Vacuum Flasks from Yongkang: Steel, Lids, and Leak Tests

A vacuum flask is one of the clearest cluster products in China. Yongkang (永康) makes them, along with the hand tools and hardware in the same city. The port is Ningbo. I do not shop this item as a general “kitchenware” order spread across three provinces.

The price is in the steel and the lid

Food-contact bottles are normally 304 stainless on the inner wall. A 201 inner is cheaper and is a different product. I want the grade written on the quotation and on a material certificate for the batch, not only etched on a sample cup. The lid is the other half of the cost: a simple screw lid, a straw lid, and a lock lid do not share a mold or a leak rate.

Capacity should be the real fill, not a marketing millilitre. I measure it. I also look at the mouth diameter, the coating on the outside, and whether your logo is laser, print, or a wrap that will peel in a dishwasher.

Tests before the balance

• Boiling water in, then a check of the outer wall and the remaining temperature at the hour you promise your customer.
• The filled bottle inverted, then on its side. A lid that weeps on the sample will weep in the carton.
• Drop and dent on the packed unit, plus a smell check. A chemical smell in a new bottle is a reason to stop.
• Carton burst strength and a partition that keeps two coated bottles from rubbing.

Yongkang factories are used to logo and color changes at modest quantities. They are less patient with a new lid mechanism and no mold budget. Send the capacity, the lid type, and the steel you are willing to put your name on.

Keep reading

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• FOB, EXW, and CIF: How I Split Freight on a China Order
• Ballpoint Pens and Gel Pens: Tonglu, Ningbo, and Yiwu