Custom Apparel Boxes

Three structures for folded garments

Apparel boxes come in three structures: a corrugated mailer, a fold-flat rigid box and a two-piece rigid box.

The mailer is one die-cut corrugated blank that folds up and tucks shut. The fold-flat rigid box is wrapped board with the corners creased so it collapses for storage, and the two-piece rigid box is a separate base and lid, both made from wrapped board.

Garments are flat and soft, so all three are shallow compared with their footprint. What differs is how much protection and presentation the structure gives, and how much space it takes up before it is packed.

• Corrugated mailer: ships flat, assembles by hand, built for posting
• Fold-flat rigid: collapses for storage, opens like a gift box
• Two-piece rigid: stiffest walls, lid lifts fully away

Mailer, fold-flat or two-piece rigid for garments?

The structure should follow how the garment travels: posted to a door, handed over in a shop, or given as a gift.

A corrugated mailer survives the post and costs the least per unit, which suits everyday orders. Its print and finish are limited by the board surface, so it reads as practical rather than ceremonial.

Rigid boxes hold their shape, take wrapped paper, foil and ribbon pulls, and suit bridal pieces, gifting and single high-value items. They are heavier and bulkier, and many are not strong enough to be posted without an outer carton.

• Mailer: lightest, posts alone, plainer surface
• Rigid: holds its shape, richer surface, usually needs an outer carton to travel

Measure the garment folded, not flat

The box is sized around the folded garment, and the fold is something you decide before you order.

Fold the garment the way it will be packed, with tissue if you use it, and measure length, width and stacked height. Fabric springs back, so knitwear and padded pieces measure taller than they look once you stop pressing on them.

A box that is too deep lets a folded shirt slide and crease in transit. One that is too shallow squashes the garment and strains the lid. Folds also vary between packers, so settle on one standard fold, send us its measurements, and we size the box around it.

Apparel box or poly mailer?

A poly mailer is lighter and cheaper to post, but it gives a garment no structure at all.

Plastic mailers are waterproof, flexible and almost weightless, so they suit low-value basics sent in volume where a crushed fold does not matter. They cannot hold a crease or protect a structured piece, and they offer little to open.

A box keeps the garment flat, takes inside print and tissue, and can be reused for returns. The trade is more weight, more storage space, and a higher cost per order.

Tissue, belly bands and print against fabric

Inside print, tissue and a belly band make the opening feel designed, and dark ink next to pale fabric needs care.

Corrugated mailers take one or two colours inside the lid cheaply, because the blank is printed flat. Rigid boxes carry their finish on the wrap, and a belly band is a separate printed strip that lets one plain box serve several ranges.

Heavy solid ink and soft-touch coatings can rub off or mark on a white or light garment when they press against it for days. Tissue between the print and the fabric is the usual barrier, or we keep heavy ink to the panels the garment does not touch.

Apparel box or a deeper shipper?

A flat apparel box is the pick for garments that fold small. A shipping box is the pick for coats and bulky pieces, and a mailer for everyday basics.

Coats, padded jackets and anything that cannot be folded small enough end up in a flat box so large that carrier dimensional-weight billing takes over, and a deeper shipping box carries them better. Garments that must stay on hangers need a tall carton instead.

A rigid box is also a poor fit for high-volume everyday orders, where a mailer box or a poly bag does the job. If the garment is only seen once, in the post, a better-looking structure adds cost the customer never notices.