Indeed, these cardboard boxes for food serve many functions, from storing to transporting and organizing. But what do you do when it suddenly starts raining cold and pouring floods or an inadvertent spill threatens the sacrifice put in packaging? Can cardboard food packages ever get wet? If yes, there is no alternative to it. This blog will just take you through different scenarios of how cardboard may come in contact with water and what measures may be taken to save goods from inevitable calamities. To open up with the major question: can cardboard boxes for food get wet as well? Alongside that will also be discussed waterproofing that will batten down the hatches of the cardboard troops from Mother Nature.
Wet Cardboard: The Good And The Bad
Yes, food-grade cardboard boxes can get wet. Another one of nature’s irritants, this is. The cellulose fibers constituting cardboard absorb water easily on contact with it. What happens is, the fiber looses strength when in contact with water and hence, makes the integrity of the box compromised.
Thickness: The thickness of cardboard: Rigid-cardboard boxes like double- or triple-walled boxes can withstand higher moistures than thin-walled ones at wet stages.
Weight of Contents: The weight of the items compromises cardboard better than others while wet.
After the Effects of a Soggy Environment-Making Waterproofing necessary
Every Bad Impact Will Be Expected Once Food-Grade Cardboard Boxes Get Wet
Intact Integrity: These boxes would come wet and obsolete, thus enabling them to contaminate the items they carry and spoil them with possible effects like germination of molds.
Loss of Strength: The strength of this wet cardboard would already have gone and has been forced to give way by tearing or collapsing, thus releasing itself from the items during transportation or storage.
Extra Weight: Here comes an area in which weight is of concern because the box becomes heavier, making it more difficult to lift when water fills it. It may also exceed the limits on weight for cargo.
Thus, waterproofing becomes significant with respect to food cardboard packing since it safeguards your goods and ensures that they are kept or transported without impediments.
Waterproofing Options: Equip Your Cardboard Champs
Let’s have a look at different waterproofing schemes to keep cardboard boxes for food protected against moisture:
Plastic Sheeting:
Wrapping heavy-duty plastic sheeting around your cardboard boxes for food will be the cheapest and easiest option. Acts as a moisture barrier and ever so slightly protects against rain and spills.
Waterproof Cardboard Boxes – These are specially treated cardboard boxes applied water-resistant layer and hence carry higher humidity/moisture compared to ordinary ones without such coatings. Compared to conventional cardboard, they happen to be heavier but can withstand light rain and wet conditions.
The pallet wrap offers great protection, especially for palletized products. This stretch film wrap intervenes between the cardboard boxes and wraps around immediately to provide an airtight seal, enhancing still more the protection against dust and dirt.
Wax Or Sealant:
While wax or sealant cannot confer good moisture resistance, it certainly extends a marginal degree of protection to the cardboard. This method will not be particularly useful, but can still offer some degree of protection to the surfaces, if they are expecting short-term storage or minimal damage from the moisture.
Waterproof Tape:
Since it carries an increased level of impermeability, it offers another advantage over regular packaging tape. This closes the cartons tighter and provides a high resistance to water trying to get in through the seams.
And the choice is up to you-According to the expected exposure to moisture versus the nature of the goods being stored or shipped, the best protection should be taken into consideration. For an extra insurance covering valuables or high-risk moisture, waterproof cardboard boxes can be recommended, or a combination of conservation ideas.
Your cardboard boxes carrying food are kept from getting damp by minimizing “risk factors,” such as:
Planning: If you have some time flexibility, get shipments happening on a day that is not rainy.
Cover the boxes’ exposure: If circumstances allow for situations wherein boxes are being loaded in transit under wet conditions, cover with a tarp or anything that can be fastened in place to guard against rain and snow.
Proper storage: Store cardboard boxes somewhere dry with ventilation, so as not to allow any build-up of humidity.
Elevate boxes: When storing on the floor, raise boxes off the ground with pallets or other floor-raising units so they are not closely in touch with the moisture from the ground getting into them.
In Conclusion
Knowing about custom boxes moisture, the tricks outlined for waterproofing, and the idea about its use-with an eye towards a box of the food business-must surely have helped you mark when cardboard boxes would not last an option. Keep in mind: A little bit of foresight with waterproofing should certainly ensure that, regardless of the weather, those cardboard heroes will remain strong and dry. So, with the next box you tie, never underestimate the wonder-working power of a little waterproofing!
