What Is A Shrink Sleeve Label

When you're walking down the grocery aisle, you may notice that some products use those fancy plastic labels that wrap around their container. If you take a closer look at those product's labels, you even think, "How did they do this?" They don't use glue or adhesive yet they can seamlessly wrap around an entire oddly shaped bottle. You were most likely looking at a product that uses a shrink sleeve label.

Shrink sleeve labels are a relatively new form of label for product packaging. They are often favored for their versatility, look, and tamper-evident seal. However, there's much more to them as well so let's take a look.

What is a Shrink Sleeve?

Shrink sleeves are typically a film that you can fit over a product and when heated, "shrinks" and adheres to the product's container. The labels are usually printed on either plastic or polyester film material and are often used on aluminum cans, glass, or plastic bottles. If you think about the plastic film that tightly wraps around a case of water bottles, it's the same concept.

Shrink sleeve labels can be printed in full-color making them perfect for labels. If you have the dimensions adjusted to fit a certain container, can seamlessly wrap around the entire shape when heated.

Benefits of Shrink Sleeves

One reason many like the use of shrink sleeves, is how they allow you to use about 150 percent more product real estate compared to traditional sticker labels. This extra real estate can be used to add more stylistic options or make room for regulatory information you may need on your label.

Besides their unique look, shrink sleeve labels can have multiple functions in packaging. One of these functions can be a tamper-evident seal. Shrink sleeve labels and tamper-evident shrink bands work the same way. The only difference is that instead of a see-through band, you can add a perforated tear in your full color label. This eliminates the process of having to add the tamper-evident band down the line.

Shrink sleeves can also package multiple items together to sell as one product. Because shrink sleeves will shrink things close together, they can act as a sturdy tie around them. Think of those double packs you often see with deodorant sticks or any group of small containers.

Another benefit of using shrink sleeves is that they are often more durable than sticker labels. This is especially the case when you use those products in moist environments like around the bathroom or kitchen. Since they are made of plastic, the moisture isn't really a problem for them.

How Do Shrink Sleeves Work?

Like any other label, the main point of the shrink sleeve is to provide branding information for the product they're around. The shrink sleeving process involves shrinking a film sleeve with steam or heat so that it conforms to the shape of your container. This process and application provides a bit more flexibility than the traditional sticker adhesive labels. However, creating shrink sleeve labels isn't too far off from regular sticker ones.

Creating the sleeve

Obviously, one of the key differences between sticker labels and shrink sleeves, is that they are in fact, sleeves. These sleeves are placed around the container until they are taken through a device that can heat them. Like sticker labels, shrink sleeves can be printed with most Pantone colors. You're probably going to want a good designer for your shrink sleeve labels because the shrinking process will distort the image of your sleeve so you're going to want to prepare for it.

Applying the sleeve

Once you have created your sleeve, the next step is applying them to your containers. The sleeving process can be a tedious one without the proper shrink sleeving equipment. That's why CoolJarz created our SST shrink sleeve label machine to make the shrink sleeve application process quick and simple.

Like we said before, shrink sleeves only need a form of heat to adhere to their containers. So first, you're going to want to put the shrink sleeves around the product. They'll be loosely on them at first, but once heat is applied, they'll shrink tightly onto the container.

CoolJarz SST shrink sleeve label machine uses heat in the form of steam to evenly apply shrink sleeve labels. Steam is one of the best forms of heat for shrink sleeve labels because it is a lower temperature not harmful to your products.

Other heating methods like convection heat, or hot air, can cause uneven wrinkles and bubbles, as well as possibly damaging the contents within due to the high heat. Methods such as heat guns for large scale operations are generally not recommended.

Shrink Sleeve Labels Conclusion

Hopefully this article was helpful in informing you about shrink sleeve labels. If you're looking to get shrink sleeve labels for your products, look no further than CoolJarz.com. We offer shrink sleeve label design services and printing at low costs. For a free quote, you can fill out this design form, or Contact Us!

If you're looking to get a shrink sleeve label applicator, click here for the CoolJarz SST shrink sleeve label machine. If you're in need of any of our packaging options, feel free to explore the rest of our site!