Custom Shirt Boxes
A shirt has no dimensions until someone folds it. Fold it around a board and it is one object; fold it in thirds by hand and it is another, several centimeters different in every direction. The box cannot be specified until that decision is made and written down.
- Builds
- Two-piece lid and base, tuck cartons, window boxes
- Board
- 14–18pt folding; grayboard wrapped for premium builds
- Sizing
- Built to your folded dimensions plus a spring-back allowance
Get a price for Shirt 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.
Fold first, measure three, size to the thickest
Cotton is inconsistent. Three shirts of the same size folded the same way will differ by millimeters, and a poplin folds thinner than an oxford. Fold three real shirts, measure all three, and build the box to the thickest.
Then add for spring-back. A shirt folded and boxed immediately will push against the lid for weeks before it settles, which is what makes a new shirt box bulge on a shelf.
Folded goods with no board behind them are sized the other way round: a sock sleeve is measured by wrapping the folded pair and reading the girth, because there is nothing rigid to measure against.
Folding around a card board gives a consistent result and is what makes retail shirts look identical. It is also a second component to buy.
What goes in with the shirt
Pins are the detail customers complain about. A shirt held by a folding board and a collar support needs none, and nobody has to hunt for the one that was missed.
| Folding board | Sets the fold; stays in the pack and adds real thickness |
|---|---|
| Collar support | Card or plastic; keeps the collar shape through transit |
| Tissue | Between shirt and lid; the first thing seen on opening |
| Pins and clips | Traditional and increasingly disliked — every one has to be found |
| Size and care card | Flat under the shirt, or printed inside the lid |
Lid and base, because it will be opened slowly
A shirt box is opened flat, from above, usually as a gift. A two-piece lid and base gives that reveal and keeps working afterwards — the box gets reused for storage far more often than most packaging.
A tuck carton is cheaper and opens from an end, which turns the reveal into a pull. For a gift-priced shirt that difference is worth the extra board.
Print where the eye lands
- The inside of the lid is in view for the whole time the box is open.
- The tissue is seen before the shirt is; a printed tissue is cheap and effective.
- The end panel carries the size, and it is what a stacked shelf shows.
- The outside of the base is almost never seen and rarely worth printing.
Posting it, and the return that follows
Shirts sold online are returned often — size, fit, color. A box destroyed on opening means the shirt comes back loose in a bag, creased, and is graded down when it did not need to be.
A lid that lifts off cleanly and an outer that reseals removes that entirely. The wider sizing and returns reasoning is set out in our garment packaging notes.
Shirt 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
- Builds
- Two-piece lid and base, tuck cartons, window boxes
- Board
- 14–18pt folding; grayboard wrapped for premium builds
- Sizing
- Built to your folded dimensions plus a spring-back allowance
- Inners
- Folding boards, collar supports, tissue, size and care cards
- Lid interior, end panel and tissue
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
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 shirt 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.
280–350gsmMetallised 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: shirt 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 Shirt 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 shirt 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 is the minimum order?
100 boxes, sized to your folded shirt.
What size box do I need?
Fold three shirts, measure all three and size to the thickest, plus a little for spring-back.
Why does my shirt box bulge?
It was sized to a freshly folded shirt. Cotton pushes back for weeks before it settles.
Do I need pins?
No. A folding board and a collar support hold the shape, and nobody has to hunt for a pin that was missed.
Lid and base or a tuck box?
Lid and base for anything given as a gift — it opens from above and gets kept. A tuck box is cheaper.
Can it be reused for a return?
If the lid lifts off cleanly, yes, and that saves grading a returned shirt down for creasing.
What size box do I need?
Whatever your folded shirt measures — fold three, measure all three and size to the thickest, plus a little for spring-back.
Why does my shirt box bulge?
It was sized to a freshly folded shirt. Cotton pushes back for weeks before it settles.
Do I need pins?
No. A folding board and a collar support hold the shape, and nobody has to hunt for a pin that was missed.
Lid and base or a tuck box?
Lid and base for anything given as a gift — it opens from above and gets kept. A tuck box is cheaper and opens from an end.
Same range
