# Why does some chinese cardboard have a pinkish tint? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-some-chinese-cardboard-have-a-pinkish-tint/732846 "2015-09-28T16:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-some-chinese-cardboard-have-a-pinkish-tint/732846/1 "2015-09-28T16:35:37Z")
At different warehouses, I’ve noticed that, quite often, the cheapest of the ‘made in china’ products come in cardboard that has a noticeable pinkish/reddish tint to it (it’s also flimsier, usually). I’ve never seen cardboard like this except with stuff that was made in China, and almost always with products that are at the cheap end of the quality spectrum. disclaimer: No statement about the overall quality of products from China is intended or implied. Chinese manufacturers make products as good or cheap as American corporations ask for. ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-some-chinese-cardboard-have-a-pinkish-tint/732846/2 "2015-09-28T17:40:47Z")
It’s probably the blood of the workers that fell into the equipment…no cause for alarm. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-some-chinese-cardboard-have-a-pinkish-tint/732846/3 "2015-09-28T17:45:48Z")
Maybe it’s just cheaply recycled? They do seem to use more red ink than we do. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-some-chinese-cardboard-have-a-pinkish-tint/732846/4 "2015-09-28T17:47:43Z")
My assumption has been that they’re using more bamboo than wood. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-some-chinese-cardboard-have-a-pinkish-tint/732846/5 "2015-09-28T17:49:45Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@SpeedwayRyan](#): > > It’s probably the blood of the workers that fell into the equipment…no cause for alarm. This is just a friendly reminder not to post joke answers in the General Questions forum until the question has been addressed factually. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-some-chinese-cardboard-have-a-pinkish-tint/732846/6 "2015-09-28T19:39:53Z")
I’ve seen the pinkish stuff, but more commonly I’ve seen Chinese stuff (especially cheap, heavy, case packaging or all three) in cardboard that tends to be yellowish, slightly sticky and smelly. I don’t want to think too much about either kind. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-some-chinese-cardboard-have-a-pinkish-tint/732846/7 "2015-09-28T19:47:09Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > This is just a friendly reminder not to post joke answers in the General Questions forum until the question has been addressed factually. > > Thanks. What are the odds it wasn’t a joke? ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-some-chinese-cardboard-have-a-pinkish-tint/732846/8 "2015-09-29T02:53:59Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’ve seen the pinkish stuff, but more commonly I’ve seen Chinese stuff (especially cheap, heavy, case packaging or all three) in cardboard that tends to be yellowish, slightly sticky and smelly. > > I don’t want to think too much about either kind. Yellow/sticky/smelly could have to do with the off gassing of chemicals from the plastics inside. As for the pink, I just assumed it was less stringent quality control in the manufacturing process, or alternate materials (paper, bamboo, wood, etc) getting mixed in. I’ve noticed that cardboard boxes from China seem to have a look of compressed shredded paper, have a “grainy” feel to them, as opposed to other cardboard boxes. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-some-chinese-cardboard-have-a-pinkish-tint/732846/9 "2015-09-29T03:23:05Z")
I remember reading in one of the “Imponderables” books (the Straight Dope’s more clean-cut cousin) that the reason cardboard boxes from Asia tend to be a yellowish color is that they include a percentage of straw in their makeup, whereas American cardboard boxes are brown because they are made of wood pulp. Strangely enough, I am not able to corroborate this with Google. Not sure what would cause pinkish cardboard, though. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-some-chinese-cardboard-have-a-pinkish-tint/732846/10 "2015-09-29T03:36:15Z")
China is pretty enthusiastic about recycling, and a surprising number of elderly Chinese supplement their incomes by prowling public trash cans and grabbing the cardboard (and glass, and tin…). If all the colors are in balance, it will be egg carton gray. Labels with mostly red are mildly more popular than predominantly ble or yellow ones. I’m guessing that throws the balance towards pink.