Soft touch finishes are vital options for premium products’ packaging in today's industry. These are right to give printed material and packaging a luxurious, velvety texture. They enhance the tactile experience and visual elegance of products, including brochures, soft cover book covers. The texture,e soft to the touch, can add more astonishing touch to your packaging and enhance brand experience.

If you want to decide which is best to choose between soft touch coatings and soft touch laminations, you should understand their benefits, uses, and comparisons.

What is Soft Touch Coating?

Soft touch coating, also known as soft feel paint or soft touch paint, is used on any printed element. It is a type of aqueous, water-based, UV coating. This coating is useful for any printed surface. The matte finish is smooth and almost rubbery. This method of soft touch coating printing is important for adding tactile appeal to packaging and other printed materials. It does not affect the structure. The soft touch refers to the surface with a premium and tactile visual perception. It gives the pack a high-end visual appeal and looks better with black soft touch packaging boxes.

What is Soft Touch Lamination?

The process of soft touch lamination in which a thin, flexible film to a printed surface with the help of heat and pressure. The soft touch lamination film is a combination of a protective coating and a velvety finish. It's made of soft touch plastic that is known as polyester film. This results in a more richly textured laminate than a matte finish.

Lamination can also be referred to as box lamination or film soft touch. Soft-touch versions are available for products like lamination sleeves or self-sticking laminate sheets.

Soft Touch Finishes: The Process for Coating vs Lamination

Soft Touch Coating Process

• Applied as a liquid after printing.
• Dried through UV curing or air drying.
• Ideal for short-run or cost-sensitive projects.

Soft Touch Lamination Process

• A pre-manufactured film is bonded to the paper using heat and pressure.
• Requires specialized lamination equipment.
• Adds more durability and protection.

While both processes achieve that soft to the touch experience, they differ significantly in application, cost, and performance.

Difference Between Soft Touch Coating & Lamination

The following table can properly define soft touch coating vs soft touch lamination.

Benefits of Soft Touch Coating

Soft touch coating provides a range of benefits at the same time. The following are the perks you can avail of:

• Affordable yet luxury option: This finishing provides a lavish feel to packaging boxes at a lower cost.
• Eco-Friendly Solution: In this printing process, no plastic film is involved.
• Easy to apply: It easily works with standard coating machines.
• Flexible: Ideal for various types of paper and soft touch paper applications.
• Enhanced print quality: Soft touch coatings work well with spot UV or metallic accents to add more elegant printing results.

Benefits of Soft Touch Lamination

When it comes to the packaging of products, soft touch lamination also provides a range of perks.

• Add protection to Surface: The soft touch lamination works well to resist scratches, fingerprints, and moisture. Work as a protective layer.
• Durability for Long Term: It's ideal for long-term use, like packaging boxes and soft cover book covers.
• Provide the Next Level Visual Appeal: Softest things to touch, like packaging and brochures are only possible with soft touch lamination that provide end-level aesthetic appeal.
• Provide Tactile Experience: Soft touch lamination also provides durability along with tactile experience.
• Versatile finish options: It applies very effectively with textured laminates or spot foil accents.

What Types of Printed Products Use Soft Touch Lamination or Coating?

Soft touch finishing is used in many industries that value tactile feeling. Common applications include:

• Best for luxury packaging perfumes, electronics, and high-end cosmetics
• Perfect for premium brochures and catalogs. 
• Excellent option for business cards with soft touch finish.
• Right to choose presentation folders and marketing kits.
• Consider the best soft touch labels for bottles and jars.
• You can also choose this option for soft cover book covers in the publishing industry.
• Superb for textile sample books and soft touch textile finish.

Whether using softlack, soft touch white, or plastic soft touch coating, brands prefer these finishing options to add more value to the products.

Trends of Soft Touch Finishes in 2025

The use of soft touch finishes is increasing in 2025 as packaging innovations and consumer trends continue to evolve. To achieve sustainability while maintaining premium quality, manufacturers are developing biodegradable soft touch lamination films. Digital soft touch printing is gaining popularity for short-run printing due to the digital printing process. The new technology reduces waste, speeds up the production process, and is ideal for seasonal or niche campaigns.

Hybrid finishes are another trend that is on the rise. These combine soft-touch textures with metallic or glossy elements, creating striking tactile and visual contrasts. The unboxing process is elevated by these combinations, which add sophistication to the product. Soft touch textile finishes for textiles and packaging are increasingly common in the textile and fashion industries. They align with the branding of luxury and enhance sensory appeal.

E-commerce packaging is now the most important industry for an excellent user experience. Since unboxing has become an important part of the online storytelling, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands are using soft-touch packaging to make lasting impressions on customers.

Conclusion

The packaging goal will determine which option you choose. Soft touch coating is a good option if you want a durable, cost-effective solution that's also eco-friendly. Soft touch lamination is the best choice for packaging that requires a high level of protection and the softest texture.

The soft touch coating enhances the perceived value of your products. Soft touch lamination on packaging is an excellent design and strategy.

Whether you want packaging boxes with soft touch coatings or soft touch lamination, Custom Boxes Deals is the right place to meet all your packaging and printing needs.