How to Make Cardboard

Last Updated: February 18, 2021

Corrugated cardboard is the thick brown material that makes up all cardboard boxes. The process for making corrugated cardboard is fairly complex and involves several very large machines. However if you only need a few small sheets of cardboard and don't have any handy, you can make a cardboard substitute out of just a few pieces of paper!

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Making Cardboard Substitute

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1
Gather your materials. You'll need five sheets of paper and some glue. A glue stick or some craft glue will work the best.
- The dimensions of your paper will affect the size of your cardboard, so use smaller paper if you want a smaller piece of cardboard.
- Using more sheets of paper will result in thicker cardboard.
- If using liquid glue, consider spreading out some newspaper to catch any glue that drips off of your cardboard.
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Spread your glue on one side of a sheet of paper, then align a second sheet of paper and stick them together. The corners and edges should align as closely as possible. This will form the foundation for your cardboard.

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3
Firmly press the sheets together. Run the heel of your hand across the foundation, both from the bottom of the page to the top and from side to side. Make sure all sides and corners are glued together.
- If any edges or corners are loose, pull them apart as little as possible and add more glue. Reattach the sheets and press together again.
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4
Glue additional sheets of paper on to your foundation one at a time. Spread glue on the top page of your foundation, then align and attach another sheet of paper. Make sure to line up the corners and edges before sticking the pages together. Firmly press down on the foundation after each sheet of paper is added to make sure all of the paper is staying glued together. Continue to add sheets onto the foundation until your cardboard is the desired thickness.
- Adding more sheets of paper will increase the thickness of your cardboard.
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5
Let the glue dry for 30 minutes. Put your cardboard under a fan or in a warm location to speed up the drying process.
- Be patient! If the glue doesn't dry completely your cardboard may fall apart.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Making Corrugated Cardboard

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1
The industrial process of making cardboard boxes uses a machine called a corrugator. Cardboard is simply a sheet of ridged paper sandwiched in between two sheets of flat paper. The corrugator organizes and assembles the three different sheets to make corrugated cardboard. ^{[1]
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Research source}
- The ridged paper increases the stability and durability of the cardboard while using a relatively small amount of paper.
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The machine heats the flat paper to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and pushes it through ridged rollers. The result is a sheet of paper with a repeating U-shaped design that will be used as the core of the cardboard. ^{[2]
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Research source}
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The corrugator applies a starch-based glue to one side of the ridged sheet, which is then pressed onto a sheet of flat paper. The same process is used to apply another flat sheet to the untouched side of the ridged sheet, creating the familiar corrugated sheet of cardboard. ^{[3]
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Research source}
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Further cuts and perforations are made to allow for folding into various shaped boxes and containers. ^{[4]
X
Research source}

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Will it be very stiff like cardboard?

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If you use many pieces of paper, yes. The more pieces there are, the thicker it gets, resulting in harder paper.

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How do I cut and bend the cardboard into a box?

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Always start with a large piece of cardboard. In the middle, you'll have the layout of one square in the middle and four squares on each side of your first square (forming a plus sign). Choose one of the sides and then add an additional square, which will serve as the lid. In the end your box should look like a cross. (Make the measurements exact so the box comes together properly.) Then, I would recommend scoring each line before folding the box.

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Is the cardboard sturdy enough to make a shelf or will it break?

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It depends upon what you want to put on the shelf, and the thickness of you cardboard. You can't put any liquids that might spill on it either, that would ruin the cardboard.

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Tips

If the thickness of your cardboard substitute is less than desired, add more layers of paper.

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Thicker paper will also result in thicker cardboard.

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If possible, use the same size paper for every layer of the cardboard.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

The more sheets you add, the thicker the cardboard will be. Make sure the glue is fully dried or else it could fall apart. You may also want to consider card stock or other thick paper. Construction paper may work too.
if you use cardstock, you might not have to apply that many layers of card stock.
Be sure to put glue all over one side of the paper, not just around the edges.

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How to Make Cardboard

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Making Cardboard Substitute

Making Corrugated Cardboard

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