A Basic guide to corrugated boxes

Have you recently started a business and want to learn more about packaging? Well you’ve come to the right place. There are a variety of questions that come with these boxes, and you may wonder what the right type of this is for you to choose from, and which will benefit you. First, let’s go with the high level boxes. While you might think packaging is just carboard boxes, cardboard along with corrugated boxes are not one in the same. Cardboard is very heavy duty stock of paper, and it isn’t really used for shipping anything too strong. Cereal boxes are an example of this, and you can easily see that they’re kind of flimsy. 

Corrugated is the stronger type, and it has a much higher strength because there is a liner within this, and a medium. The liner is the flat part that’s on the outside and surfaces but also on the inner part, and the medium is what’s sandwiched between this, creating the arched kinds of shapes, or what they called “flutes” between these. They play a part of the strength that comes with the board too, and the sheets are then glued to make a corrugated board that’s converted to a box that can handle long and arduous journeys various bumps, and the like. The difference does matter because there are beginners who end up shipping stuff with the wrong kinds of boards, and it’s worth mentioning for a brief moment or two. 

The Basics 

Now, let’s talk about what kind of box that you should use. There are a ton of factors that go into how these are made, and they’re considered some of the most customizable types of media out there of you to use and allows you to create a box that’s perfect for whatever product you have. First, you’ve got the flute profiles, with the A, B, E, C, and F flutes being the most common. The flute size does talk about the wall thickness, with the A flute being the original type, and is the thickest, being 5 mm thick and is good for products that need a bit more cushioning or strength. B flutes are the next one and are good for canned goods and other products that don’t need a box for support and is about 3.2 mm thick and is a good choice for those die cut boxes. 

C flutes are basically 4 mm and is used for all purpose boxes. They are thicker then the ones in the B flute, but they still do a great job. Then there is the E and F, which are the two smallest, and are used mostly for packaging retail products, because they can be used for printing to offer a clear image. You also have different board faces too. Single face is where one liner sheet is put to one medium of corrugated product, sued to wrap around different products for cushioning. Single wall is where one corrugated is between two liner sheets, and these are used for retail displays out there and shipping boxes. 

Double wall is for those products that need a bit more strength, since it’s tow corrugated medium between three liner sheets. And finally we’ve got triple wall which is three corrugated medium sheets and between four liner sheets, and they’re the strongest, used for bins and industrial parts as well. You want to make sure that you choose all of the factors, and the grade as well, which offers the pressure and numbers for that, to give you the best box experience. 

This entry was posted in Packaging Tricks. Bookmark the permalink.