Self-adhesive label

Example

A juice producer puts a paper label on a PET bottle. The bottles come out of a chilled cabinet, condensation forms on the surface, the paper cockles and the edges lift by the second day. The fix is in the material, not the design: a clear polypropylene film with an adhesive that grips a wet, cold surface. Same artwork, same run length, and the label survives both the cabinet and the customer’s bag.

Why it matters for a business

A self-adhesive label is a sandwich of three things, each chosen separately:

• Face material. Paper is cheaper and takes ink well, but it gives up against moisture and grease. Film — PP, PE, PET — survives a fridge, condensation and a squeezed bottle.
• Adhesive. Permanent for a pack used once; removable when the jar gets a second life; wash-off for returnable bottles; a deep-freeze grade, because a standard adhesive does not grab below zero.
• Roll. Wind direction, core size and outer diameter are set by the applicator, or by the fact that someone is applying them by hand.

The surface decides as much as the product does. A label for a curved bottle bends on one axis, not two, or it wrinkles. A laminate or a varnish protects against rubbing and spills. Anything in direct contact with food needs a face and an adhesive with a declaration of compliance behind them.

What to ask

• Where does the product live: fridge, freezer, a damp bathroom, a kitchen full of grease?
• Is the label applied by hand or by machine, and which wind direction does the machine want?
• Does it have to come off cleanly, for a returned bottle or a reused jar?
• Are the runs short and frequent or long and rare? That is what decides digital against flexo.
• Has a sample been stuck to the real container before the full run is printed?

Artwork prepared for the material you choose is part of our packaging and labels work.