Tiny bubble wrap for popping / fidgeting, only need small quantities

July 31, 2019 10:54 AM

So I like popping bubble wrap, and I found a kind I really like. It's tiny and thin and soft / good for popping, and it doesn't require a lot of hand strength. I got it in the packaging of some smallish item I got from Amazon awhile back, and I'm looking for more.

I have been looking for more bubble wrap of this kind, however all the bubble wrap I can find is much bigger, either 3/16" high or 1/2" high. The ones I want are about 3/16" (5-6mm) in diameter, and not very high (hard to measure). The piece I have came in a bag format, but not a resealable one, just a rectangular sleeve for some delicate part or other. I have no problem with getting them in bag form, I can just snip the sides to produce a small sheet to use. The bag I clipped open was approximately 5"x10", or 170mm x 250mm.

So can you help me find some for sale?

I need:
- Smaller than 3/16" tall, (diameter about 3/16" (5-6mm), and shorter than that)
- Small quantities are fine, I do not need a 50' roll by any means
- Bags are fine, as long as they are not double-walled (which I find very hard to pop)
- Fast shipping preferable, ideally within 5-7 days

And I called the Container Store, and apparently they no longer sell bubble wrap by the foot/yard, so I am out of luck there.

posted by cats are weird to Shopping (5 answers total)

I can't help with discount bubble wrap, but I used to have one of these (excuse the walmart link...) which did the trick.
posted by tangosnail at 12:12 PM on July 31, 2019

There was a whole episode of Red Dwarf devoted to the Tension Sheet, a sheet of this bubble wrap painted red with "Tension Sheet" written on it. It made its inventor very rich.

It surprises me ~30 years later that you can't buy it under that name for this specific purpose.
It really would be a great idea.
posted by jozxyqk at 12:26 PM on July 31, 2019

I don't know how to link but Uline has tons of bubble wrap in different sizes.
posted by smashface at 5:52 PM on July 31, 2019

i found a few hits looking for
1/8" bubble wrap
...however the results were all industrial rolls.

Would a craft store like Michael's have that size?
Or someplace that sells supplies to jewelry makers?
posted by calgirl at 6:04 PM on July 31, 2019

1/8" bubble wrap sheets for shipping records. 50/ct (so effectively a 100 sheets) but not crazy expensive.

If you have an record shop locally maybe they'll have these for sale individually.

Alternatively if you have a computer shop locally a lot of mother boards and expansion boards like graphics cards used to come shipped in very small, lightweight bubble wrap; probably free for the asking. Some of it (ESP) is even pink.
posted by Mitheral at 10:47 AM on August 1, 2019