Online Labels Forum

I like to print labels on home canning projects. I also like to label jars of teas I buy. I've just made a trial order of onlinelabels.com's removable labels. I hope they work for me. I've used Avery and Office Depot/Max labels, and I'm always frustrated at the amount of work it takes to get them cleanly off.

I'd be happy to get the old-fashioned mucilage-backed labels that you wet with a damp sponge before applying. They come off easily with a brief soak in warm water. Maybe onlinelabels.com's removable labels will come off easily. I understand that commercial product manufactures, winemakers, etc are all very focused on making sure their labels don't come off. That's fine for them. But my concern is in just the opposite direction - getting the darned things off cleanly and easily so I can use the jars again.

Any comments?

Ok, I've ordered two sheets as samples. I'll post another reply here if/when they work out and we can regenerate my order. I appreciate being able to try.

I seem to remember that the labels that canning companies sometimes supplied were the old-fashioned "wet with a damp sponge before applying" labels. Of course, it was pretty hard to print them with modern computer printers. Online might want to consider selling printable labels like that. Or perhaps your "removables" will work fine. I seem to remember that one manufacturer (here to remain un-named) once had labels with a name like "Remove 'em", but replaced them with "Re-positionable". The adhesive for the "Re-positionable" reminded me of latex paint: when you first used it, you could remove it easily enough. But, like latex paint, it seemed to oxidize over time, and became quite a chore to remove.

For canning and shelf-labeling, unlike commercial products, premature loss of labeling is not a big deal. Getting the darned things off to re-use the container is.

Thanks

Dave Straayer

I see your sample request in our system. The samples will go out in tomorrow's mail. I have gone ahead and removed your order from our system. We can re-instate the order if you decide to move forward after testing the labels.

As I mentioned, I think it is best if you test the labels on your specific application. Depending on the surface the adhesive may perform slightly different. On certain plastics and glass, I have seen it have a very strong bond. It seems to keep its removable / repositionable characteristics on paper better than other surfaces.

Let us know how it goes with the samples. Thanks.

Dave C.
OnlineLabels.com