Cardboard boxes, like any other material made from cellulose, absorb moisture from the environment. Therefore, you must always take into account the weather conditions that the box will face, both during storage and during transport. If you already work with e-commerce or do any type of delivery using cardboard boxes, keep reading this post. And if you still don’t, take the tips into account when building a stock facility, for example.
Does Humidity Affect the Boxes?
The higher the ambient humidity factor, the greater the loss of compressive strength of the corrugated cardboard box. Therefore, if you already know that your packages need to be transported at low temperatures, it is necessary to look for specific boxes for this – they usually receive a surface treatment that delays the effects of moisture on the material.
For normal temperature conditions (where there are slight variations in air humidity, but nothing extreme), the boxes are designed to resist well and protect the products that are inside them. When the conditions that the corrugated cardboard box will face are not known, we normally use 50% relative humidity as a standard. If we increase this percentage, the moisture retention rate would increase, causing, as a consequence, the loss of the box’s strength.
For illustrative purposes, below is a table containing the relation between the relative humidity of the air versus the loss of packaging strength:
– 50% relative humidity, there is no reduction in packaging strength;
– 60% relative humidity, there is a 10% loss of packaging strength;
– 70% relative humidity, there is a 20% loss of packaging strength;
– 80% relative humidity of the air, there is a loss of 32% of the packaging strength;
– 90% relative humidity, there is a loss of 52% of the packaging strength.
To make these numbers a little clearer, a box designed with a compressive strength factor of 1000 kilograms-force (kgf), being stored in a location where there is 90% relative humidity, will be impacted and its resistance factor will drop to 480 kgf, reducing the initially projected value by more than half, as shown in the table above.
In some productive sectors, such as the produce sector, there are recommendations that indicate the same condition described in our example of 90% relative humidity. In other words, if this is your field, you need to be even more attentive to this issue of humidity, always looking for proper packaging for your type of product.
How to Keep or Store the Boxes Well?
From a technical point of view, companies that manufacture boxes are already in charge of resistance and compression tests to ensure that each cardboard box protects what is inside of it. Those who buy the boxes must make sure to store them in a suitable place, which is not humid, and also to choose the best packaging for each type of product. Plants and vegetables demand a type of packaging, just as heavier objects demand stronger boxes – as we have already indicated here.
Cardboard Boxes in Vancouver, Canada – Racer Boxes Box Manufacturer
In all cases, if you are in the Vancouver area, please contact us at Racer Boxes. As Canada’s box manufacturer can recommend the best packaging for your type of product. Plus, as we have short delivery times (15 days), so you don’t need to have a large number of boxes stocked – you can order according to your demand and ensure that your boxes will protect your products and arrive in perfect condition to your customers. To request a free quote, please click here.
