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
Use the ready-made core RFQ template
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