The process of making corrugated material is a time-tested one, and starch glue is a central part of it. Without the glue, the multiple layers of paper could ever be put together the way they are, and there’s a reason why glue made from starch is the preferred adhesive. The unique properties of this glue make it perfect for paper products, and specifically for corrugated products.
How It is Made
A corrugated material is just two sheets of thick paper with another sheet or sheets of paper curved into waves and pressed between them. This product is made in a corrugator machine. To create the fluted filler paper, rolls of paper are fed into the corrugator and treated with steam and heat, then fed through several rollers to give the paper a curved shape. The starch glue then gets applied to the tips of the flutes. This glue might come from a supply inside or outside of the machine, it might be mixed in the machine itself, and it may or may not be heated, depending on the needs of the process and the design of the machine.
The machine now presses the filler material against one of the liner boards, the thick paper that forms the inner and outer edge of the corrugated material. The glued tips of the flutes stick to the liner board, and the combined piece is called the single face web. It moves through the machine until the other liner board gets pressed against the fluted material, getting secured by the adhesive there. This “Sandwich” of paper then gets cut into the desired size and stacked.
Cost Effectiveness
A corrugated material is not a terribly expensive product—in fact it’s downright cheap. The starch adhesive helps keep production costs down because it is also cheap, made from basic plant material and water. The adhesive is also easy to clean up, which reduces the severity of mistakes and the time spent cleaning them up. The fact that the glue can be used at room temperature is also a cost-saving feature.
Environmental Advantages
The corrugated product is the ultimate in recyclable material, so it stands to reason that the adhesive used to create it should be eco-friendly too. Starch glue comes from plants, a completely renewable resource, and it uses parts of the plants that aren’t always consumed by humans, so it creates little resource competition as well.
Glue made from starch is only one of the products RapidBond can provide for your corrugated creation needs. Visit www.rapidbond.net to learn about the other ways in which RapidBond can support you production efforts.
