Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Packaging Materials

By Dylan McThomas

If you have ever moved house or moved office, or just a general need to transport goods from location to location, then you will have needed to use packaging materials of some description. There are two main constructions of cardboard box, single wall and double wall.

Single wall is one layer of cardboard with one layer of fluting, ideal for smaller, lighter objects. Single wall boxes are perfect for packaging, storing and transporting a variety of products, especially where the weight of the contents is not great.

Double wall boxes consist of one cardboard layer, then a layer of fluting, followed by another cardboard layer, another fluting layer, and another cardboard layer. They are ideal for transporting, storing or posting heavier items.

Although double walled boxes do cost more in the short term, they are able to support far more weight and are therefore far more durable than single walled boxes and will last much longer.

When packaging items that are relatively light, a single wall box is appropriate, but you can add extra padding using loosefill or as they're more notably referred to, wotsits (but if you try to eat them you'll be sorely disappointed, they're made from polystyrene!) Loosefill is an effective form of protection for light to medium weight item, but for heavier items, it may be worthwhile to wrap them in bubble wrap as well.

Bubble wrap is an excellent way of padding you items against damage, but it also provides protection to items surrounding the heavy, bubble wrapped item. It is cheap to buy and so is a cost effective way to ensure no damage is done.

Depending on the goods you intend to package, you might prefer to use corrugated paper to keep items separate and thus protected. Sometimes called wavy paper or protection paper, corrugated paper is another cost effective way to protect items in packing boxes. Corrugated paper comes in 75 metre rolls in a variety of widths to suit any requirements.

The main thing to keep in mind when planning a packaging operation is that there is always a suitable packaging method for any item, however fragile or heavy, the part that requires the thought, is deciding what method to use on which items. So long as the selected method is appropriate, all of your items will arrive at their destination unharmed and in one piece.

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