What Are Water Dissolvable / Soluble Labels?
Water dissolvable labels (Also called wash-away labels) are pretty much what anyone would guess, because they are simply labels printed using materials and adhesives that dissolve in water. While it might not sound too impressive, the fact that an adhesive exists that can stick to surfaces normally and still dissolve effortlessly in water… is pretty miraculous.
Who Uses Water Soluble Labels?
There are quite a few reasons a company would want to use water dissolvable labels. A major reason is that dissolvable labels are eco-friendly, so anyone wanting to keep their product marketing ‘green’ would find this option attractive. Restaurants also use these labels regularly as food rotation labels or storage labels. This is smart for them because the labels wash away in industrial dishwashers without causing any build-up on the containers (or in the machines) whatsoever. The labels can also be resistant to the cold, so that makes for a great storage option.
Science labs and healthcare establishments are other common places you would find a dissolvable label being used. This is because reusable test tubes need to be labeled, so why would they not use labels that easily wash away from the tube or beaker? These labels are quite practical to the industries that use them, and it sure saves a bunch of time that would otherwise be spent scraping off residue left behind by other adhesives.
The popular formats for this label type are as follows:
Blank thermal labels, day-of-week labels, item shelf life labels, solid color labels, use by labels, and use first labels.
Interesting Facts About Dissolvable Labels
These labels do not need hot water to dissolve. In fact, these labels will fully break down in 30 seconds or less using any water temperature. Another interesting fact about dissolvable labels is the shelf-life. These labels only generally last 6 months after they are produced, so it would not be wise to order a ton of these and not use them. This is because the labels will start deteriorating on their own, so there is a limit to how long labels of this type can be stored.
Water dissolvable labels are also laser printer friendly, which means that they can be used in thermal transfer and direct thermal printing. Thermal printing options are popular for on-demand printing, so a restaurant would be able to use something like a direct thermal applicator to print onto provided blank labels on-site. This is incredibly common in certain industries (like the food industry), and just shows the versatility that modern dissolvable labels possess.
Atlanta Label Can Provide
If you have any questions about dissolvable labels for your company’s needs, feel free to reach out. We would love to use our printing experience to get you the product labels you deserve.