If you’ve ever walked into a grocery store, pharmacy, or electronics shop and picked up a neatly folded box holding a product inside, chances are that box was run through a cartoning machine. I’ve been supplying cartoning machines to small-batch craft brands and large manufacturing facilities alike for 12 years, and one question I get asked at least once a week is: What paper types work best with these machines? It’s not a trivial question—pick the wrong paper, and you’re looking about jams, damaged products, and a whole lot of downtime on your production line. Pick the right one, and your cartoning machine will run faster, produce neater boxes, and even cut down on material costs. Cartoning Machine
Let’s start with the basics: cartoning machines aren’t just random box-folding robots. They have specific capabilities and constraints. Modern horizontal cartoners— the most common type for food, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods—feed flat blanks of paper (or board, technically) into the machine, where they are scored, folded, glued, and then filled with product, then sealed shut. The paper has to be stiff enough to hold its shape during folding, flexible enough to not crack when you bend it along scores, and smooth enough to feed through rollers and sensors without jamming. It also has to adhere well to whatever glue the machine uses—most cartoners rely on hot melt glue for quick, strong seals, so the paper’s surface texture can make or break that bond.
Now, not all paper is the same. When someone says “paper,” they’re usually referring to everything from thin notebook paper to thick cardboard, but cartoners work almost exclusively with paperboard (sometimes called containerboard), a category of thick, rigid paper that’s thicker than regular printing paper but less dense than corrugated board. Let’s break down the paper types that work, why they work, and when you might want to pick one over another.
First up is Folding Box Board (FBB). This is probably the workhorse of the cartoning world, and it’s the one I recommend to 70% of my customers. FBB is a lightweight, smooth paperboard made from 100% virgin pulp. It has a consistent thickness, uniform smooth surface, and excellent folding capabilities—scores on FBB don’t crack easily, even when folded at sharp angles. That makes it perfect for the small, intricate boxes you see for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and small consumer electronics. A big plus for FBB is its printability: the smooth surface takes ink and coatings really well, so brands can get high-quality graphics, product information, and barcodes on their boxes without worrying about smudging or fading. It’s also consistent, which is critical for cartoning machines. If every sheet of board is slightly different in thickness or smoothness, the machine’s sensors can’t pick up the blank correctly, leading to jammed lines. FBB’s uniformity eliminates most of that. I had a customer last year, a small vitamin brand, who was using a thinner, cheaper paper for their boxes and had a 12% downtime rate on their cartoner. They switched to FBB, and that dropped to 1.5% within a month. That kind of downtime adds up fast—losing even a few hours a week can delay order fulfillment, so switching to a consistent board like FBB is often an easy win.
Next is Solid Bleached Sulfate (SBS). If you’ve ever seen a white, glossy box for cereal, toothpaste, or over-the-counter medicine, that’s SBS. It’s another virgin pulp board, but it’s bleached bright white, which makes it ideal for products that need a clean, premium look. SBS is a bit stiffer than FBB, so it holds its shape better for taller boxes or heavier products—like a carton of 12 pills or a tube of toothpaste. It also has a smooth surface that resists moisture, which is a big benefit for products that might be stored in humid environments, like bathroom products or food items. That moisture resistance means the box won’t warp or come apart if it gets exposed to a little humidity. The only thing to watch with SBS is cost—it’s more expensive than some other options, so if you’re looking to cut material costs for a low-cost item, this might not be the best pick. But for brands positioning their products as mid-premium, SBS is hard to beat. I work with a toothpaste manufacturer that switched from FBB to SBS for their new premium line, and they told me their sales went up 8% in three months, partly because the white, glossy box stood out on store shelves. The cartoner handled it without any issues, because SBS is engineered to work perfectly with modern horizontal cartoners.
Then there’s Kraft Board. Unlike FBB and SBS, which use virgin pulp, kraft board is made from processed wood pulp, usually from recycled or sustainable forest sources, with a brown, natural color. It’s cheaper than FBB and SBS, and it’s very durable—great for heavy products or products that might be dropped or handled roughly. A lot of craft brands use kraft board for their artisanal food products, like coffee bags, snack boxes, or small baked goods. The key thing with kraft board, though, is its texture: it’s not as smooth as FBB or SBS, which can sometimes cause issues with feeding through cartoning machines. If the surface is too rough, the rollers can slip, leading to blanks feeding off-center or getting stuck. That’s not a dealbreaker, though—you just have to make sure you get a medium-weight kraft board (around 12pt to 18pt, for reference) that’s been calendered, a process that smooths the surface slightly. I had a craft bakery customer who wanted to use kraft for their cookie boxes to fit their brand’s rustic, natural identity. We adjusted their cartoner’s roller pressure slightly and recommended a calendered medium kraft board, and it worked perfectly—they didn’t have a single jam in the first six months of use. Kraft is also great for sustainability, which is a huge selling point for many brands now. If your goal is to use recycled or low-environmental-impact materials, kraft board is a solid choice, as long as you match it to the right machine settings.
