Capabilities
Extrusion coating, solid fibre lamination and precision die cutting are usually bought from three separate suppliers. Buying them from one converter removes two freight legs, two lead times and two chances for the specification to drift between quotations.
Molten polyethylene is extruded directly onto a moving paper web. As it cools it becomes a continuous barrier bonded to the fibre rather than a film stuck on afterwards, and the same pass can bond two webs together.
That barrier can sit concealed below the surface, where it does its work without changing how the part looks or feels, or be left exposed where the job needs a wipeable or printable poly face. Before polyethylene, the industry saturated board with asphalt, which stained and burned. The clean coated alternative Fibre Converters developed in 1953 became the standard for automotive interior trim and opened every poly coated market the company works in now.
When the part meets moisture, when it has to release cleanly from another surface, when it needs a printable face on one side and raw fibre on the other, or when a solid plastic component is being replaced by something lighter and recyclable that still has to present as plastic. The Valdor ST line does exactly that: a recycled core with a black plastic surface.
What we need from you to quote it
| Exposure | What the barrier faces: humidity, direct water, weather over days, or a wet product against the surface. |
|---|---|
| Face | Concealed barrier below the surface, or an exposed poly face you can print or wipe. |
| Surface finish | Raw fibre, printed, colour matched, or a plastic look on a paperboard core. |
| Downstream process | What happens to the board after us: gluing, forming, bending, laminating to another material. |
Most people say cardboard when they mean corrugated: two liners with a fluted medium between them, holding air. Solid fibre is laminated paper with no flute and no void. Up to five plies are bonded into a single board, so stiffness is continuous across the sheet instead of varying with the flute direction, and the cut edge stays clean rather than fraying open.
That matters when a part has to sit against a trim surface, take a fastener, hold a carcass square, or carry a load without crushing at the edge.
We are an independent laminator, which means we make what you need rather than sell what we happen to hold. Virgin kraft liner where the job needs tear strength. Recycled content where cost and environmental profile lead. A combination where the two faces have different jobs. Two colour flexographic printing runs on the same line, so a branded or coded surface costs no extra pass.
What we need from you to quote it
| Load case | What the board carries or resists, and in which direction: compression, bending, fastener pull, edge crush. |
|---|---|
| Stiffness target | How rigid the finished part has to feel in the hand or in the assembly. |
| Content preference | Virgin kraft, recycled, or a combination, and whether recycled content is a stated requirement. |
| Whether the surface carries branding, a code, or a colour match. |
Everything upstream produces a sheet. Die cutting is where it becomes a part with a profile, an internal cutout, a scored fold line and a cut edge clean enough to sit against a visible trim surface without telegraphing through it.
Running die cutting off line, in the same building as the laminator, means a tooling change does not have to be negotiated with a second company and a nesting change to reduce scrap does not need a new supplier quotation.
Tight nesting keeps scrap down at the die. What is still trimmed away goes back into the recycled materials stream, along with wood flour and plastic resin that we re extrude into composite sheets for other products. That has been the model since 1949, before it had a name.
What we need from you to quote it
| Geometry | A drawing, a CAD file, a die line, or a physical sample. A sketch with dimensions is enough to start. |
|---|---|
| Annual volume | Yearly quantity and release pattern, which drives tooling amortisation and nesting strategy. |
| Critical features | Which dimensions are functional and which are cosmetic, and which edge is visible in the assembly. |
| Packing | How the finished parts need to arrive: bundled, palletised, interleaved, counted per layer. |
Stock on the floor
Because we laminate independently, the roll you need is a purchasing decision rather than a constraint. The substrate is selected for your load case, not drawn from whatever is already standing in the aisle.
