Cardboard cores: the tube your whole roll depends on.
A core is 2–5% of the cost of a reel and 100% of its structural integrity. Under-specify it and the roll collapses; over-specify it and you pay a premium on every reel you wind. Here is how cardboard cores are made, measured and bought.
What a cardboard core actually is
A cardboard core (paper core, cardboard tube, mandrel tube) is a spiral-wound tube made of plies of recycled paper bonded with adhesive. Winding paper strips at an angle, layer over layer, produces a cylinder that resists radial pressure far beyond what the flat material could. Cores are made from nearly 100% recycled paper and are themselves recyclable.
The measurements that matter
| Inner diameter (ID) | The industry standards are 76 mm (3"), 152 mm (6") and 304 mm (12"). The ID must match your winding shafts and chucks — tolerance matters more than nominal size. |
|---|---|
| Wall thickness | Typically 2–25 mm. Wall drives crush resistance and price: it is the main variable to optimise. |
| Length | Cut to the slit width of your reels, or bought as long "mother tubes" and cut in-house. |
| Radial crush resistance | How much winding pressure the tube withstands before deforming. The critical spec for tight winding of film and foil. |
| Flat crush / axial strength | Relevant when reels are stored horizontally stacked or clamped on the core ends. |
| Moisture content | Paper cores exchange humidity with the environment; excessive moisture lowers crush strength. Store dry, off the floor — ideally on plastic pallets. |
Applications
- Plastic film — stretch, BOPP, PE, laminates: high radial pressure, thin walls wound tight.
- Paper & board — printing, tissue, corrugating: large diameters and heavy reels.
- Aluminium foil & metal strips — extreme pressure per millimetre of width.
- Textiles & technical fabrics — long cores, straightness is the key spec.
- Tape & labels — small IDs, high cut precision.
Who makes them in the ecosystem
MOBA Eurotubi leads the paper-core stage of CORES WORLD: premium cardboard tubes engineered for extreme radial pressure, perfect straightness and reliable performance in the most demanding winding conditions — for paper, film, textile and foil converters across Europe.
Buying checklist
- ID, tolerance and chuck type of your winders
- Wall thickness — or better, the required radial crush resistance
- Length, or mother-tube length if you cut in-house
- Material to be wound, web tension and reel weight
- Storage conditions (humidity!) and yearly volumes
Tell us about your cores and your rolls.
Send us your core dimensions, materials and yearly volumes. ROLL replies within 24 hours with the right solution — or the right partner in the ecosystem.
Request a quote See the RFQ guide
Write to us directly — info@roll-packaging.com