How do you choose outdoor adhesive labels?

Why there are do many problems happened with outdoor labels always?

In the more than 20 years of service history of Nantong Moonstar Printing, customers often inquire about outdoor label solutions with this question, how to ensure the durability of outdoor labels? Wind, sun, rain, frost, and the ubiquitous corrosive substances in the air are all affecting the performance of the label. Choosing the wrong material or process will inevitably greatly reduce the effectiveness of the label.

The problems encountered by customers are numerous, label fading, yellowing, warping and peeling, cracking and damage, and even powdering and disappearance... These phenomena often point to the same root cause: material and production process selection errors. We have found that many customers simply mention "outdoor use" when placing orders with suppliers. However, some suppliers may simply equate "outdoor" with "waterproofing" and select materials hastily and processes without sufficient justification.

The value of individual self-adhesive labels is not high, and customer attention is relatively low. Once verbal promises are obtained from suppliers, many people overlook the necessary verification process, ultimately leading to a series of headache inducing quality issues.

Because self-adhesive labels are complex products that integrate material science, adhesive technology, and printing processes, ordinary customers find it difficult to fully grasp their characteristics. At this point, a professional and reliable solution provider is crucial.

What is the key issue to a qualified outdoor label?

Nantong Moonstar Printing Technology Co., Ltd. has been deeply involved in the field of outdoor labels for over 20 years. Through continuous experimentation, verification, improvement, and re practice, we have accumulated solutions to cope with various harsh outdoor environments. To ensure that a self-adhesive label is truly capable of outdoor challenges, the adhesive, material, and ink used in the printing pattern of the self-adhesive label are all indispensable.

How to choose outdoor label materials? PVC or PET?

The outdoor environment has extremely high requirements for waterproofing and weather resistance (resistance to ultraviolet radiation, temperature changes, oxidation, etc.), so ordinary copperplate paper materials and synthetic paper materials are not within the scope of this discussion. The commonly mentioned candidates are PVC and PET materials.

However, if you search or consult AI online, you may be confused by two completely opposite views: some say PVC is more suitable for outdoor use, while others claim PET has better weather resistance. What is the truth?

We will not delve into the differences in weather resistance between PVC and PET base materials here, but focus on the performance of finished adhesive labels made from them as substrates in actual outdoor environments.

Since 2021, Nantong Moonstar Printing has launched a real outdoor environment testing project and regularly tracks and records it. The following is a record of our 3 years and 2 months of actual testing (using PVC and PET materials from top domestic brands, using Nantong Moonstar's special anti UV ink, and produced using the same production process):

The actual test results are surprised:

PET testing group: After only 3 months of outdoor exposure, very severe fading has occurred. By the third year, the material had severely weathered, with some areas even completely disappearing, revealing the stainless steel plate attached below!

PVC testing group:Over a period of nearly 2 years, there was almost no noticeable change in printing color, and even the most easily faded warm tones (such as red and yellow) remained good. It was not until the third year that slight yellowing caused by ultraviolet radiation appeared. By around the fourth year, the yellow color had changed significantly, but the printed patterns and text remained clear and recognizable.

Conclusion: In fact, select materials based on evidence

The more than 3-year present testing has provided a clear answer: in terms of outdoor weather resistance, PVC based adhesive labels perform significantly better than PET based labels.

Nantong Moonstar Printing Technology Co., Ltd. always adheres to facts and data as the basis to recommend the most suitable outdoor label material solutions for customers. We don't blindly follow market rumors, we only believe in the results of actual verification. Based on our current and long-term practical experience, we will prioritize recommending PVC materials with more reliable performance when developing outdoor label solutions for our clients.

At the same time, we also maintain an open attitude, we welcome PET material suppliers to provide samples for us to conduct outdoor weather resistance tests under the same conditions, and explore the possibilities of materials together.

Choose Nantong Moonstar and choose an outdoor label solution that can withstand the test of time.