Materials
Usually more than one grade will work, and the right answer depends on what the part has to survive rather than on what it is called. These are the fibrous paperboards we convert, and what each one is chosen for.
| Grade | Chosen for |
|---|---|
| Recycled paperboard | Water resistant or plain chip. Packaging inserts, notebook backing, product stiffening and decorative furniture panels. Laminated up to five plies. |
| Kraft | Heavyweight paper and board from a chemical pulping process, stronger than board made by other pulping routes. High elasticity and high tear resistance. |
| Clay coated kraft | Kraft board with a clay coated extra strength backing, where the packaging needs kraft strength plus printing on one side. |
| Solid bleached sulfate | High end printable packaging on a white surface. |
| Coated water resistant | Board coated to retard or prevent water soaking in, for parts that sit in weather or against a moisture load. |
| Composite extruded sheet | Made in house from recovered wood flour and plastic resin, so internal waste becomes stock for new products. |
Certification and compliance
BRCGS Issue 6
BRC Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials, held on the packaging line.
MIL-T-13560
Military specification met on water resistant targetry board.
Technical evaluation reports
Engineering TERs available to builders specifying paperboard sheathing.
Applications
The process chain does not change between these. The substrate, the barrier and the die do.
This is where the company started. Die cut Valdor board attaches interior trim material, covers seating components and adds stiffness to parts like map pockets, door panels, package trays and sun visors. Highly water resistant, often with a concealed or exposed barrier, made primarily from recycled components and fully recyclable. Valdor ST replaces solid plastic where the surface still has to read as black plastic.
Slip sheets that replace bulky pallets, tier sheets with the internal bond to resist edge fraying, and protective packaging that raises box crush or shields roll goods and large sheets. Answer a few questions about load, handling equipment and safety margin and we engineer the sheet to match. Certified under BRCGS for food industry work.
Exterior and interior sheathing board that meets or exceeds structural building codes, frequently combined with foam board insulation to give a water resistive barrier, an air barrier and significant R values. A high performance and economic alternative to OSB: lighter to handle on site, and it seals tight within the exterior walls without house wrap. Engineering TERs are available.
Structural wall components up to eight feet wide with good internal bond, able to take a bend without cracking and offering a glueable surface. Commonly used to laminate fiberglass reinforced plastic panels on RV exteriors, and as a foundation board for decorative vinyls and other interior finishes. Made in the USA as a responsible replacement for Lauan.
Circular fiberboard supports die cut from laminated paperboard for fibre drum kits: tops and bottoms for drums storing chemicals, pharmaceutical chemicals, glue, paint and food products. Coatings are customised to the contents rather than sold as one grade.
Drawer bottoms and back panels for furniture manufacturers who need a low cost, high quality solution that still holds the carcass square. Precision die cutting gives a clean and consistent part, in almost any configuration or printed colour combination.
Targets have to stand in a firing range through days of weather and still hold their strength and shape. We test the laminated board for water resistance against that duty cycle, in highly water resistant poly coated die cut construction, meeting MIL-T-13560. Available for military and private range use.
Questions we are actually asked
You do not have to. Give us the details on how you would incorporate paperboard into your product and the properties you need it to have, including strength and water resistance. Our design department comes up with the right material and shape to meet your needs.
Most times you cannot, even though you look right at it every day. Pull down a sun visor and there is a good chance you are using one of our paperboard products: the auto company makes the visor, but it needs a stiff yet lightweight die cut paperboard core for internal support. If you have a bookshelf you assembled yourself, the back that holds the shelves square could be laminated paperboard. Much of what we make is vital but inconspicuous, or hidden inside a final product.
Most people say cardboard when they mean corrugated material. Fibreboard is solid laminated paper without the fluting, which gives increased strength and water resistant properties.
Our packaging line of products is certified under the BRC Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials, currently BRCGS Packaging Materials Issue 6.
Yes. Two colour flexographic printing runs on the laminating line, so a branded, coded or colour matched surface does not need a separate pass at another vendor.
Much of the paperboard we convert is recycled. We also limit waste in the die cutting process and recycle wood flour and plastic resin to extrude composite sheets used for new products, so virtually all internal waste returns to the recycled materials stream. That has been the model since 1949.
Next step
A drawing helps. A sketch with dimensions works. A sample of the part you are trying to replace works best of all.