Selection And Application Of Self-adhesive Label Materials

Selection and application of self-adhesive label materials

As an industrial consumable, self-adhesive label materials are widely used in many aspects in various fields. As well as the price level and other aspects have been greatly developed and improved. Just like choosing a favorite from a dazzling array of products, we also need to choose the most ideal material among various self-adhesive labels, and this choice must be a comprehensive consideration and reasonable application.

As we all know, in terms of the basic structure of materials, self-adhesive labels are composed of surface material, glue and backing paper, and whether it is surface material, glue or backing paper, there are different types and processing methods, and bring Different application range and use effect. This article hopes to start with the three-layer structure of self-adhesive label materials, and discuss the reasonable choice of self-adhesive label materials from the perspective of application.

The surface material is the material that is finally attached to the object (often called "substrate"), generally paper (such as coated paper, high-gloss paper, thermal transfer printing paper, etc.) and film (such as PE, PP, PET, synthetic paper, etc.) two components. Generally speaking, since the first visual contact of consumers is the face material, the characteristics of the face material determine its use. Below is an overview of selected common face materials.

Coated paper, high-gloss paper: Due to the certain treatment on the surface of the paper, the paper has a strong gloss and a certain stiffness, and is mostly used on the surface of items that are not in contact with water. The printing ink absorption effect is also very good, and there are many coated papers that can also show good thermal transfer printing results when matched with some suitable thermal transfer printers and ribbons. In addition, in China, the average price of paper is lower than that of film. This cost advantage makes paper surface material widely used in China. But at the same time, it should be noted that due to the poor flexibility of the paper material, it is generally not recommended to use the surface of the substrate with a large curvature, and it is not recommended to coat the substrate when labeling in a certain curvature environment. At the same time, when labeling, if the substrate will be deformed by the surrounding environment such as temperature, it is generally not recommended to use paper material for labeling.

Thermal transfer printing paper: Thermal transfer printing paper is generally used in the environment where thermal transfer printing is required. The surface of this paper is often treated with special coating, so the effect of thermal transfer printing is excellent, and it is generally widely used in logistics. industry. It should be noted that the method or material of surface coating directly affects the printing effect and cost factors. Generally speaking, the price of thermal transfer printing paper is higher than that of coated paper or glossy paper, but it still has huge market potential.

It should be noted that even the same type of paper material, such as high-gloss paper, will be subdivided into many types due to different processing methods, and they will have certain differences in final performance, which need to be selected and used according to the actual situation.

PE film: polyethylene film is a very flexible film material, and it is also a relatively economical material, which is widely used. Because the material has good flexibility, it is mostly used in environments that require frequent extrusion. However, due to the soft material of the PE film, the thickness of the PE film needs to be increased in order to have excellent performance in automatic labeling.

PP film: polypropylene film is a kind of film material with very good stiffness. It is called BOPP due to the biaxial stretching treatment. This material has excellent stiffness during automatic labeling, so the labeling will be very smooth. High-speed labeling also performed very well. It is generally used on the surface of substrates with very hard materials.

PET film: polyester film, which is a label material often seen in the electronic field. This material is characterized by good flatness and stiffness, as well as high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance, and is mostly used in electronic or corrosion resistance fields. .

Synthetic paper: commonly known as "unbreakable", its appearance is similar to paper, but it is a kind of PP film. Due to the addition of some ingredients in the production process, the appearance of the film has changed, but it still maintains a strong stiffness. At the same time, it has good printing performance. Mostly used in the field of electronics or logistics.

Polyolefins: or polyolefin, is a general term for PE film and PP film, here we refer to the mixture of PE and PP film. The most typical example on the market is Avery Dennison's patented products - Fasclear and Primax, these two materials are the use of scientific methods and proportions to polymerize PE and PP particles It not only has the hardness of PP, but also has the flexibility of PE material. In the application, it is mainly manifested in the direction of labeling, the stiffness is very good, and it is easy to be labeled, while in the other direction, it has a certain degree of stiffness. flexibility and extrusion resistance. It is generally used in the environment where automatic labeling is required and the bottle body to be attached needs to be squeezed frequently.

When choosing various thin film materials, we should not only consider the price of the material, but more importantly, pay attention to the practicability of the material and the ability to adapt to the environment. At the same time, it should be noted that any film material can be processed by color or surface coating through different production processes to achieve different use effects. At present, there are endless types of surface materials on the market, and the varieties are becoming more and more abundant. Due to the limited length of the article, this article will not repeat them.

Looking at glue, there are currently three categories of water-soluble glue, hot-melt glue and solvent-based glue on the market. They all have environments and performances that are more suitable for their own applications, and also have certain versatility in some cases. In short, each has its own strengths. Since all kinds of glues are greatly affected by environmental factors, when we consider the selection of glues, we should mainly consider the performance indicators and application environment of glue performance.

Labeling temperature: refers to the temperature in the labeling environment, often referring to a minimum labeling temperature. Generally, labeling in an environment above this temperature can make the adhesive exert its initial effect. It should be noted that the general adhesive needs a certain period of time (usually 24 hours) to be completely integrated into the substrate to be attached, rather than achieving the best effect immediately.

Use temperature: is a temperature range, emphasizing the temperature range in the use or storage environment after the label is attached.

Initial tack: It is the stickiness of the label attached to the substrate, which is an instant performance.

Persistent stickiness: It is the stickiness of the label material after reaching the final stickiness, that is, the stickiness in the use environment.

Use environment: According to the various indicators mentioned above, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the temperature of labeling and use, the viscosity effect to be achieved, and other requirements for the adhesive in the environment in use.

In addition, other properties of the adhesive should also be considered, such as: whether it is a permanent adhesive, an adhesive that can be reused many times, or an adhesive that can be reused for a short period of time. The performance of glue performance determines the final performance of the material to a large extent. For example, in some labeling environments, it is necessary to have strong stickiness during initial labeling, but it is not necessary to have such stickiness during use, which shows that it is not The strongest stickiness is the best option. The best choice can only be made by considering various factors in an all-round way.

Finally, look at the backing paper, which is a material made of silicone oil coated on paper or film material, and is the carrier of the entire label material, which is convenient for peeling off the surface material and putting it into use. This is a part that is often overlooked by users, but it also plays an important role in the selection and application of self-adhesive labels. The following are several common backing papers.

Kraft backing paper: The paper is firm and flat. Usually in the form of a single sheet, the material of this backing paper is used for offset printing or screen printing, and the finished product is used as manual labeling.

Glassine backing paper: Also known as glass backing paper, it comes in rolls and is used for web printing. Because the backing paper is in roll shape and has good tensile properties, it is generally used in automatic labeling.

PET backing paper: This backing paper is characterized by smooth material and strong tensile resistance, which can be used in high-speed automatic labeling environment. , it can cooperate to achieve a more excellent transparent effect.

According to the actual needs, other types of backing paper are also emerging in the market, such as backing paper covered with PE film material, which effectively facilitates the peeling of the sticky surface material from the backing paper. Therefore, the choice of bottom paper is also inseparable from the requirements of use!

The above is a preliminary analysis from the perspective of final use and according to the characteristics of each part of the self-adhesive label material. The purpose is to choose the self-adhesive label material more reasonably, and through reasonable application, the effect of the label can be maximized! Of course, due to the materiality of labels, there are certain rules of their own, so in practical applications, the impact of environmental factors on materials must also be fully considered, which is also very important!