Materials Guide: What Label Material Is Best For You?
What Label Material Is Best for You?
You might be wondering which label material do I choose for my custom labels?
Well, this will depend on your specific situation and use. Every label is different, and made for different uses. This guide will better help you understand the various label materials.
When choosing your custom label material it’s important to keep in mind:
What are you using this label for?
Today there are many different label materials to use when printing your custom labels, so choosing the right material is critical. Let’s start with the two most common materials. Another question we will answer here is, What is the difference between paper labels and bopp labels?
Paper Labels
Coffee LabelsPaper Labels – Paper labels are manufactured with paper material, there are different options when using paper, such as estate, Metalized Bright Silver, Silver Metalized Paper, foil, holographic, Fluorescent Chartreuse, Fluorescent green, orange, red, brown kraft, and holographic rainbow labels. Clear labels are not an option with this material.
Paper Adhesives: Paper labels can have the option for permanent adhesive, or removable adhesive. The adhesive you choose will depend on if you want a permanent label, or a temporary label that can come off easy months later. If your label Is being applied in a freezer, you will need a special adhesive that can bond and stick in the extreme cold temperatures. If your label is going on something that will be very hot, it will need a special adhesive. Oil Change stickers are a good example of a removable label, that will remove easy with no mess or glue!
BOPP/ Film Labels
Shampoo LabelsBOPP (Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene) Labels & Film Labels - BOPP/film labels are manufactured with Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene or aka bopp, this label material is a plastic film that is very durable, cannot be ripped, and can come in white, silver foil, kold foil, and clear.
This material is most commonly used on beer labels, beverage labels, juice labels, cbd labels, chemical labels, chlorine labels, cosmetic labels, milk labels, UL labels, vitamin labels and more.
Special Use
There are different uses for BOPP, for example if you are trying to hide a typo or outdated message, a BOPP coverup/blockout label can hide something printed behind it.
Durable Security Labels
BOPP Tamper evident labels are used to see if the label has been attempted to be removed by humans, and void destructible that will tell you if some one has tampered with the label. The reasons for this label can be for warranty fraud, product tampering, and asset theft. These labels leave behind an irreversible, visible evidence that the label was tampered with. Options for this security label are fractured labels that break into many different small pieces, or a footprint ink/hologram residue that is left on the surface when removed.
Clear Labels
Clear honey labels
When choosing a clear label, Many customers prefer the 'fast clear' as this clear label material has the best transparency properties.
BOPP Adhesives: BOPP labels can have the option for permanent adhesive, or removable adhesive. The adhesive you choose will depend on if you want a permanent label, or a temporary label that can come off easy months later. If your label Is being applied in a freezer, you will need a special adhesive that can bond and stick in the extreme cold temperatures. If your label is going on something that will be very hot, it will also need a high temp adhesive.
What is the difference between BOPP and Paper labels?
The main difference between paper labels and bopp labels is that paper labels are not as durable as bopp/film label material.
For example, if you need water bottle labels you will want to go with a bopp/film label. Why? Well, what happens to paper when it get’s wet? It will break apart and disintegrate. This is the first reason you do not want to use paper labels for water bottles, beer labels, or any other beverage drink products.
If your product is a children’s toy, coffee bag sticker, or I voted sticker, paper would be the best choice as this label will not get wet, and does not need to be durable.
If your product is a shampoo bottle, or a beverage label, a BOPP/Film label would be the best choice as it has water resistant properties, and cannot be torn.
Finishing Materials
Now that you have selected a label material the next step is choosing how you want the finished label to appear. What does this mean? It means you can choose to make your label glossy or matte, or with lamination or uv overcoat.
Keep reading to learn more about these in detail.
A finishing material is the last material that goes on top of your label to protect the ink and label. There are a few different options when choosing your label protection.
The most common is a glossy lamination. Another option is matte lamination. Or you can choose to use a glossy or matte UV overcoat, this is different from lamination in the way that lamination is a clear film, and UV overcoat is a liquid that is put on the label, that is then dried and cured with a UV light. The end results are very different.
With all these options, it is easy to get confused. Ask a Bay Tech Label representative to help you by sending some samples to your house or business so you can choose the right look for your custom labels.