How Does Moisture Affect The Resistance Of The Cardboard?

When we assess the level of resistance suitable for the packaging of our products, we usually think of the bumps and sudden movements that the boxes will bear during transport. But there are other factors that affect the level of resistance of the cardboard, being one of the most important humidity.

And, during transport, the Custom Boxes often face high humidity environmental conditions. This, together with the fact that the boxes usually travel palatalized, having to bear the weight of other boxes placed on top, causes the resistance of our packaging to suffer.

Therefore, when choosing the quality of the cardboard and the combination of fibers and glues, it is important to have expert advice that takes into account factors that at first glance go unnoticed, including humidity.

Custom Boxes

In today's post we will explain how moisture affects the resistance of the cardboard. And surely at the end you see much clearer why it is important not to skimp on paper qualities, thicknesses or layers of cardboard since they are key when it comes to getting your packaging to resist transport in difficult conditions.

What is the Relationship Between Moisture and Cardboard?

The cardboard is a material composed of the union of paper smooth and wavy and glues, and is a material that is called "living matter”. This characteristic makes it react to natural external factors such as moisture in a more visible and drastic way than other materials.

We all know that cardboard and water don't get along. Simply wet any Cardboard Box to see immediately that, if it gets wet, it weakens and softens until you lose not only its resistance but also its structure and shape.

But the humidity that worries us the most is the unseen. It is the environmental humidity with which your Cardboard Packaging travels. And it is this moisture that makes the joints between the fibers and their resistance weaken, making it increasingly difficult for the box to withstand stresses.

Custom Cardboard Boxes

What Type of Paper Has More Moisture Resistance?

The type of paper with more moisture resistance is virgin kraft paper, unrecycled (brown) or with a small percentage of recycled paper (reddish brown). For this reason, this type of paper is the one used for frozen boxes and packaging to be transported by sea.

The packaging that will be subjected to these conditions of obvious humidity is already known that they will not have normal resistance at the end of the trip. So they are designed with enough weights so that they can withstand the time they will have to fulfill their protective function. 

At the other end, the types of paper with the lowest moisture resistance are intermediate papers and bi-color papers.

You can do at home an experiment similar to the tests we carry out to determine the moisture resistance of each type of paper. Take sheets of different types of paper, pour a drop of water on them and look at the behavior of the drop. Gout can:

• Cut the paper completely
• Cut the paper only on one side
• Stay in bubble mode on the paper surface

In addition to observing this, it is analyzed how long it takes the drop to pass through the sheet of paper.

How do we assess the quality of the right cardboard to resist moisture?

As I said above, it is essential to have expert advice that takes into account environmental factors that custom boxes have not thought about and that can affect the performance of packaging.

We know that there are a number of factors to consider when choosing the Right Cardboard Boxes quality to withstand certain humidity conditions. Their tables all this leads us to design and produce high-tech papers that, with an expert combination of fibers and glues, allow us to offer packaging with great resistance to moisture, especially environmental.