What honeycomb paper is, and how it actually protects a product
A maker explains honeycomb paper: how die-cut kraft opens into cells, why it cushions and stays wrapped, what paper weight changes, and when to avoid it.
A roll of honeycomb paper does not look like protection. It is flat, brown and fairly thin. Then you pull a metre of it, and the paper changes shape in your hands.
Honeycomb paper is kraft paper with rows of short cuts in it. When you pull it, the cuts open into small angled cells, and the flat sheet becomes a springy layer you can wrap around a product. It protects in three ways: the cells bend under a knock, the wrap holds the product away from the box wall, and the layers grip each other so the wrap stays on.
We make honeycomb paper at Jagannath Polymers in Jaipur. So I have an interest in you liking it. That is also why this guide tells you where it is the wrong choice.
How a flat sheet turns into a honeycomb
The paper starts as an ordinary roll of kraft. A cutting die puts rows of short slits into it. Each row is shifted half a step from the row before, like bricks in a wall.
Nothing holds the final shape except the paper and the cuts. A plain honeycomb wrap needs no glue and no plastic film.
When you pull the sheet along its length, each slit opens into a gap. The narrow strips of paper between the slits twist and stand up at an angle. Seen from above, the gaps look like the cells of a beehive, which is where the name comes from. If you have seen the expanded metal jaali on a factory window or a staircase step, you have seen the same trick done in steel.
Two things happen to the size of the sheet as it opens:
- It gets longer, because every slit becomes a cell.
- It gets a little narrower, because the stretching pulls the edges inwards.
One US patent on expandable slit-sheet paper (David Goodrich, published March 2016) gives an example of a sheet 25 inches wide that narrows to 20 inches as it expands. That figure belongs to that one design, not to every roll. It still explains why a roll that looks the right width on the shelf can come out narrower on the packing table.
How much longer the paper gets depends on the slit length, the gap between rows, and how hard it is pulled. This is why a dispenser matters. It pulls every metre the same way, and our guide to honeycomb paper dispensers explains how.
Why it cushions
Each cell is a small wall of paper standing at an angle. When a parcel is dropped, the product pushes into the wrap. The angled walls bend, and that bending uses up part of the energy of the knock before it reaches the product.
Several layers give you several rows of these small springs.
Researchers have measured this. A 2023 study, Strong conformable structure via tension activated kirigami (Corrigan and others, Communications Materials, 11 May 2023), tested slit patterns cut into kraft paper. The expanded material took up far more space than the flat sheet, wrapped around oddly shaped objects, and absorbed energy when it was pressed.
The shape of the cell matters as well. In a 1997 patent on expanded paper packaging, Goodrich notes that hexagonal cells hold themselves up, while oval cells close easily under load.
There is a limit, and I should say it plainly. The cushion works only while the cells stay open. If the product is too heavy for the paper, if there are too few layers, or if the paper is damp, the cells fold flat. Then the product sits almost directly against the carton.
Why it stays wrapped without tape
Put a second layer over the first, and the raised edges of the top layer drop into the open cells below. They catch. This is why a good honeycomb wrap usually holds its shape after you let go.
I will not tell you that every honeycomb paper grips equally well. In the 2023 study, the researchers cut a plain single-slit pattern to match paper wraps sold since the 1990s. In their test it tended to unwrap, so they taped it, while a different cut pattern locked onto itself. The 2016 patent makes the same point from another side: layers whose cells lean in opposite directions resist sinking into each other.
On a real packing table, with more turns and a tucked end, single-slit wraps do hold. But grip is not automatic. It depends on the cut pattern, the paper and your packer's hands. Wrap your product, let go and shake it. If the wrap loosens, add a turn, tuck the end under, or use a short strip of paper tape.
How it stops the product moving
Cushioning is one job. Blocking is the other. A product that slides around inside a carton hits the walls again and again, and no cushion helps much after the tenth knock.
A honeycomb wrap adds bulk around the item, and its rough surface grips the carton walls. When the wrapped item fits the box snugly, it stays put.
