SBS paperboard, short for solid bleached sulphate, is a premium board made entirely from bleached virgin chemical pulp, so it is white through its full thickness rather than only at the surface. Most SBS carries a clay coating on one side, called C1S, or on both, called C2S. Packaging calipers run from roughly 12pt to 24pt.
Questions or ready for a quote? Contact Teal Packaging at info@tealpackaging.com or (224) 546-8325.
What Is SBS Paperboard? Solid Bleached Sulphate Explained from Teal Packaging: 50-unit standard MOQ (100+ units for specialty rigid boxes), 2-5 business day delivery in the US (express and economy options available), free design help included on every order, free generic sample kit ($19.99 shipping, credited toward your first order). Standard production runs from about 7 business days after digital proof approval; complex or high-volume orders take longer.
Materials and certifications: FSC-certified paper stock, soy-based inks, kraft / corrugated / rigid paperboard / mylar / tin / vinyl substrates.
Contact Teal Packaging: Call (224) 546-8325, email info@tealpackaging.com, or request a free quote at tealpackaging.com/contact-us. We reply within one business day.
Updated August 25, 2026 · Teal Packaging operates a US facility in West Chicago, Illinois.
White all the way through
Tear a piece of SBS in half and look at the torn edge. It is white. Tear a piece of recycled carton board and the edge is grey, because the fiber inside came from mixed recovered paper and only the printing face was covered. That difference is the definition of the grade and the reason it costs more.
The name describes the process. Sulphate refers to the kraft chemical pulping method that dissolves lignin and leaves long, strong cellulose fibers. Bleached means those fibers were whitened rather than left brown. Solid means the sheet is one consistent material rather than layers of different qualities pressed together.
What the coating letters mean
Raw board is not smooth enough for fine printing, so a clay based coating is applied and calendered to a level surface. C1S carries that coating on one side, leaving the reverse uncoated but still white. C2S carries it on both.
Choose by what the customer sees. A carton whose interior is visible when opened, or one printed inside as well as out, wants C2S. A carton that is only ever seen from outside saves money on C1S, and the uncoated back has the useful property of taking glue readily.
Grades in the folding carton family
| Grade | Fiber source | Edge and back color | Print quality | Stiffness per caliper | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBS | Bleached virgin | White throughout | Highest | Moderate | Highest |
| CUK, coated unbleached kraft | Unbleached virgin | Brown back | Good on the coated face | Highest | Middle |
| CCNB, clay coated news back | Recycled | Grey back | Fair | Lower | Low |
| Uncoated kraft board | Virgin or mixed | Brown throughout | Limited, absorbent | Moderate | Low to middle |
| Chipboard | Recycled | Grey throughout | Poor, needs a wrap | Low | Lowest |
Caliper, not weight
Paperboard is normally specified in points of thickness rather than in grams. One point equals one thousandth of an inch, so 18pt board measures 0.018 inches. Common packaging calipers are 12pt, 14pt, 16pt, 18pt and 24pt, and each step up adds stiffness and material cost.
Small cartons for light items typically sit at 14pt to 18pt. Larger panels need more caliper to stay flat, since a wide unsupported face on thin board bows visibly. Very heavy calipers fight the crease and bulk up at folded corners, so past about 24pt a rigid or corrugated structure is usually the better answer. Metric conversions for these grades sit on our GSM paper page and on the paper weight chart.
Where the extra money goes
Three things come with the grade. Color fidelity is the first: a bright, neutral white base means printed colors sit where the proof said they would, while a warm or grey base shifts everything laid over it. Surface uniformity is the second, and it shows in fine screens and small type. Consistency is the third, since virgin fiber varies far less batch to batch than recovered fiber does.
None of that helps a box nobody examines closely. Recycled board with a coated face prints perfectly acceptably for a simple design in one or two colors, and the difference disappears under a heavy solid. The decision comes down to whether the packaging is doing brand work at close range or protecting something in transit.
How SBS behaves in production
It cuts cleanly, creases without cracking through the usual caliper range, and takes finishing well. Foil grips it, relief work holds its shape, and coatings and films bond predictably. Its long fibers give better tear resistance than recycled board at the same caliper, which matters on tear strips and hang holes.
The one thing to plan for is that a white edge is a visible edge. Every cut shows as a bright line against dark printed panels. Some designs use that deliberately; others ask for edge coloring, which is an extra operation and worth raising early.
Specifying it on a quote
Tell us the caliper if you know it, or post us a carton you like and we will match the substrate. Structures such as tuck boxes run on this board routinely, and bespoke sizes get priced on the custom boxes page. Dieline drawing and a digital proof come with the quote, 50 pieces is the entry point for eligible work and 100 for specialty rigid, and production runs on two floors, one at Guangzhou and one at West Chicago in Illinois, with each job going to whichever suits the board and the finishing.
