Most of the products we sell in tins have a metal bung in the neck of them once you remove the screw cap. We were asked this week if it’s necessary to replace it after use and the answer is no; the bung is there for transit purposes, just to make sure there are no leaks once it leaves us and can be discarded once the tin has arrived at its final destination.

There was a second part to this question, asking the best way to remove the bung without damaging the neck of the bottle. Some users of course just punch a small hole in the bung and dispense the contents through that, which is perfectly acceptable. If you want to remove the bung completely a small, flat bladed screwdriver is best to gently prise the bung up from the edge – they’re only a push fit so this shouldn’t be too difficult.

And let’s get all of the bungs out of the way in one swoop and deal with the red bungs in the Spirit Stains. Again, these are only there for transit purposes (and the Spirit Stains are about the only product that has ever leaked without the container being damaged). Removing these should be done carefully, I always cover the top with a cloth to be on the safe side and use a broad, flat bladed screwdriver to pop it out. Once loosened it comes out very easily.

A quick bonus question, we used to put bungs in the sample packs too and have been asked why we stopped. The answer is that the manufacturers stopped making the bungs and to be honest they didn’t do a great job of keeping the stain in anyway. We’ve since switched to a better design bottle and these do a much better job.

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I’m straying even further afield next week as I’ll be in Sweden this time next week, supporting our customer SweDendro in VÄXJÖ. I’ll be in good company as Stewart Furini is travelling over with me, so it promises to be good fun and a great chance to meet new Chestnuteers.

It’s going to make next week difficult though, it’s already a short week…but I have a plan.
I hope you have a good weekend, I’ll see you back here next Friday

All the best

Terry