Liquid Filling and Capping Machines for Shampoo
Whether moisturizing, volumizing, repairing or just cleaning your hair, there is a shampoo on the market to meet your goal. Not only can shampoos vary in viscosity, but the bottles and method of dispensing the liquid can differ as well, meaning that filling machines and bottle capping machines for shampoos will be manufactured to meet the needs of the specific packager of the products.
While factors such as bottle size, demand, and space can influence the type of liquid filling machine used for shampoo products, the viscosity of the different products may be the most weighted characteristic to consider when choosing the right equipment. Low viscosity shampoo that flows freely, similar to water, can likely be prepared using an overflow bottle filling machine. The nozzle of an overflow filler seals over the bottle and allows product to recirculate back to the tank when a desired level is reached in a bottle. Low viscosity shampoos can not only easily flow into the bottle, but can also easily overflow, returning excess product to the tank. As viscosity increases, however, the overflow of the shampoo can cause issues with both the efficiency and accuracy of the process.
Most shampoos on the market have a higher viscosity than water, making the more likely choices for a business bottling shampoo either the pump filling machine or a piston filler. These liquid filling machines are manufactured to move higher viscosity liquids and have the added advantage of being able to prepare both free-flowing and thicker liquids, meaning a business with a range of shampoos and viscosities would need only one filling machine to package all the different products. Pump and piston fillers allow for a volumetric fill with either a pump for each fill head, or a piston driving product out of a cylinder, giving thicker products an extra push through the product pathway.
When choosing a filling machine for shampoo the viscosity of the products being filled will always be a guiding factor in finding the right machine. Whether filling thin products to a level, thick products by volume or a combination of thin and thick products, Liquid Packaging Solutions can manufacture the best filling machine for your own individual project.
Once the shampoo is in the bottle, the next step is to find a way to keep it there! Different bottle capping machines for shampoos exist based on the type of closure used to seal the bottle. Probably the most common closures for shampoo products are continuous thread, or screw-on, type closures. However, even these closures can come in a variety of styles, from simple flat caps that you unscrew to flip-top caps or even pumps that are pressed down to dispense products. Screw-on type closures can be efficiently tightened using either a chuck capping machine or a spindle capper. The choice of the two capping machine types will depend on different factors, but the closure itself will usually guide the decision.
Once you understand how the two machines function, it is easy to see why the closure itself guides the decision making process. Chuck cappers use a capping head to descend over the bottle and cap, applying torque to thread the bottle. The chuck head must be able to cover the cap to tighten it. Spindle cappers, on the other hand, use sets of spinning disks that contact the edge of the closure to thread the caps as they pass in between each set. So for flat caps and flip-top closures, the chuck head can often cover the cap and apply torque, but for closures with, for example, a pump, the chuck head could damage the closure or lead to inconsistent seals as it tried to descend over the pump to twist it. In this situation, the spindle capper, which only contacts the side of the closure to create the seal, would be the better choice. Though other factors may be considered, such as speed, cost, or space, the closure or closures used in packaging shampoo must always be the first consideration when looking at bottle capping machines. LPS manufactures spindle and chuck cappers, as well as capping equipment for other closure types that snap in place on or press into the bottle.
Finding the right filling and capping machine for shampoos will not only make the process of bottling easier but will help efficiently and consistently meet the demand for the shampoo. For assistance finding the right machinery for your own shampoo packaging line, contact Liquid Packaging Solutions today to speak with a member of our team!