Custom Printed Paraffin Paper Rolls

What a paraffin paper roll is

The three photos on this page show the stock plainly. The first two are an orange-tinted roll on a black core with a length pulled out flat, the way it comes off a counter dispenser. The third shows two tall rolls standing side by side, one natural kraft and one bright white.

Paraffin paper is a base sheet coated with paraffin wax. The coating gives it a dull, slightly waxy feel and a surface that water beads on rather than soaks into.

Butchers, fish counters, delis and cheese shops buy it by the roll. A roll never runs out mid-shift the way a ream of sheets can. Candy makers and bakeries use narrower rolls for bulk wrapping.

How paraffin paper behaves on a wet counter

Raw meat weeps, fish is wet, and cheese sweats. Paraffin paper handles all three at counter temperature. The wax stops liquid passing through for as long as it takes to get the item home.

It is a cold paper. The coating softens at about 140°F, which is less than a cup of coffee. Nothing hot goes in it and it never goes under a lamp.

Light grease is fine; heavy fat is not. A pound of ground beef wraps cleanly. A hot roast chicken would soften the wax and leave a film.

Folded tight around a cut, the paper holds its shape well enough to stack in a display case. A strip of tape on the last fold keeps it closed in a bag.

Which roll width fits a counter dispenser?

Match the roll to the dispenser you already have and to the widest item you wrap. A roll that is too wide for the bar will not tear straight; one that is too narrow wastes a second sheet on every large cut.

Other widths and lengths are cut to order. Measure the inside of your dispenser bar before you ask, as the sheet and roll size chart explains.

How many wraps are on a 700 ft roll?

Divide the length in feet by the length of sheet you tear off. A 12 in roll torn at 12 in gives about 700 tear-offs. An 18 in roll at 1,000 ft, torn at 18 in, gives about 660. Torn at 24 in for a large roast, closer to 500.

A butcher counter wrapping 150 items a day gets through an 18 in × 1,000 ft roll in a little under a week. A cheese counter on the 15 in roll takes two to three weeks.

Because the minimum order is one roll, a new counter can start with a single roll, see how long it lasts, and order a case the second time.

Orange, kraft or white paraffin paper

The tint is a counter tradition more than a spec. Butchers tend to run the orange or the kraft; fish and cheese counters lean white. All three take the same coating.

• Orange tint, as in the first two photos: traditional meat-counter look, hides blood marks, prints well in black.
• Kraft, the left roll in the third photo: warm brown, rustic, best with one dark ink, hides grease shadows.
• White, the right roll in the third photo: cleanest look for fish, cheese and deli, carries two-color print best.
• Weight around 30–35 lb for cheese and deli; 35–40 lb for meat that gets stacked and bagged.

All three sit with the cut sheets in the custom wax and paraffin paper range if you want to compare roll against sheet.

Can you print a logo along a paraffin paper roll?

Yes. The print goes on the base paper as a continuous repeat before the paraffin coat. The mark runs the whole length of the roll, so each tear-off shows at least one full copy.

One color is the norm on a roll. Black on orange or kraft, red or navy on white. Two colors are possible on white; more than that is rarely worth it on a counter paper that gets torn and folded.

Set the repeat spacing to the sheet length you tear. A logo every 6 in means a 12 in tear carries two marks, and a 24 in brisket wrap carries four.

We match to Pantone solid-coated swatches. The proof shows the repeat as a strip, so you can see where marks fall on a tear-off.

If you only need a few hundred printed sheets rather than a roll, the printed paraffin paper cut sheets are the better fit.

Cutting a sheet off the roll at the counter

The roll sits in a dispenser with a serrated bar. Pull the paper out to length, hold it flat against the bar, and tear down in one motion. Paraffin paper tears clean along the teeth; it does not stretch or fray.

Fold the first edge over the cut, then the sides, then roll it over once. The wax on the outside means the package slides across a scale and into a bag without catching.

Keep the dispenser on a dry shelf. A roll standing in a puddle of fish melt will wick water into the bottom edge of every sheet.

Is a paraffin roll better than cut sheets for a busy counter?

For a counter that wraps all day, yes. A roll takes a different sheet length for each item, so a lamb chop and a whole chicken come off the same dispenser. Cut sheets force one size on everything.

A roll also stores in a fraction of the space. One 18 in × 1,000 ft roll holds the paper of about two cases of sheets.

Sheets win where the item is always the same size, where the counter is cramped, or where the print needs to be placed exactly. A roll repeat cannot be centered on each tear-off the way a sheet print can.

Cores, packing and what to avoid

Rolls are wound on a rigid core like the black one in the photos. Tell us the core diameter your dispenser needs, because a roll on the wrong core rattles or will not fit the spindle.

Each roll ships wrapped in its own sleeve, standing on end in a carton. Store rolls on end too; a roll stored on its side for weeks flattens and will not turn freely.

Do not keep rolls near the rotisserie or a heater. Paraffin softens at about 140°F, and a warm roll sticks to itself layer by layer.

Do not use paraffin rolls for long freezer storage. The wax cracks at freezer temperatures and the coating flakes; freezer paper is made for that.

For anything going into a chest freezer for more than a few days, look at the freezer paper rolls instead.

How to order paraffin paper rolls

1. Tell us the width, the length, the tint (orange, kraft or white) and how many rolls. One roll is the minimum.
2. Give us the core diameter from your dispenser, or send a photo of the bar and we work it out.
3. Send your logo as a vector file and the repeat spacing you want, or let us suggest one for your usual tear length.
4. We send a written quote within one business day and a free proof showing the repeat as a strip. Edit it as often as needed.
5. After approval, production takes 4 to 6 business days and the rolls ship on free tracked delivery in the US, arriving in 2 to 3 business days.
6. Pay by invoice once the quote and proof are approved. A damaged or misprinted roll reported within 10 days with photos is replaced or refunded.

The paraffin roll quote form asks for width, length and tint, and we fill in the rest.