Kraft Paperboard Material

Natural Kraft, obtained from the wood pulping method, has gained popularity in many industries, especially packaging. Due to its versatile nature and inherent strength, it is an excellent alternative to other materials. This material has made its place in the market because of its eco-friendly attributes and diverse specifications.

Depending on your preferences and other requirements, it is adaptive to fulfill your packaging needs. Usually, three types of variants are available on the market, with slight changes to fit different packaging needs.

White	Brown	Colored
Color
White	Brown (natural)	Various colors are available
Material Source
Bleached wood pulp	Unbleached wood pulp	Bleached or dyed wood pulp
Aesthetic Appeal
Clean and modern	Rustic and organic	Vibrant and customizable
Printing Quality
High contrast and vibrant colors	Best for simple, earthy, and organic designs	It depends on colors and varies in printing vibrancy
Common Use
High-end product packaging, luxury item boxes	Organic and eco-conscious products packaging	Creative and themed packaging

At IBEX Packaging, we prefer solid-color printing rather than gradients on kraft paperboard because of its capacity to absorb ink.

What are White, Brown, and Colored Kraft?

The brown color of kraft paper comes naturally from the wood pulping process. To make it white, the brown paper is bleached with chemicals that can also possibly affect the paperboard’s strength. Moreover, to make it colored for customizations, dyes are added while treated with bleach to get vibrant colors on it.

Significant Characteristics of Kraft Material

This recyclable material has gained popularity due to its wide range of benefits. These advantages make it an ideal packaging material for both industrial and personal use. The primary characteristics are listed below:

Kraft Material Thickness and Its Impact on Packaging

According to its thickness and layers, sustainable brown paperboard varies in strength and quality. However, the thickness of contrasting gram weights will not be the same and will vary accordingly. One thing to consider when measuring the thickness is that the higher the grams, the thicker the paper to buy kraft paperboard material.

The weight and thickness of the material also impact the efficiency of printing production and printing quality. The printing quality also varies depending on the paper classifications; it will range from brown, unbleached, white, bleached, and even corrugated kraft paper.

There are two primary considerations when checking the quality of kraft paperboard

Physical properties include dust particles, stains, holes, creases, cracks, light transmittance, fiber groups, corner neatness, etc.
Chemical properties like absorption performance, optical properties, printing performance, and other factors may impact the printing quality.

The weight and thickness are measured in grams per square meter (GSM) and include three key features to consider, which are:

Basestock Properties (Units)	Nominal Basis Weight (GSM)	Caliper (Inches)	Thickness (Microns)	Commonly Used For
12pt	250gsm	0.012"	305μ	Bags
14pt	275gsm	0.014"	356μ	Takeout Boxes, Cups
16pt	300gsm	0.016”	406μ	Heavy duty bags and takeout box
18pt	350gsm	0.018”	456μ	All box packaging
24pt	400gsm	0.024”	610μ	Heavy duty boxes
28pt	527gsm	0.028”	710μ	Very heavy duty boxes