Double Wall Paper Cups – Which Finish is Best?

Double wall paper cups have a wide range of finishing and printing options thanks to the opportunities the outer wall presents.

Below’s an overview of what finishes work best for a variety of purposes. But first let’s look at the anatomy of your double wall paper cups.

Double Wall Paper Cup Construction

To keep your customers’ hands protected from that piping hot coffee-to-go, both the inner and outer wall are made of 16.5 pt paper stock. (pt = ‘point thickness’ in printing jargon.)

READ: WHY YOU DON’T NEED COFFEE CUP CLUTCHES

Here you can see both walls are quite heavy and the outer wall tapers from the lip to the base to both insulate the drink and protect the hands of the holder.

It’s this outer wall that offers the printing options.

Double Wall Paper Cups – Gloss or Matt?

Double wall cups are available in both matt and gloss finishes. The type of finish is really up to you.

Both have their advantages. Both are of equally high quality. It’s just a matter of preference and which finish suits your brand.

• Matt (left) finish gives a textured, rough feel.
• Gloss (right) offers a smoother, shiny finish.

If you find your business has lots of glossy colors in the interior – or matching gloss printed signs and merchandising, then maybe it’s the cup finish for you.

Gloss is especially good for photographic images and is associated with being sleek and shiny, so you’d normally associate this with tech businesses and engineering companies.

Matt finishes are a coffee shop favorite. The textured, almost rustic feel is very well suited to coffee houses as it doesn’t compromise on quality and gives an earthy feeling to the holder of the cup.

Many printed coffee cup designs suit this nice, rugged feel.

And throughout Ireland the trend for woody interiors and rustic furniture suits many small bakeries and cafes that understandably like to incorporate matching lumber-like finishes into their designs.

Also the material we use in our matt finishes is a 100% recycled, eco-friendly board – which is the reason for its great texture.

But it’s also not over-bleached, making it a slightly off-white color to begin with.

If you really want bright white, stick to the gloss. But this off white helps with that earthy vibe too.

Single Wall Cups

All of our single wall cups are only printed matt, on cup stock manufactured in Ennis, Co. Clare.

This is a very heavy grade for heat resistance and, again, it has a lovely textured feel. The material is also durable enough that many customers use it for both hot drinks as well as cold.

With our unique all-over print technology we can still print high quality images in a matt finish.