Corrugated Cardboard is something we don’t often think about these days. The fact is that cardboard has changed business all over the whole world. We used to use wooden crates to transport and store things. Crates were a burden. They were costly to manufacture. It was very hard to scale them. They were heavy objects to transport.
Carboard got invented. It started a revolution in the area of packaging. It’s flexible. It’s light. Cardboard is a good alternative to paper. It has provided customers with a quick and easy means in packaging. Product safety was not sacrificed.
We will explain how corrugated cardboard is made and what makes it a very useful item for storing products, shipping them, and making them more secure.
Exactly What Is Cardboard?
The term cardboard actually applies to many types of paper. It’s used to make cereal boxes. It’s also used to mount works of art.
Carboard is normally constructed of wood that is heavily pulped. It then gets submitted to a paper mill, where it gets beaten and dried. Different types of wood are added to this process. What type of wood is added depends on the function of the end-product and how the end-product is supposed to look.
Cardboard is quite useful. More than 95% of all goods shipped in North America are shipped in corrugated cardboard boxes. It’s light. It’s easy to access. It’s quite durable.
Corrugation Defined
Corrugation is the process used to add grooves, wrinkles, and folds to the cardboard. Standard carboard is one layer of paper. Corrugated cardboard involves several layers which are purposely put together in a certain way.
During the process of corrugation, the layers on the inside are folded in a way that creates a pattern of tiny triangles. These small triangles get sandwiched between a top and a bottom layer of standard carboard.
Products that are corrugated are strong because of the shape that they are made into. Triangles make the strongest shapes. Their tiny, fixed angles mean that they can bear a lot of weight. Their shape also allows for a greater distribution of weight.
As opposed to purchasing heavy boxes, corrugated boxes are easily put together. Corrugated boxes add little weight. That allows consumers to cut back on shipping fees.
Corrugated cardboard means that customers have reusable, inexpensive, and recyclable choices for packaging things.
Books can be safely packaged in corrugated cardboard. So can heavier items, such as light furniture.
There is yet another benefit: Corrugated cardboard is easy to open. It’s also easy to get rid of via recycling.
Corrugated cardboard has been a superhero for the packaging industry, especially in wholesale packaging supplies. It allows for businesses to ship products inexpensively. It’s strong. It’s durable. It’s light. It allows for millions of items to be shipped all over the entire world. It can be recycled. That appeals to a lot of people as well.
Crates were once a shipping norm. They have now been relegated to a back seat by durable, strong, recyclable corrugated cardboard.