A wardrobe box is one of the few cartons where the contents hang rather than sit, and that changes how you size it. The internal width has to clear a hanger, the internal height has to clear the longest garment plus the bar, and the whole thing has to still fit a truck. There is no universal wardrobe size, so here is how to derive yours.
The three measurements that decide it
Take these with an actual garment on an actual hanger, not from a spec sheet.
- Hanger width. Measure across the hanger at its widest point, shoulder tip to shoulder tip. That number plus clearance sets the internal width. Wooden suit hangers are noticeably wider than wire, so measure the hanger you actually use.
- Garment drop. Measure from the top of the hanger hook to the lowest hem. A coat drop and a shirt drop are different boxes. Add the bar height and about 2 inches of swing clearance underneath so the hem does not scuff the floor of the box.
- Bar length and load. The internal depth is set by how many garments you want along the bar, and by how much weight the bar has to carry. Count the garments, measure the compressed thickness of that bundle, then add clearance.
State the result as internal length x width x depth, and confirm on the quote whether the numbers you sent are internal or external. On a double wall box the difference between the two is not trivial.
Board, because the load hangs
A wardrobe box carries its weight from a bar near the top, which puts the stress into the side panels and the top edges rather than the floor. That is the opposite of a normal shipper. Single wall corrugated is fine for a short garment box. For a full height wardrobe, double wall, meaning two fluted layers between three liners, is the usual specification. If you are stacking the boxes two high in a truck, say so on the quote, because stacking load and hanging load are different problems and they change the board recommendation.
Check the pallet before you lock the footprint
Tall boxes are expensive to ship badly. The standard US pallet is 48 x 40 in, so a footprint that divides into that cleanly avoids overhang and avoids paying for air.
| Footprint | Boxes per pallet layer at 48 x 40 in | Overhang |
|---|---|---|
| 24 x 20 in | 4 | None |
| 16 x 20 in | 6 | None |
| 12 x 20 in | 8 | None |
| 12 x 10 in | 16 | None |
These are arithmetic on the published pallet standard, offered so you can sanity check your own footprint. They are not iBox stock sizes.
Ordering and turnaround
Minimum order is 100 boxes. Pricing starts from about $0.48 per unit at bulk volumes and is confirmed on your written quote, since a double wall wardrobe uses far more board than a small carton. The die, the plates, design support, US shipping and a digital proof before anything prints are all included.
Turnaround is quoted per product in three lanes. Rush is expedited production plus air freight and carries a premium of about 7 to 25% depending on the job. Standard moves by air. Cost saver moves by sea, which is often the sensible lane for a bulky box where the freight cost dominates. The floor is from about 7 business days, plus 2 to 5 days for delivery, and specialty imported items can run up to about 12 weeks. We produce in West Chicago in the US and in Guangzhou in China.
Send the hanger width, the garment drop and the count per box, and we will come back with a board grade and a lane on a written quote. Start at /quote/. If the garments ship folded rather than hung, custom garment boxes is the better starting point.
