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How to Pick Protective Packaging

Good protection starts with knowing what you’re preventing: shifting, impact, scratches, or crushed corners. This guide matches each problem to the right material, from air pillows and bubble wrap to Instapak foam, corner board, and tier sheets. It also explains the 2-inch cushioning rule and a simple 30-inch drop test you can run in-house. Plus, it shows why void fill alone won’t protect a fragile product.

Pick protection based on what the product needs: void fill to stop movement, cushioning to absorb shock, or edge protection to stop crushing.

Steps

Decide what failure you’re preventing: shifting, impact, scratching, or crushed corners.
Match the material using the table below.
Leave 2″ of cushioning on every side for fragile items, and fill all voids so nothing moves when you shake the box.
Do a drop test: drop the packed box from about 30″ onto each face, edge, and corner, then check the product.

Need	Best options
Fill empty space, light items	Air pillows, paper void fill, flowable fill
Wrap and surface protection	Bubble wrap, foam roll, kraft paper
Heavy or fragile items	Instapak foam-in-place, laminated or specialty foam
Pallet edges and corners	Cornerboard and edge protectors
Layer separation on pallets	Tier sheets, chipboard, flute sheets

Common Mistakes

Using void fill as cushioning. Air pillows and paper stop movement but don’t absorb a hard drop.
Overpacking, which increases material and freight costs.
Skipping corner board on stacked pallets, which leads to crushed bottom-row cartons.

Call S&S When

You’re seeing damage claims or want to cut material use. We can test options and set up on-demand air pillow or Instapak systems.

S&S Incorporated · Packaging made easy since 1965 21300 St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44117 216-383-1880 · info@sspkg.com · www.sspackaging.com Monday–Friday, 7:00 AM–3:30 PM

How to Pick Protective Packaging

Pick protection based on what the product needs: void fill to stop movement, cushioning to absorb shock, or edge protection to stop crushing.

Common Mistakes

Call S&S When

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