Label durability does matter. The life of a label is rarely easy, with labels enduring a ceaseless barrage of attacks. If it’s not temperature extremes assaulting the adhesive, it’s pounding sunlight compromising the colours. If it’s not rough hands ripping away at materials, it’s moisture turning masterpieces of design into pulpy messes.
Industrial and automotive applications subject labels to some of the harshest conditions imaginable. Just think about how hot a car’s engine can get … and then factor in the weather. The same vehicle buried under snow in January might sit bumper-to-bumper on a roasting highway in July. Industrial environments are just as perilous.
Food and beverage products can encounter harsh conditions, as well. Temperature extremes and rough handling are common as food and beverage products journey from factories to warehouses, trucks, stores, trunks and refrigerators. Some product labels, such as wine bottle labels, need to withstand months or even years of storage in moist cellars and high-end wine buyers definitely expect the product label to match the quality of the wine.
Health and personal care items often reside in steamy bathrooms where moisture and heat can cause paper to rip and ink to run. Other items — such as lip balm or headache medication — are purse and toiletry bag mainstays, where the jostling and squishing is nonstop. As if that wasn’t enough pressure, health and personal care labels must also impart regulatory information, such as usage instructions and active ingredients. Torn or illegible labels can risk customers’ health and safety.
As with food and beverage products, many consumers consider health and personal care product labels part of the overall experience of using the product. To these consumers, shoddy label quality may indicate an inferior product.
Electrical product labels protect users from shock and protect the products themselves from damage. They also protect electronics brands from running afoul of regulators. Regardless of the specific regulatory requirement, compliance labels should be durable labels that withstand time, rough handling, adverse environmental conditions and caustic solvents without peeling, tearing or smudging.
Your most reliable safeguard against label breakdown isn’t one super-strong adhesive or a specific type of rip-proof material. It’s knowledge — specifically, the knowledge of an expert label printer. Labelservice knows the strengths and weaknesses of different materials, inks and adhesives, and will bring that knowledge to bear in helping you create a label that endures. Give us a call today.
