Custom Hosiery Boxes
Custom hosiery boxes from 100 — folding cartons for tights and stockings with the size and denier where the shopper looks for them, a hang tab for the peg wall, and printed tuck mailers for sock sets sold online.
Sold by a number nobody can see on the product
- Board
- Cardstock SBS 20–24 pt for cartons; E flute for sock set mailers
- Formats
- Single-pair carton, multi-pair carton, window carton, sock set tuck mailer
- Hang tab
- Euro slot in a reinforced flap; double-thickness on heavier cartons
Get a price for Hosiery Boxes
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.
The face panel is a label first and a brand second
On a peg wall a shopper reads cartons from an arm’s length and stops on the number they want. We set the denier in the largest type on the face, the size range beside it, and the brand smaller than both. The side panel carries the full size grid by height and weight, and the back carries wash care and fiber content. A shade name is not enough on its own; a printed swatch, or a small window showing the fabric, is what stops the wrong shade going home.
Where a range runs to twenty shades and six sizes, the carton stays one print and the variable panel is a label, so the box is not reprinted every time the range changes.
Four hosiery formats, four cartons
| Tights and stockings carton | Flat folding carton, 20–24 pt, hang tab; one pair folded around a card |
|---|---|
| Multi-pair carton | Deeper carton for three or five pairs, each on its own card |
| Window carton | A die-cut window over the fabric for shade and sheen |
| Sock set tuck mailer | Printed E flute mailer for a boxed set or a subscription month |
Hang tabs that take a season on the peg
- A euro slot die-cut into a reinforced top flap, so one carton fits every peg hook.
- A double-thickness tab on heavier multi-pair cartons, where a single flap tears by the third hang.
- A tab that folds flat for shelf display and e-commerce, and stands up for the wall.
- Barcode on the back lower third, where a scanner reaches it without taking the carton off the peg.
The inner card, and why the fold matters
Hosiery is folded around a card inside the carton so it presents flat and slides out without snagging. The card is cut a little smaller than the carton so the fabric, not the board, touches the carton wall. Nothing inside has a sharp edge, and the carton is glued rather than stapled for the same reason. The sock mailer in our photographs works the other way: the socks are rolled and stand in rows, and the mailer opens from the top so the row is the first thing seen. For single pairs sold on a hook rather than in a box, our printed sock sleeves with a hang hole are the lighter option.
Board and finish for a carton that is handled a lot
A hosiery carton is picked up, read and put back many times before it sells. We print on 20 to 24 pt SBS with a matte aqueous coating, which does not show fingerprints the way a gloss does, and we spot-gloss the denier number and the swatch so they lift off the matte. The sock mailer is a kraft or white E flute box printed in full color on the lid and inside the lid.
Shade is the one thing print gets wrong most often. A nude or a black on a proof can sit two steps away from the fabric, and on a peg wall of forty cartons that gap shows. We match the swatch panel to a physical sample of the hosiery rather than to a color reference, and for ranges where the shade is the whole product we recommend the window carton and let the fabric speak for itself.
Send one pair folded as you sell it and your size grid. The carton is sized to the folded pair, not to a standard.
Hosiery Boxes — 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
- Board
- Cardstock SBS 20–24 pt for cartons; E flute for sock set mailers
- Formats
- Single-pair carton, multi-pair carton, window carton, sock set tuck mailer
- Hang tab
- Euro slot in a reinforced flap; double-thickness on heavier cartons
- Window
- Optional die-cut window with or without PET film
- Panels
- Denier and size on the face, size grid on the side, care and fiber on the back
- Full color; matte aqueous with spot gloss on the number and swatch
- Variable data
- Shade and size as a printed label on a shared carton
- Minimum
- 100 hosiery boxes per size
On every job
- Print process
- Digital below about a thousand, offset above it. One side or both, with spot colors where a match has to hold.
- Color
- CMYK as standard. Uncoated and kraft stocks print lighter and warmer; a spot color is the only exact match.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, creasing plus or minus 0.5 mm, confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, made once and kept. Foil and emboss dies per artwork, also kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade board and inks where the carton touches food, with the interior left plain.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material board wherever the product allows; recycled-content and FSC stocks; no claim printed the pack does not earn.
- 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 hosiery boxes on
A folding carton is one sheet of board, so the board is the product. These are the stocks we run for cartons, what each is good at, and where it lets you down.
Natural kraft
Unbleached folding board. Warm, hides marks, costs least. Mutes color — one or two flat colors print well, photographs do not.
