Editor's Note: This blog was originally published on September 1st, 2017 but was updated on March 4th, 2019 to reflect modern information and industry changes.
Adhesive printing has many applications. You’ll often find examples sitting on the shelves of your local supermarket or drugstore.
You buy a bottle of pain reliever. You peel back its sticky label to read the instructions, drug facts, and warnings. Another time you peel the paper coating to a foil blister pack of an over-the-counter allergy medication.
The label, paper coating, and the foil lidding? That’s right, they’re all bonded to the packaging with adhesive. Some other common applications for adhesive printing include:
Those adhesive elements are rolled, or printed, to label and securely air seal many consumer products we use daily, especially in the medical and pharmaceutical professions. You’ll need an experienced flexographic printing plate and sleeve manufacturer for products that best suit your choices of adhesive, substrate, and other specs.
First, determine your application. What will a successful adhesive print entail for the job it’s supposed to do?
Adhesives react differently with different types of substrates. Some are best to stick labels permanently to corrugated packaging. Others temporarily bond medical labels to be peeled and reapplied to patient files. The applications are nearly limitless.
Permanent adhesive power could fade with certain variable conditions:
Think ahead. Analyze and understand the purpose.
An adhesive bonding warning label to a gas-powered lawnmower, for example, would need to hold strong in rain, dry spells, heat, and cold for perhaps 10 years or more.
You may need to lay the adhesive in specific continuous patterns to fulfill the job. If your printing sleeve or plate isn’t crafted to specifications, it may not spread enough (or any) adhesive to parts of the substrate, causing it to eventually lift and come loose.
Less adhesive power is sometimes necessary. It may be important for the end user to remove a label. If so, is removing it easy? Would it be unsightly or inconvenient for adhesive residue or full pieces of the label to remain?
Products for which less adhesive power is best include:
No matter the application, choose an experienced flexographic printing supplies manufacturer with the right technology to create engraved sleeves, cylinders, and plates to lay continuous, seamless adhesive.