Convenient dispenser for cotton swabs

From the day it appeared, says Terry Frome, vice president of the Placentia, CA-based firm, sales have been brisk.

The container is simply a folding carton with a slit cut in one side from which the swabs are dispensed. Inside is a spool of cotton swabs. Each swab is held in place on a strip of .010-pt SBS that has small, perforated holes at opposite ends to hold the swabs in place, preventing them from spilling out of the box. The end of this strip protrudes from the slit on the side of the carton and can be pulled out to dispense the swabs.

The cartons are printed offset in four colors and die-cut at BertCo Industries (Los Angeles, CA) and Thoro Packaging (Corona, CA). The carton is wrapped in a 1.5-mil PVC shrink sleeve to keep the swabs “clean and neat,” Frome says. Cartons are assembled at the Cotton Buds manufacturing facility in Placentia, CA, where they are folded manually and closed with hot melt glue.

Cotton Buds products are available in mass merchandise and drug store chains nationwide, where the swabs sell for about $2.49 per carton.