Die-Cut Soap Boxes.

Keep inside corners at a radius of about 3 mm or more, because tighter cuts crack the board fibres. Fine points and narrow bridges between two openings are the first places to tear when the box is folded and filled. Botanical outlines work well once the smallest curves are opened up slightly.

We check every shape at the dieline stage and flag anything likely to split.

Yes, every aperture removes board, so we compensate with a heavier caliper and keep cuts away from the folds and corners. A large opening on the front panel lets the box bow when it's stacked or squeezed. Placing the cut in the middle of a panel, with solid board around it, keeps the carton square.

The openings are left open with no film patch, so scent and colour reach the shopper directly.

The die is a one-time tooling charge, and it pays off when you reorder the same shape several times. Work it out against your real reorder pattern, not the one you hope for. If you're unsure, we can digitally cut a few prototypes so you can test the shape before committing to steel.

Every reorder after the first runs on the same die with no new tooling.

Irregular outlines don't nest tightly on the press sheet, so more board ends up as offcut and that shows in the quote. We can often recover some of it by nesting the dielines closer or mirroring alternate boxes on the sheet. Raise it before the design is final, since small changes to the outline can make a real difference.

Kraft and recycled boards cut cleanly and are the usual stock for this format.

One-colour print on kraft is the common choice, because the cut shape carries much of the design on its own. Coated board is the better stock where colour print leads, with foil or spot UV available. A cut-through logo, where the brand mark itself becomes the window, is one of the strongest uses of the format.

Keep fine text well back from the cut edge so it doesn't get clipped.

We build each dieline from the bar's length, width and height, then add a small clearance so it slides in easily. Shaped boxes don't follow a standard size chart, so the outline and any hang tab are drawn around your dimensions. A tuck-end closure is standard on this format.

Dieline drafting is free, so send a bar and we'll draw it up.

We run die-cut soap boxes from 500 units upward. At maker volumes the die cost spreads quickly across that first order and every reorder, and runs can reach 100,000.

Digitally cut prototypes let you test a shape before that first run is booked.

Allow 7 to 10 business days after proof sign-off, or 5 to 7 with rush production. A cut and printed sample takes 5 to 7 business days, long enough to check that the bar sits right behind the opening. We credit the sample fee against the bulk run and ship anywhere in the US.