There is no hard pack in MF plastic. You don't have to even shake it up. A few different places sell it (and prices are almost identical at each place), and depending where you are located you can save some money on shipping based on who you purchase it from. Of the brands I've tried there's things I like about them all, but I prefer MF. I'm rolling through some Chemionics right now that I received as a gift and it isn't horrible, I just run into less issues with MF in terms of bubbles, smoke, scent, etc...there's more than 1 way to skin a cat though, others say the same for LC, Polyone, Calhoun, and swear by them. You're right, give them all a try and see. Most will send you samples.