TAMPER EVIDENT LABELS

We sell a lot of Tamper Evident labels which were designed to make it apparent if someone has tried to remove a label.  They can thus be used to seal a box or be stuck on a DVD.

Video Hire shops used to complain that some disreputable customers would rent a DVD and then switch it for a personal disc that had become damaged, keeping the hire disc.

Tamper Evident labels protect against this.  If you try to take the label off the hire disc and put it on the old disc then the label will appear to be full of holes that spell out the word VOID.

This is because the label is constructed in a double layer with printing both above and below the plastic polypropylene film that forms the basis of the label. Tear off the film and you are still left with printing (showing the word VOID) adhering to what the label was previously affixed.

VIP Labels sell circular Tamper Evident labels for fixing to the centre of DVDs.  These have a white rectangle, useful if you want to write in a number or date for the disc.  We also sell rectangular labels made to the same specification. These smaller rectangular labels are useful for sealing cases, though as they are very light they can also be used on a DVD as well.

These small (38mm x 15mm) labels can also be used in many other commercial and industrial situations where it is important to ensure that objects are not tampered with.

We sell Tamper Evident labels in reels of 200, 500 or 1,000 labels.  You’ll find the prices on the website.  For further information please call us on 01446 -773874.

SOME FACTS ABOUT LABELS

Self-adhesive labels are such everyday objects that we take them for granted. People sometimes think of a label as a label as a label without realising the possible variations.  Quite apart from what you might put on the label - one or more colours and possibly text or a design - the first thing to consider is what the label should be made of.  Most labels are paper - for paper is a strong, effective and inexpensive medium. But even a paper label may be of lighter or heavier material, may be glossy, semi-glossy or matt or it may be protected from spillages or marking by a laminating coat.  This latter is a plastic film that makes a paper label tougher and more durable as well as giving it a gloss, varnished finish.

The other medium in common use is plastic, polyester, vinyl or polypropylene.  Labels printed on plastic are tougher than those printed on paper and thus last longer.  It is not always easy to tell just from looking whether a label is made from a plastic material or from paper that has been over-laminated.  But if you try to tear the label you will find it is virtually impossible to tear the plastic while the over-laminated paper label tears much more easily.

Then there’s the question of adhesive.  Does the label have to stick permanently or do you want to be able to pull it off again, like a post-it note?  We mainly use labels with two kinds of adhesive - permanent and removeable (sometimes called peelable).

Removeable is a better word because as self-adhesive labels are designed to ‘peel’ easily off a waxed backing called a web produced slightly wider than the label itself.

For specialist applications - for instance labels that have to operate eg in cold stores or in hot places there are specialist adhesives designed to cope with such adverse conditions.

Most labels are usually rectangular, square or circular. Square and circular labels can only be manufactured in one way, but rectangular labels can come off the press either Narrow Edge Leading - like a string of sausages - or Wide Edge Leading - which is where the labels are oriented in a landscape fashion.   Wide Edge Leading is the commonest presentation because it makes for rolls that are wider but not so fat.  There is also less label to have to pass through a printer.