Cardboard (or corrugated)?

Corrugated Board

Cardboard or corrugated - is there a difference? To most people, these two terms mean the exact same thing. However, in packaging engineering, they are distinctly different. In fact, most packaging engineers or designers cringe when they hear the word cardboard used in the wrong context.

Many people use the word "cardboard" to refer to any type of paper packaging substrate. The truth is, most of the time, they should be using "corrugated."

Corrugated material is easy to identify.
 It is made up of three layers of paper:

Paperboard

an inside liner, an outside liner, and fluting which runs in between. The material gets its name from the corrugated medium which helps provide it's strength. The most typical applications of corrugated are in shipping boxes, retail displays, pizza boxes and retail packaging.

"Cardboard" typically refers to a thick paper stock known as paperboard or folding carton material. Examples of those applications are cereal boxes and other smaller consumer
goods packages.

Folding Cartons

Understanding the difference between these materials helps speed up the process of estimating as we identify the proper product for you from the start!