When a big gap is left over, do not keep adding honeycomb. Filling space is the job of void fill paper, which is quicker and cheaper for that purpose.
Paper weight and expansion, in plain words
Paper weight is given in GSM, i.e. grams per square metre of the flat paper. I first learned the idea from my elder brother Mohit, on a train journey to Gujarat. It has been useful nearly every working day since.
For honeycomb paper, the rules of thumb are simple:
- Heavier paper makes stiffer cell walls. They hold their shape under a heavier product and tear less at the ends of the slits.
- Lighter paper folds closer around small, curved items and gives you more metres per kilo.
- Very light paper is cheap, but its cells crush flat sooner.
- Weight is not the whole story. The cut pattern changes how stiff the cells are, so two papers of the same GSM can behave differently.
Nobody can pick the right GSM for you from a table. A small perfume bottle and a large ceramic bowl need different paper. I would test two grades on your own products before you decide.
Tissue: when the honeycomb needs a partner
Some packers put a thin sheet of tissue between the product and the honeycomb. It gives a glossy or soft surface something smooth to touch. It also stops small parts, like a teapot spout or a jewellery hook, from catching in the cells.
The 1997 patent describes one more job. A light separator sheet between expanded layers stops them nesting into each other, so the layers keep their full thickness.
You do not need tissue for every product, so try the pack without it first.
Where honeycomb paper is the wrong choice
I would rather you hear this from me than from your returns desk.
- Heavy items with sharp corners or points. A point load cuts through the cells, the paper tears, and the corner reaches the carton. Add corner protection, or use a stronger inner pack.
- Very heavy, dense items such as machine parts. Their weight alone can crush the cells flat. These need engineered cushioning, ideally designed with a test lab.
- Goods that may get wet, or parcels that sit in damp conditions for weeks. Wet paper loses its stiffness. Our guide to storage and humidity covers what moisture does.
- Very small loose parts. They can slip through the cells. Bag them first.
- A big, half-empty box. Wrap the product, then fill the space with void fill.
There is a softer case too. If a product has travelled for years in another material with almost no damage, I would not switch it on faith. Run a trial on real orders first.
A five-minute check you can do yourself
Take any honeycomb paper sample you have, from us or from anyone else.
- Tear off about a metre of flat paper and measure its length and width.
- Pull it open slowly, the way your packers would, and measure both again. Now you know how this paper expands in your hands.
- Hold it up to the light. The cells should open evenly across the full width. Uncut bridges, or one side that stays shut, point to a worn cutting die.
- Press a few cells with your thumb. Good cells push back. Limp ones simply fold.
- Wrap a mug in two turns, let go and shake it. Watch whether the wrap holds.
You will learn more from these five minutes than from any brochure, including ours.
Where we fit
Jagannath Polymers was founded in 1995 and has made packaging since 1997. We make honeycomb paper wrap in Jaipur, and the company exports to 20+ countries. Since our FSC audit by SGS in September 2025, our honeycomb paper wraps are also available FSC-certified. The current range is listed on the Jagannath Polymers website.
If you are about to stock it, the next questions are practical ones: how much paper each order uses, and what you can honestly say about recycling it.
Send us the three products your customers ship most often, and we will suggest a paper to test them in.
Questions buyers ask
Is honeycomb paper the same as void fill paper?
No. Honeycomb paper is a wrap that goes around the product. Void fill paper is crumpled or folded paper that takes up the empty space left in the carton. Most fragile parcels need the wrap first and the fill after it.
Do I need tissue paper with honeycomb paper?
Only for some products. I would add tissue for glossy, lacquered or soft surfaces, and for items with small parts that could catch in the open cells. Plain glass, ceramic and boxed goods usually go straight into the honeycomb.
Does honeycomb paper work in a cold climate?
Cold on its own does not harm it. Water does. The risk in cold countries is condensation, when cold rolls or parcels meet warm, damp air, so keep the paper wrapped until it reaches room temperature.