How Is a Cardboard Box Made?

Cardboard boxes are made using steam.

Cardboard can be made into many things, but one of the most popular and useful things is a box. It is a mystery to many people how paper can be made into something so sturdy and useful. Creating cardboard is a relatively simple process using heat, glue and paper sheets.

Design

A box designer uses special software to design a box, taking many factors into account, like how roughly the box will be treated, how it will be opened, or how long it's meant to last.

Steam

All boxes are made of something called paperboard. The first step in the process is to heat the center layer called the corrugating medium with steam.

Shape

The heated corrugating medium is then passed through machined parts called "corrugating rolls" that form the proper precise ridges.

Glue

The fully shaped corrugating medium is passed through the machine to a section that applies a strong adhesive.

Liners

Before the adhesive dries, the corrugating medium is rolled and pressed on both sides by a liner sheet. This creates one large roll of paperboard.

Cut and Assembly

The rolls of board are then cut by converting machines that either simply cut the boxes or cut, glue and assemble them.

References

• Tappi: How cardboard boxes are made