Custom Underwear Boxes
Most garment packaging argues about whether a window is worth the cost. Here it barely needs arguing: color, weave and cut are the purchase, the garment cannot be tried on in a shop, and a photograph on a closed box is doing none of that work.
- Formats
- Bands, flat sleeves, tuck cartons, window cartons, two-piece boxes
- Board
- 12–16pt cartons; 300–350gsm sleeves and bands
- Sizing
- Folded dimensions plus an elastic relaxation allowance
Get a price for Underwear 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.
Show it, and let it be touched if you can
A window shows the color and the fabric. A die-cut touch hole — a small opening with no film over it — lets a shopper feel the material, which for anything sold on softness converts better than any amount of print.
The cost is exposure: an open hole means the garment is handled, and on a slow-moving line that shows. It suits fast stock and premium ranges with attentive staff, and suits a discount aisle badly.
Anything that will be tried on and put back needs more than a window — that is the swimwear box argument.
Position the window over the fabric, not over a seam or a label. It is surprisingly easy to frame the care label by accident.
Elastic pushes back for months
A waistband folded into a snug pack is a spring under load. Over a season in a warehouse it bows the side walls outward, strains a tight window film, and sets a crease into the fabric that has to be steamed before the item can be sold.
Size a few millimeters generous in depth. It looks marginally less crisp on day one and considerably better on day two hundred — the same allowance described in our garment packaging notes.
Formats by price point
| Belly band | Discount and multipack; least material, fabric fully visible |
|---|---|
| Flat sleeve | Prints on both faces, slides off intact, good for returns |
| Shallow tuck carton | The retail standard; usually with a window |
| Window carton with insert | Premium; the garment is folded onto a card and presented |
| Two-piece box | Gift and luxury; reusable by design |
Hygiene, returns and the seal
- Underwear is frequently non-returnable once the hygiene seal is broken.
- That seal belongs on the garment, not on the pack, so the pack can still be reopened.
- A pack destroyed on opening means a returnable item comes back loose and gets graded down.
- A tuck or sleeve build that survives opening costs no more than a glued one.
Sizing information people actually check
Size, fabric composition and whether it runs small are the three things a buyer looks for, and the third is the one nobody prints. A single line of honest guidance on the back reduces returns more reliably than a size chart nobody reads.
Print the size on the short edge as well as the face. These are stocked in stacks and drawers far more often than face-on, and the edge is what shows.
Underwear 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
- Formats
- Bands, flat sleeves, tuck cartons, window cartons, two-piece boxes
- Board
- 12–16pt cartons; 300–350gsm sleeves and bands
- Sizing
- Folded dimensions plus an elastic relaxation allowance
- Windows
- Filmed windows and open die-cut touch holes
- Closure
- Reclosable builds as standard, for returns
- Minimum
- 100 units
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 underwear 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: underwear 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 Underwear 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 underwear 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.
Is a window worth it here?
More than in any other apparel category — color and fabric are the purchase and the garment cannot be tried on.
Why does my pack bulge after a few months?
Elastic relaxing against a tight pack. Size a few millimeters generous in depth.
Where should the hygiene seal go?
On the garment, not the pack, so the pack can still be reopened and reused for a return.
What reduces returns most?
One honest line about whether it runs small. It works better than a size chart nobody reads.
Should I use a touch hole in the window?
Yes for premium ranges with attentive staff. It converts well and exposes the garment to more handling.
Can one pack cover a size run?
Usually, with only the printed size panel changing — one tool, one board order.
Is a window worth it here?
More than in any other apparel category. Color and fabric are the purchase and the garment cannot be tried on.
Why does my pack bulge after a few months?
Elastic relaxing against a tight pack. Size a few millimeters generous in depth.
Where should the hygiene seal go?
On the garment, not the pack — so the pack can still be reopened and reused for a return.
What reduces returns most?
One honest line about whether it runs small. It works better than a size chart nobody reads.
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