Label Planet
Here's how to stop labels curling when they are removed from their backing sheet.
If you find that your labels begin to curl up when you peel them off the backing sheet, try peeling them off in a different direction (i.e. start with the bottom edge and pull them upwards, rather than starting with the left/right edge and pulling them sideways).
How Does This Work?
This tip relates to the “grain” of label materials. Grain refers to the direction that the majority of the elements in a material are lying in; for example, paper is made up of log-shaped fibres – during the manufacturing process, these fibres will end up lying predominantly in one direction.
Materials have greater dimensional stability with the grain; this means that when you peel a label off its backing sheet AGAINST THE GRAIN (in other words, in the opposite direction to the grain direction), the label is much more likely to curl up than if you peel the label off WITH THE GRAIN (in the same direction as the grain direction).
In our label products the grain runs from top to bottom (or bottom to top) of the sheet when it is in the portrait orientation. So, if you peel a label off by pulling the right or left edge of the label sideways you are more likely to find that the label curls than if you pull the bottom edge up or the top edge down.
This tip might come in handy if you find that your labels are curling up and then struggling to stay on the surface or object you are labelling, particularly if you are labelling a rounded surface or object.