What is the difference between gsm and microns?

GSM is weight per square metre and microns is thickness. Two boards at the same gsm can differ in thickness because bulkier boards trap more air. For perfume cartons, compare microns, since thickness is what you feel and what resists crushing.

Which board is best for a retail perfume box?

SBS folding boxboard between 300 and 400 gsm for most retail fragrance. It is bleached and smooth on both sides, so it takes photographic images and fine detail cleanly, which kraft cannot.

Can I print full color photographs on kraft board?

Only with a white underbase printed first, which costs extra. Without it the brown base shifts every color laid over it and photographs go muddy. Kraft is at its best with solid ink and line work.

What makes a perfume box non-recyclable?

Plastic film lamination, large foil areas, glued-in foam and ribbon. Plain SBS, kraft and corrugated all recycle through household streams; it is the additions that remove a box from them.

Why is E-flute corrugated used for shipping rather than shelf packaging?

It adds a fluted layer between two liners, roughly tripling crush resistance at about 1.5 mm thickness. That strength is what a parcel needs travelling alone through sortation, but the thickness and surface make it a poorer print surface for shelf work.

Reference · about 7 min · updated August 2026

Board and Material Guide

Substrate is the decision with the longest reach. It sets what the print can look like, how much weight the box carries, whether it recycles at the curb, and what a thousand units cost. Everything else is adjustment.

The two numbers on a board specification

Every board is described by two figures, and they are not interchangeable.

GSM is grams per square metre — weight. Microns (sometimes points) is thickness. Two boards at identical gsm can differ noticeably in thickness, because bulkier board traps more air between its fibers.

For perfume cartons, thickness is the number that matters. It is what a customer feels when they pick the box up and it is what resists crushing in a stack. When you compare quotes between suppliers, compare microns. Comparing gsm is how you pick the thinner box without realizing you did.

The substrates we run

SBS folding boxboard

Bleached, smooth on both sides, and the default for retail fragrance. It takes fine detail, small type and photographic images cleanly because the surface is consistent and white. Perfume cartons typically run 300–400 gsm.

If you have no reason to choose otherwise, this is the right answer.

Kraft board

Unbleached and brown, with visible fiber. It takes solid ink and line work beautifully and gives packaging an honest, material quality that a bleached board cannot fake.

Its limitation is color. The brown base shifts everything printed on top of it, so photographs go muddy and pale tints disappear. Printing a white underbase first corrects this, at additional cost and an extra press pass. Our uncoated paper cartons are built on this family and suit single-color work best.

E-flute corrugated

A fluted layer sandwiched between two liners, around 1.5 mm thick. The flutes roughly triple crush resistance compared to plain board of similar weight.

That strength is why it appears in transit packaging and almost never on a shelf. The thickness and the slightly textured surface make it a poorer print substrate, and a corrugated retail box looks like what it is. Use it where a parcel travels alone.

Rigid grayboard

Unprinted greyish chipboard, typically 1200–1500 microns, wrapped in separately printed paper. This is the luxury substrate: the box has weight, the panels do not flex, and the wrap allows finishes the board itself could never take.

It ships assembled rather than flat, so you pay freight on enclosed air and it takes far more storage space at your end.

Wood and veneer

A joinery process rather than a printing one. Branding goes on by laser engraving, screen printing or an applied metal plate. Gradients and photographic images are effectively unavailable, lead times are longer, and grain varies between units.

That variation reads as character if you have told customers to expect it, and as a defect if you have not.

Comparison at a glance

Substrate	Typical spec	Print quality	Strength	Recycles at curb
SBS folding boxboard	300–400 gsm	Excellent	Moderate	Yes, if unlaminated
Kraft board	300–400 gsm	Good for solids	Moderate	Yes, if unlaminated
E-flute corrugated	~1.5 mm	Fair	High	Yes
Rigid grayboard	1200–1500 micron	Excellent via wrap	Very high	Depends on wrap
Wood / veneer	3–8 mm	Engraving only	Very high	No

What breaks a recyclable claim

This is worth being precise about, because vague environmental language does not survive a buyer’s questions and increasingly does not survive a customer’s either.

Plain SBS, kraft and corrugated are widely accepted in household recycling. What removes a box from that stream is what gets added to it:

Plastic film lamination, gloss, matte or soft-touch alike
Foil blocking across a large area
Glued-in foam or vacuum-formed plastic trays
Ribbon and fabric elements

A genuinely recyclable perfume box is therefore uncoated or water-based-coated board, soy or vegetable inks, a die-cut paper insert instead of foam, and no film. That combination looks deliberately understated. It suits some fragrance positioning exactly and others not at all, which is a real trade-off rather than a technicality.

We will tell you which of your chosen options break the claim rather than let it be assumed. If the claim matters more than the finish, say so at quote stage and we will specify around it.

Choosing in practice

Start from the job the box has to do. Shelf presence with photographic artwork points to SBS. Craft positioning on a small budget points to uncoated kraft. A parcel travelling alone points to E-flute. A premium price point that has to be justified in the hand points to rigid.

Once the substrate is settled, the finish and print options follow from it, since not every finish is available on every board.

Quick answers

What is the difference between gsm and microns?: GSM is weight per square metre and microns is thickness. Two boards at the same gsm can differ in thickness because bulkier boards trap more air. For perfume cartons, compare microns, since thickness is what you feel and what resists crushing.
Which board is best for a retail perfume box?: SBS folding boxboard between 300 and 400 gsm for most retail fragrance. It is bleached and smooth on both sides, so it takes photographic images and fine detail cleanly, which kraft cannot.
Can I print full color photographs on kraft board?: Only with a white underbase printed first, which costs extra. Without it the brown base shifts every color laid over it and photographs go muddy. Kraft is at its best with solid ink and line work.
What makes a perfume box non-recyclable?: Plastic film lamination, large foil areas, glued-in foam and ribbon. Plain SBS, kraft and corrugated all recycle through household streams; it is the additions that remove a box from them.
Why is E-flute corrugated used for shipping rather than shelf packaging?: It adds a fluted layer between two liners, roughly tripling crush resistance at about 1.5 mm thickness. That strength is what a parcel needs travelling alone through sortation, but the thickness and surface make it a poorer print surface for shelf work.