How To Cut Open A Box

The title of this piece might make you raise an eyebrow or place your palm on your forehead. I mean really, now, how difficult can it be to use a utility knife to cut the tape sealing a box shut?

The ease of cutting open a box isn't the point. The trick is to cut the box open without damaging any of the contents. Often a person in a store will not notice goods that they have damaged by cutting open a box the wrong way. How do you know it's the wrong way? You know because the contents get cut as well as the tape that seals the box.

I commonly see this in bookstores. There will be a book with a knife slit in the dust jacket and in the cover. I've seen it with a variety of boxed goods in grocery stores, too - cereal, cookies, powdered detergent, oatmeal, and so on. How does this happen?

It happens because the person opening the box, takes a utility knife with the blade extending about an inch and they hold it at ninety degrees to the top of the box and draw it firmly along the length of the box. Anything in the box underneath the join in the top gets cut.

I have seen experienced people who should know better do that. I cringe every time I see it. Sometimes they're lucky and there's nothing there under the lid but how often does that happen?

So here's the proper way to cut open a box and it's very easy to do. Angle the knife so the blade is almost parallel to the top of the box, such that the blade does not extend below the thickness of the cardboard. Then draw the knife cutting the tape. If there is anything inside the box just under the lid the knife will not cut it.

If you do not have a job that involves cutting open boxes you may think the above is some pretty useless advice for you. What, you never get a package with something nice in it for you that you need to cut the tape to open?