How to Increase the Strength of a Cardboard (Corrugated) Box

Corrugated boxes, which are sometimes called cardboard boxes, are a light, cheap and easy way to ship almost anything. By design they are very strong, but sometimes you need a little more. There are three easy ways to increase the strength of a box.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. A corrugated box can be identified by the flutes. The flutes are engineered to be strong in the vertical direction. Stacking the box in this direction will greatly increase your strength. It is possible to stand on a vertically stacked box, but that same box on its side will collapse.

2. The flutes are where the strength is, but 70% of the strength is in the four corners. So, make sure that your boxes are stacked squarely. Stacking on the edges will decrease the stack strength.

3. Changing the material will increase the strength. A double or triple wall board will add significant strength over a singlewall board. If you already have a box. You can add another layer of board by folding and cutting a piece of corrugated to fit inside.

4. Adding flanges or corner posts will increase the strength. Again, adding vertical support to the corners will help with strength.