Difference between Corrugated and Cardboard

If you are planning to relocate or if you plan to travel, the first things comes up in your mind will be packing your expensive collection. The packing is normally regarded as having a huge brown colored box with much space to carry your product for safe transit. You decide to choose a brown colored box but have you ever noticed what would you ask the packaging company? Will you ask for a cardboard box or a corrugated box?

This confusion normally arises amongst everyone because people picture the same box for cardboard or corrugated material based. However the material composition is completely different and so the characteristics are different too.

The industrialists who deal with these packaging materials on daily basis seldom use the term cardboard box as it is a general term. It doesn’t deal with the specific type or composition of box.

Cardboard and corrugated both are the paper based materials having separate composition. Let’s have a look on some of the differences between the two.

Corrugated which is also referred as pleated material comprises of three different layers of paper. These layers are an inside liner, an outside liner and a fluting which runs between the both. The layers of paper are laminated together with the help of glue. Corrugated is named because of the corrugated medium it offers. This medium helps in provision of strength and makes it a suitable choice for most of the typical applications such as shipping, retailing and food packaging. The most common example is pizza delivery boxes.

Cardboard is also known as paperboard or folding carton material. It is basically a heavy duty paper stock with and is comparatively thicker. It is not as such used for packing of heavy duty materials. Small consumer goods such as cereal boxes are the typical applications of these cardboard boxes. Cardboards boxes are highly recyclable as they use recycled fiber and are made from bleached pulp.

Corrugated board is made by pasting single or double or may be triple layers one above the other with fluting in between. The flute and the liners are mostly made from unbleached pulp unlike cardboards. Corrugated is a multilayered type of board with its types:

·         Single face

·         Open face

·         Single wall

·         Double wall

·         Triple wall

Cardboard is a multi-ply paper board and is very stiff and thick. Cardboard is comprised of at least three layers of heavy paper material. It is due to the composition that it is pretty much durable.

The cardboard and corrugated boxes both are eco friendly as they use recyclable material. The cardboard or corrugated packaging both can be customized according to marketing demands of product. The boxes are available in every shape and size. They can be given a creative touch by using graphic designing. Different companies prefer to stamp their brand logos and the boxes accompany their products after manufacturing till retailing. Both corrugated and cardboard boxes are not sharp edged and are easy to handle. They are light weighted as well as heat and light resistant.