Custom Double Wall Paper Cups
A double wall cup is not thicker board. It is two separate walls with a gap, and the gap is what does the work — air conducts heat poorly, so the outer layer stays cool enough to hold while the drink stays hot.
- Sizes
- 8oz, 12oz, 16oz; soup cups on a wider rim
- Construction
- Two board layers with an insulating air gap
- Outer finish
- Coated or uncoated; uncoated available because the outer wall is unlined
Get a price for Double Wall Paper Cups
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
What it replaces, and what that is worth
The alternative is a single wall cup plus a cardboard sleeve. That combination costs less per cup, insulates about as well, and means stocking two items, training staff to use them, and watching sleeves get skipped at busy times.
A double wall cup arrives as one thing that always works. Whether the premium is worth it comes down to volume and to how much your counter staff are doing at once — and for most independents it is.
A sleeve is a second printed surface. If your branding needs the extra area, single wall plus a sleeve gives you more of it.
Where double wall is the wrong choice
- Cold drinks: the gap does nothing useful and condensation still forms on the outer wall.
- Espresso and 4oz sizes: the drink is small and gone before heat is a problem.
- Vending and automatic dispensers, which are usually set up for a single wall thickness.
- Anywhere the rim diameter has to match a lid you already stock — double wall rims differ.
Printing on the outer layer only
The print goes on the outer wall, which is wrapped and seamed separately from the inner cup. That means the seam on the outside is not the same seam as the one holding the drink, and you have a little more freedom in where it lands.
It also means the outer wall is unlined, so uncoated stock is available. An uncoated double wall cup feels noticeably different in the hand from a laminated one, and it is one of the few genuinely tactile choices in disposable packaging.
Sizes and the lids that have to fit them
Rim diameter, not volume, is what a lid fits. Confirm the lid at the same time as the cup, because a double wall rim is not always interchangeable with a single wall one of the same stated size.
| 8oz | Small; the size most flat whites are served in |
|---|---|
| 12oz | Regular; the volume seller almost everywhere |
| 16oz | Large; heavier when full, so the base crimp matters more |
| Soup cups | Wider rim, deeper build, and a different lid entirely |
Designing on a cone
Like every paper cup, this is printed flat on a fan-shaped blank and then rolled. Horizontal lines curve, level text tilts, and a design laid out on a rectangle will not sit as drawn.
We send the fan template before artwork begins, along with the areas to keep clear at the rim, the seam and the base crimp — the same constraints described across our printed cup range.
Double Wall Paper Cups — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Sizes
- 8oz, 12oz, 16oz; soup cups on a wider rim
- Construction
- Two board layers with an insulating air gap
- Outer finish
- Coated or uncoated; uncoated available because the outer wall is unlined
- Lining
- Standard PE inner; alternative linings where the waste stream supports them
- Lids
- Matched to the double wall rim, supplied with the cups
- Minimum
- 100 cups
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in one to six colors, printed on the outer face only and before any lining goes on.
- Color
- Food-safe inks throughout. Kraft mutes color; a white board or liner is needed for anything photographic.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, and fit confirmed by filling a plain sample from your own kitchen or line.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, kept. Molded pulp needs a tool per shape, which is a longer lead and a larger one-off.
- Food contact
- Every board food-contact grade, with grease resistance built into the sheet and never a PFAS treatment.
- Sustainability
- Aqueous linings and unlined boards repulp with ordinary paper. PE-lined cups need cup collection, and we say which you have.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build double wall paper cups on
Food packaging is chosen for what the food does to it: grease, steam, heat and time. Every board here is food-contact grade, and none of them uses a PFAS treatment for grease resistance.
Food-grade virgin board
Bleached board made for direct food contact. Clean, bright, no recycled fiber and no mineral-oil risk from recovered paper.
14–24ptGrease-resistant board
Resistance built into the sheet rather than sprayed on. Holds fries, pastry and butter without darkening. PFAS-free.
16–24ptPE-lined cupstock
Board with a polyethylene film for hot and cold liquid. Microwave-safe for reheating; recycled only where cup collection exists.
260–350gsmAqueous-lined cupstock
A water-based lining instead of PE. Repulpable in ordinary paper recycling in more places, and compostable; a slightly shorter hold time.
260–320gsmGreaseproof and glassine
Dense, calendered paper that resists fat through the fiber. Wraps, liners and interleaves; breathable, so pastry stays crisp.
30–55gsmFood-grade corrugated
E and B flute with a food-contact liner, vented where steam has to leave. Pizza, catering and anything hot and heavy.
E and B fluteMolded pulp and bagasse
Fiber pressed into a shape. Holds heat, resists grease with no lining, composts, and takes only an embossed or one-color mark.
Molded to shapeRecycled board
Post-consumer fiber. Used for outers, sleeves and anything that does not touch food directly — not for direct contact.
Non-contact onlyNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Food finishes are limited by what may touch food, and that is the point.
Food-safe inks
Printed on the outer face only. Every food pack we make uses them, laminated or not.
Uncoated kraft
No coating at all. Breathable, so pastry stays crisp, and it takes one or two colors.
Aqueous varnish
Scuff resistance without a plastic film, so the pack still repulps.
Molded emboss
A logo pressed into pulp or bagasse. No ink, nothing to rub off, and it survives grease.
Grease-resistant face
Not a finish you can see. It is in the sheet, it is PFAS-free, and it is why the print stays clean.
Matte lamination
Available on outers and sleeves that never touch food — a cake box lid, a carrier, a gift sleeve.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing food packaging around a portion, hot: double wall paper cups
Food is sized by serving, not by dimensions, and it is served hot, heaped and in a hurry. Send us the portion — or better, the box you use now with the food in it — and we size to how it is actually filled.
- Portion, heaped
- Fries, popcorn and salad are served above the rim. A box sized to a level fill looks mean and spills in a bag.
- Lid clearance
- Enough that a loaded burger or a topped cake does not touch the lid. This is the single most common complaint about a food box.
- Venting
- Hot food steams. Vents in the lid keep pastry and fries crisp; a sealed box is right only for cold food.
- Grease path
- Where the fat sits decides the board. Say if the food is fried, buttered or sauced, and whether it is held for minutes or an hour.
- Stacking in a bag
- Delivery boxes are stacked five high on a bike. The lid has to hold the box above it off the food below.
- Sample fill
- A plain box filled from your kitchen settles the size in one try, and we send one before the run.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Double Wall Paper Cups in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about double wall paper cups? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
Double wall or a sleeve?
Double wall for simplicity and a better cup in the hand. Single wall plus a sleeve for lower cost and more printed area.
Will my existing lids fit?
Not necessarily. Lids fit rim diameter, and a double wall rim is not always the same as the single wall cup you had before.
Is it worth it for cold drinks?
No. The air gap does nothing for a cold drink and it still sweats on the outside.
Can I have an uncoated outer?
Yes, and it is one of the nicest finishes we offer, because the outer wall carries no lining.
What is the minimum order?
100 cups, with lids matched to the rim.
Why does my design look tilted on the cup?
It was drawn on a rectangle. A cup is a cone, so artwork has to be set on the fan template we supply.
Double wall or a sleeve?
Double wall for simplicity and a better cup in the hand. Single wall plus a sleeve for lower cost and more printed area.
Will my existing lids fit?
Not necessarily. Lids fit rim diameter, and a double wall rim is not always the same as the single wall cup you had before.
Is it worth it for cold drinks?
No. The air gap does nothing for a cold drink and it still sweats on the outside.
Can I have an uncoated outer?
Yes, and it is one of the nicest finishes we offer, because the outer wall carries no lining.
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