250–350gsm sleeves; 14–24pt cartonsWhite SBS
Solid bleached sulfate: bright, coated, the retail carton standard. Takes accurate color and every finish. Shows scuffs sooner than kraft.
14–24ptWhite lined chipboard
A recycled gray core under a white printing face. Cheaper than SBS and slightly duller; the back of the sheet stays gray.
16–24ptKraft-look coated
A kraft face over a coated inner. The natural look with a barrier behind it — the answer where oil, grease or moisture would mark plain kraft.
14–20ptRecycled-content board
Post-consumer fiber with a gray-brown cast. Right for outers and inner components; poor for bright whites and photography.
16–22ptMicro-flute E and F
A fine corrugated layer where a carton needs structure it cannot get from board — a large panel, a heavy product, a box that ships alone.
E 1.5 mm; F 0.8 mmUncoated and textured
No clay coat, or a linen or laid grain. Print reads softer and warmer; a deboss goes deeper. Photographs do not sit well on it.
280–350gsmMetalized and pearlescent
A metallic or pearl face for a shelf that needs to catch light. Costly, and it fights a photograph — a mark or a pattern suits it better.
16–20ptNot 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.
Every finish here is a decision about light on a shelf, not about luxury.
Matte lamination
Reads considered, hides marks, takes a ballpoint.
Gloss lamination
Lifts color; glares under shop lighting.
Soft-touch
Velvet in the hand; shows fingerprints in a bag.
Hot foil
Real metal leaf — the most reliable premium signal.
Emboss / deboss
Shape with no ink; works in the dark.
Spot UV
Gloss shapes on a matte field.
Uncoated kraft
Warm, natural, mutes color.
Textured stock
Texture in the paper; cannot scuff off.
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 a folding carton so the die comes out right: hosiery boxes
Measure the product, not the box it is in now. A carton is built around what has to fit inside it, assembled — cap on, lid fitted, folded if it folds — at its widest point in each direction. Send those three numbers and say which is which.
- Length x width x height
- Internal, always. External dimensions include the board and are what the carrier measures, not what the product needs.
- Clearance
- 2–3 mm a side for a snug fit; more where an insert or void fill goes in. A carton cut exactly to the product is slow to pack and transmits every knock.
- Board thickness
- Heavier board takes internal space from the product. It matters most on small boxes, where four walls of 24pt is a real share of the cavity.
- Varies between batches?
- Glass, textiles, molded parts and cured soap all do. Measure several and build to the largest.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1 mm on folding board. Confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Units
- Metric or imperial, as long as you say which. Mixing them in one spec is where mistakes happen.
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 Hosiery Boxes 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 hosiery boxes? 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.
What goes on the face of a hosiery box?
The denier in the largest type, the size range beside it and the shade as a swatch or window. On a peg wall those three decide the sale.
Do your hosiery boxes have a hang tab?
Yes, a euro slot cut into a reinforced top flap so the carton hangs from any peg hook. The tab also folds flat for shelf or e-commerce use.
Can a hosiery box have a window to show the shade?
Yes. A die-cut window over the fabric, with or without a PET film, shows shade and sheen that a printed name cannot.
How do you avoid reprinting the hosiery box for every shade and size?
One carton print carries the brand and the fixed panels; shade and size go on a label applied in a set position.
Do you make hosiery boxes for several pairs?
Yes, a deeper carton for three or five pairs, each folded on its own card, and a tuck mailer for sock sets sold as a box.
Why is the hosiery folded around a card?
So the pair presents flat and slides out without snagging. The card is cut smaller than the carton so the fabric never meets a board edge.
Will a hosiery box snag tights?
No. Cartons are glued rather than stapled, inside edges are smooth and the inner card is the only board the fabric touches.
What board do you use for hosiery boxes?
Twenty to twenty-four point SBS cardstock with a matte coating that hides fingerprints, and spot gloss on the denier number and swatch.
Can the same hosiery box be used in store and online?
Yes. The hang tab folds flat and the carton fits a standard mailer, so one box serves the peg wall and the parcel.
Do you make the sock subscription mailer shown in your photos?
Yes. It is an E flute tuck mailer printed on the lid and inside the lid, opening from the top so the rolled socks are seen in a row.
Where does the barcode go on a hosiery box?
On the back lower third, where a scanner reaches it while the carton is still on the peg.
What is the minimum order for hosiery boxes?
One hundred per carton size. One size usually covers a whole range when shade and size are added by label.
Same range
