Currently, there are many different types of packaging boxes, and each type of packaging requires a different type of paper. What are the most common types of paper used in the packaging industry? What are their characteristics? Read the following post if you would like to learn more about this knowledge.
There are several types of paper commonly used in the packaging industry, including cardboard, grey board, coated paper, Woodfree uncoated paper, corrugated paper, special paper, and kraft paper. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss their characteristics separately.
1. Cardboard
It is a firm, thick, and heavy paper with a high grammage. This paper has a smooth surface, is calendered, and is very stiff. The most common colors are white, black, gold, and silver.
Cardboard is a single-layer or multi-layer combination paper made from bleached chemical pulp and sized with glue, typically weighing 150g/m2 or more. In comparison with the same gram of paper, it is thick enough, hard enough, and its hardness is considered to be very high. Color brightness is no less than that of coated paper. It is priced in the middle, making it cost-effective. However, it is easily scratched, even with daily touch, especially black or other dark cardboard will have marks left by a light touch. To prevent scratching, high-quality cardboard will be laminated. Furthermore, if the humidity level in the environment is too high, it will cause curl. It is therefore important to control the humidity level.
2. Grey board
This packaging material is made from recycled waste paper, categorized into single-grey, double-grey, and all-grey, and is environmentally friendly. In daily production, the double-grey board is usually used as a skeleton material for rigid boxes and is not directly printed. The thickness is usually 0.5 to 5 millimeters, and the weight is 600 to 1500 grams, so it’s flexible for design and production, and it’s easy to process. it has good adhesion and is easy to glue. In addition, double gray board has the right physical properties and can protect your stuff.
3. Coated paper
This is a senior printing paper made from raw paper coated with a white coating. The paper has a smooth surface, high whiteness, uniform fiber distribution, consistent thickness, low stretch, good elasticity, strong water resistance, and good ink absorption, and is usually 70-450 grams in weight.
Due to its easy absorption of ink, it prints very bright colors and has high color reproduction. It can also be laminated, and after lamination, it feels more pleasant to the touch, but it is also very smooth and textured in original. It is moderately priced, but its hardness is not exceptional when compared to other papers of the same weight, it is a medium level. It will also curl in high humidity environments, just like cardboard.
4. Woodfree uncoated paper
This paper is also known as Dowlin paper or offset printing paper, which is composed of bleached coniferous wood pulp and bamboo pulp, coated with adhesive on both sides and calendered. This material has the following characteristics: small stretch, uniform ink absorption, good smoothness, tight opaque texture, strong water resistance, etc. It is mainly used for offset printing presses in order to print advanced color prints. However, due to its higher cost, it is not often used in packaging production, but mostly for high-grade books and magazines.
5. Corrugated paper
Generally known as three-layer corrugated board, it comprises a face liner, a pleating paper (also called flute in the industry), and an inner liner. According to the height and density of the flutes, corrugated boards are usually classified as A, C, B, or E. Corrugated boards cannot be printed luxuriously enough due to their wavy structure, so they are commonly used for transporting cartons. It is recommended that you read another article if you are interested in learning more about corrugated boxes.
6. Special paper
Typically, it refers to paper with a specific purpose and a relatively small production volume. This term refers to a variety of special-purpose papers or art papers, and there are many different types. To simplify the confusion caused by the wide variety of art papers, sellers now more often refer to embossed paper as special papers.
7. Kraft paper
It is a tough and water-resistant packaging paper that is brownish-yellow in color. Normally, the weight is between 40g/m2 and 120g/m2, and there is a difference between rolls and flats, single glossy and dual glossy. Having the characteristics of flexibility and strength, as well as high breakage resistance, it can withstand large tensions and pressures without breaking.
We commonly use the above types of paper in our production, however, if you have any other suggestions, please let us know in the comments.