What about corrugated board? Wait, a lot of people ask me about corrugated, which is the wavy stuff you see behind cardboard boxes used for shipping. Can you run that through a cartoning machine? Almost never. Corrugated is too thick and rigid to fold into the small, neat boxes cartoners produce. It’s designed for shipping protection, not for retail packaging that fits around a product. There’s a type of corrugated board called “microcorrugated” that’s thinner, but even that is usually too flexible for most cartoners. I’ve had a few customers try it, and 9 times out of 10, it leads to blanks that don’t fold correctly, because the corrugated layer makes it hard to get a sharp score line. Save corrugated for outer shipping boxes, not the retail cartons your machine will be building.
Now, what paper types should you avoid? Let’s get into that, because I get more questions about bad choices than good ones. First, thin newsprint or lightweight copy paper—these are way too thin and flexible. They won’t hold their shape when folded, so your boxes will come out lopsided, and they’ll jam in the cartoner. Second, uncoated, rough recycled board that hasn’t been calendered. If the surface is too bumpy, glue won’t adhere properly, and blanks won’t feed through the machine smoothly. I had a small supplement brand that tried to use cheap, uncalendered recycled board to cut costs, and they ended up with 20% of their boxes having weak seals, which meant half their products were damaged during shipping. Third, plastic-coated paper. A lot of food products use plastic-coated paper for grease resistance, but that plastic layer keeps hot melt glue from sticking, and it can also gum up the cartoner’s rollers over time. If you need grease resistance for food, go for a grease-proof paper board that’s coated with a water-based material, not plastic—it works with the glue and won’t damage the machine.
There’s a common misconception that you can just pick any paper and it’ll work with any cartoning machine. That’s not true. The machine’s speed is a big factor. If you have a high-speed cartoner running 150 cartons a minute, you need a board that’s super uniform, like FBB or SBS, because even a tiny variation in thickness can cause a jam at that speed. For a low-speed machine, running 30 cartons a minute, you can get away with a slightly less consistent board, like uncalendered kraft, as long as you adjust the machine’s settings. I always tell customers to test a small batch of paper first before committing to a big order. Most paper suppliers will send free samples, and you can run them through your cartoner to check for jams, folding quality, and seal strength. That extra step saves you a lot of headaches down the line.
Another thing to consider is coating. If your product needs to be protected from moisture, grease, or UV light, you’ll need a coated board. But not all coatings work the same with cartoning machines. Water-based acrylic coatings are the most common, and they work great with hot melt glue—they bond quickly and don’t leave residue on the machine. Wax coatings, though, can be tricky. Wax can make the surface too slippery, so blanks don’t feed properly, and it can also clog the machine’s glue nozzles. If you do use a wax-coated board, make sure it’s a light coating, and you adjust your cartoner’s cleaning schedule to prevent wax buildup.
Let me also share a few real-world examples to make this concrete. Last year, I worked with a cosmetics startup that was using a 12pt uncoated board for their eyeshadow palettes. Their cartoner was jamming 10 times an hour, and they were throwing away $500 worth of product a day. We recommended they switch to 14pt FBB, which is slightly thicker, smoother, and more uniform. The downtime dropped to 1 jam a day, and their boxes looked much neater, which helped their sales. On the other end, I had a coffee roaster that wanted to use 100% recycled board for their bags, so we suggested calendered medium kraft board. It’s a bit rougher than FBB, but their cartoner handled it once we adjusted the roller pressure, and it aligned with their sustainability brand, which their customers loved.
At the end of the day, the right paper type for your cartoning machine depends on three things: your product, your brand goals, and your machine’s capabilities. If you’re making small, premium pharmaceuticals, SBS or high-quality FBB is the way to go. If you’re a craft brand focused on sustainability, medium kraft board with a smooth finish will work. If you’re running a high-speed line, consistency and uniformity matter more than cost.
I’ve been in this industry long enough to know that choosing the right paper is one of the easiest ways to improve your line’s efficiency, reduce costs, and make a better product for your customers. If you’re not sure what paper type will work with your cartoning machine, or you’re dealing with jams that seem like they’re related to the material, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’ve helped hundreds of customers sort through this, and I can walk you through what will work for your specific setup.
Cartoning Machine Reference
- Soroka, W. (2019). Fundamentals of Packaging Technology. Institute of Packaging Professionals.
- Tracton, A. (2021). Paperboard for Packaging: Properties, Processing, and Performance. CRC Press.
- Cartoning Machine Manufacturers Association. (2022). Best Practices for Material Selection in Horizontal Cartoners. Industry Technical Bulletin.
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