Don’t be intimidated by the name
The first time someone hears the phrase “Pressure Sensitive Labels” (myself included), it can be intimidating. A person might think that it is some sort of fancy pressure activated technology, and to an extent they would be right. It is not, however, exactly common knowledge outside of the labelling industry that almost 80% of all product labels are pressure sensitive & that it was just a fancy term for a self-adhesive sticker. Yes… in fact… “pressure sensitive” really is just the industry term for what most of us consider a normal sticker. This type of label is so dominant, that quite a few labelling companies only provide pressure sensitive label printing services.
How are pressure sensitive labels made?
A Pressure sensitive label consists of the following parts professionally stacked on top of each other (imagine a sticker sandwich) :
From bottom to top:
Liner – The backing material of the label. The liner protects the adhesive and effectively allows for storage and shipping of the pressure sensitive label.
Release Coat – Have you ever wondered why your sticker comes off of the paper you receive it on easily, but the minute you put it on any other surface it sticks? Well that is because if the release coat. Imagine a release coat as sticker PAM, and its job is to not allow the adhesive to completely bond to the liner. Silicone is a popular material for a release coat to be made of.
Adhesive – To put it simply, the adhesive is the part of the label that sticks. Adhesives can vary greatly from being permanent, temporary, water dissolvable, ultra removable, you name it!
Face stock – This is the material that the ink is printed directly onto. The two main types of materials that are used for this are usually papers and films. Papers are going to be the cheaper option here, but they are much less durable. Films are the materials companies mostly use for medical regulations, weatherproof options, heat resistance. Films are going to cost a bit more to produce for these added benefits however.
Top Coat – Your top coat is going to be something that serves a couple purposes. The first being to protect the printed inks on the face stock, and the other purpose is to provide finishes to the label. Examples of finishes would be a gloss finish, matte finish, etc… In short, the top coat protects the label & can make it look even better!