How Much Ribbon You Need: Measuring Ribbon for Perfectly Wrapped Gifts

I can’t tell you how many times we’re asked how much ribbon will be needed to wrap a certain number of boxes of a certain size!

Calculating Ribbon Length – Method 1 (EASY)

The truly BEST way to work out how much ribbon you’ll need is to grab a piece of string and wrap up one of the boxes the same way you would with ribbon, bow and all. This will tell you exactly how much ribbon you’ll use for each box, and then you just need to multiply than length by the number of boxes.

So, say you have 80 boxes and the string method gives you 1.65m of ribbon for a single box. For 80 boxes, you’d need 132m, or 2 x 100m rolls of ribbon.

Calculating Ribbon Length – Method 2 (HARDER)

If you don’t have your boxes yet (or something of a similar size you can dummy-wrap) then you can use maths. This method works for a standard wrap around all four edges and a bow on top. Like this:

First, you’ll need the dimensions of the box you’re wrapping. Let’s make our 80 boxes measure 30cm length x 20cm width x 10cm height each.

The mathematical formula is (Length + Width) x 2 plus Height x 4 plus allowance for Bow to work out how much ribbon you’ll need for each box.

How much ribbon you’ll need for the bow part depends on how fancy you get with your bows as well as the width of the ribbon (a narrower ribbon will result in a smaller bow and use less ribbon than a wider ribbon). As an idea, 24cm for a 10cm across bow & tails is good starting point.

Let’s use our hypothetical box:

Length + Width x 2 = (30cm +20cm) x 2 = 100cm
Height x 4 = 10cm x 4 = 40cm
Bow = 24cm

Add these three figures together: 100cm + 40cm + 24cm = 164cm, so 1.64m per box.

For 80 boxes, you’d need 132m, or 2 x 100m rolls of ribbon.

It’s always good to make sure you have more ribbon that you need to make allowance for any fussy cutting, different bow methods, or miscalculation. Any extra ribbon can be used for other events or occasions.