three Welsh cakes, a 100 g bag of fudge | Two folds and a sticker |
| 140 × 190 mm | A large cookie, a scone, a slice of traybake, a full-size soap bar | Fold-over flap |
| 190 × 250 mm | A croissant, a slab of tablet, a greeting card, a small bag of coffee beans | Fold-over flap or bottom pleat |
Those are guides, not rules. If your cookie is 120 mm across, the 120 mm bag will not take it once the seam allowance is counted, so step up a size or ask for a custom width. The sheet and roll size chart explains how we measure a bag flat.
All three styles are cut from the same glassine. The choice is about how your staff fill and close the bag, not about the paper.
Glassine will not heat seal, because there is no plastic layer in it to melt. Close the bags with a fold, a sticker, a paper clip or a length of twine through a punched hole. Rolls of the same sheet are compared with bags on the glassine paper range page.
Yes, provided you plan for what sits behind it. The bag is translucent, so a dark brownie behind a black logo swallows the mark, while a pale shortbread behind it looks sharp.
Deep inks suit glassine best: black, bottle green, navy, a dark red. We match Pantone solid-coated references, and the result on white glassine sits very close to the swatch. A white ink is possible too, and it prints as a frosted mark that shows up well over coffee beans or dark chocolate.
Keep the artwork small. One logo centred on the front panel, or a light scatter of small marks, lets the paper stay clear. Cover the whole front with ink and you have paid for a window and then painted over it. Our guide to printing on greaseproof paper shows how a proof mocks up the transparency.
Glassine for bags runs from about 30 to 40 gsm. The lighter end crackles in the hand and folds like tissue, and it is what most patisseries choose. The 40 gsm end is stiffer, stands up better with a pleated base and feels more like a gift bag.
Both weights have a faint sheen from the rollers and feel slightly cool to the touch. That is the cue that tells a customer the bag is glassine and not a coated paper.
White shows ink colour most truly. A pale cream tint is also available; it warms a one-colour brown or dark green print and suits a farm shop or a deli counter.
Not every bag we print holds food. Cold-process soap makers take the 140 × 190 mm size for a single bar, because the glassine stops the surface oils of a fresh bar from marking the outside and still shows the colour of the soap through the front.
Seed sellers, loose-leaf tea blenders and letterpress stationers use the smaller sizes for packets and cards. The tall flap bag in the second photo is doing that job: a folded item inside, the print visible through the paper, the flap turned down to close it.
If soap is the main use, start with our guide to wrapping bar soap. A bar that has not finished curing will sweat into any paper, glassine included.
Three things, and all three are easy to avoid.
Bagging warm bakes. A cookie straight off the tray steams, the glassine softens and by the time it reaches the customer the crackle has gone. Twenty minutes on a rack solves it.
Choosing by width alone. A 120 mm bag does take a 100 mm cookie, but once the top is folded twice there is almost no clear paper left and the logo disappears into the fold. Allow for the closure when you measure.
Ordering a heavy design. Four solid colours on glassine look like a carton and hide the product. One mark, one or two colours, and leave the rest of the bag as the window it is meant to be.
The minimum run is 1,000 bags in one size and one design. A misprint or a crushed carton, reported with photos within 10 days, is reprinted or refunded. Start on the quote form for printed bags with the size, the quantity and your file; nothing else is needed to get a price.
The questions UK buyers ask before a first order. Type a word to filter the cards, or open one for the full answer.
For a cooled macaron in a dry room, yes. The paper holds back the butter in the filling and adds no taste of its own.
For a cooled macaron in a dry room, yes. The paper holds back the butter in the filling and adds no taste of its own. In a steamy kitchen the shell will soften, because glassine lets water vapour through.
Not straight from the oven. Steam condenses on the inside of a glassine bag and the paper goes limp within minutes.
Not straight from the oven. Steam condenses on the inside of a glassine bag and the paper goes limp within minutes. Let them cool on a rack, then bag them.
The outside stays dry and clean. The pressed sheet keeps the butter at the surface, so a flapjack left in a glassine bag until the following morning leaves at most a faint shadow, never a wet patch.
No. There is no plastic film in glassine, so a bar sealer has nothing to melt.
No. There is no plastic film in glassine, so a bar sealer has nothing to melt. Fold the top and close it with a sticker, use a fold-over flap, or thread twine through a punched hole.
The 140 × 190 mm bag for a standard rectangular bar; the 120 × 170 mm bag takes a slimmer 80 g bar.
The 140 × 190 mm bag for a standard rectangular bar; the 120 × 170 mm bag takes a slimmer 80 g bar. Allow 40 mm above the bar for the fold.
Faintly, because the paper is translucent. We place the logo on the front panel and keep it clear of the line the seam makes, so the mark reads cleanly when the bag is viewed from the front.
Yes, as two runs of at least 1,000 each. The plate is shared but each size is formed and cut separately, so the quote shows them as two lines.
Over a long day in a steamy case they lose a little crackle, because glassine takes on moisture from the air.
Over a long day in a steamy case they lose a little crackle, because glassine takes on moisture from the air. A ventilated dry case is fine. Fill the bags just before service, not the night before.
The 140 × 190 mm bag. It clears a 100 mm cookie on both sides and leaves room to fold the top twice.
The 140 × 190 mm bag. It clears a 100 mm cookie on both sides and leaves room to fold the top twice. For two stacked cookies choose the 190 × 250 mm bag.
Yes. White prints as a frosted mark that looks best over something dark, such as coffee beans or chocolate brownies.
Yes. White prints as a frosted mark that looks best over something dark, such as coffee beans or chocolate brownies. It counts as a colour on the job, so a white and black design is a two-colour print.
For a few days at a market stall, yes. An oily dark roast will shadow the bag within a week, so for shelf stock use the glassine bag as an inner liner, or line a heavier outer bag with glassine from a roll.
Up to about 50 mm as standard; state the depth on the quote.
Up to about 50 mm as standard; state the depth on the quote. A 40 mm flap folds over the front, tucks behind a small bag and gives a second face for a short line of text.
No match. Ask us on WhatsApp or call +44 7578 382054.
Glassine Paper RollsFrom £0.25 a sheet300 mm × 150 m · 375 mm × 150 m · 450 mm × 300 mInterleaving, coffee and retail linersSee this paper
Custom Soap Wrapping PaperFrom £0.25 a sheet150 × 150 mm · 200 × 200 mm · 250 × 250 mmFull wraps for cold-process barsSee this paper
Custom Wax PaperFrom £0.25 a sheet150 × 270 mm · 250 × 270 mm · 300 × 300 mmDeli, sandwich and bakery sheetsSee this paper
Custom Printed Greaseproof SheetsFrom £0.25 a sheet250 × 375 mm · 300 × 300 mm · 350 × 450 mmLogo wraps for hot foodSee this paperName the paper, a size and a quantity, and attach a logo if you have one. A written price and a free design proof come back within one working day. Rather talk it through? Call +44 7578 382054 or message us on WhatsApp.