Choose the suitable adhesive will make your thermal label sticks

The adhesive is a bond that is used to stick the product labels and surfaces on which the label is applied. The tackiness of each adhesive type is different when stuck to different surfaces. Therefore, to ensure your labels work properly, it is necessary to select the right adhesive for your application.

There are many types of adhesives on the market that provide different bond strengths – durable, removable, suitable for use at low and high temperatures, and universal adhesives designed for different environmental conditions. Ricoh will introduce you to the common adhesive and its properties that you can consider when choosing the right adhesive for your product labels.

Rubber based adhesive

Commonly used for a wide variety of applications, because of its high level of adhesion. It can scope well with multiple surfaces, such as rubber, silicone, Teflon, and plastic. highly resistant to water and moisture. However, it is only suitable for indoor storage because this material does have low heat tolerance, humidity, solvents, chemical, and UV. With prolonged exposure to these conditions, the adhesion strength will be broken, discolored, and brittle.

Acrylic-based adhesive

The tackiness of acrylics is not good as the rubber adhesives in a controlled environment, they do provide more durability against extreme temperatures such as cold, moisture, solvent, and UV.This material is ideal for storage and use in the outdoors or environment where the climate cannot easily be controlled. Acrylic adhesives can be used on multiple surfaces such as glass or metal.

Silicone adhesive

Resistant to high temperature, with good adhesion strength, and removable from a given surface

What should be considered when choosing an adhesive?

To choose the right adhesive, the first thing that needs to be considered is under which conditions your label will be applied. In other words – what conditions must the adhesive withstand? Whether your label is used in high-humidity conditions? Are the labels exposed to the sun or high temperatures? Are the labels exposed to dirt, grease, chemicals, or water?

Another issue to look at is the durability of the application. Do you want your label to be permanently attached to a product or do you want it can be easily removed from the surface at any time? Or your goal is to provide the possibility of relocation? Durability, removable, or relocation require different adhesives with different properties. The wrong selection of adhesive means that your labels will not work properly as your need, it does not stick to the surface permanently or causes difficulties during removal, then damages the surface or unwanted adhesive residue.

The type of surface to which your label will be attached is another element that affects the tackiness of your label. It should be considered whether the label is applied on rough or wet surfaces. A rough or high-humidity surface is much more demanding than the smooth or dry one.

Lastly, the temperature immediately after the label has been attached to the substrate, the time needed to achieve maximum adhesion, and the consistency (or lack) of the adhesive also need to be considered.