The Corrugated Cardboard Primer

What Is Corrugated “Cardboard” Anyway?

Well, from a technical perspective, the correct term is corrugated fiberboard. “Cardboard” is a generic term that includes all types of heavy-duty paper that can include card stock, paperboard, and corrugated fiberboard.

However, when the average person thinks about cardboard, the first image that pops into their head is likely corrugated fiberboard. Corrugated fiberboard is made by gluing a flat sheet of
paper to a corrugated (wavy) sheet of paper.

The waves are known as fluting, and each individual wave is a flute. All corrugated will have a wavy texture when viewed from the side.

A quick note about proper terminology

As mentioned, the proper term in the industry for corrugated cardboard is actually corrugated fiberboard. Though sometimes it’s referred to as corrugated board or simply corrugated. However, those terms likely sound totally foreign to the average person looking for a quick guide on the internet, which is who this book is targeting.

So while corrugated cardboard might sound a little awkward to industry insiders, we went with this generic reference for the title of this book to help industry newcomers find it easier online. So to you, industry newcomer, the most important thing to keep in mind is that cardboard is a generic term, and corrugated fiberboard is proper.

We’re going to be using the proper terminology a lot more throughout the book from this point onward.