Weber Etiketten: Many companies pay for labelling that only lasts for hours due to the wrong thermal transfer ribbon

Why does a label, that looks immaculate once it comes out of the printer, turn into an illegible smudge two weeks later? Usually, the first reaction is to change the printer. However, in the majority of situations it turns out the printer has nothing to do with the problem, with the issue being hidden in the actual structure of the packaging. Some foils contain substances, which literally “wash” the ink from the inside out while the product travels to the customer or remains in storage.

 "In business, one often looks for a universal tape for everything, but physics doesn't work that way - information is only insured when the consumable and the surface are compatible with each other," Weber Etiketten Bulgaria told BalkanEngineer.com. As part of the global family of Weber Marking Systems, the team in the company helps producers to understand these hidden processes, before they suffer losses, and one of the most curious examples of this is the so-called chemical sabotage.

To understand why a label loses its legibility without outside interference, it is necessary to check the structure of flexible synthetic materials. Most foils (especially PVC and some types of polyethylene) owe their elasticity to so-called plasticizers. These are small, low-molecular compounds (often from the phthalate group) that are inserted between polymer chains to provide them with mobility. The problem is that these molecules are not chemically linked to the material. They are in constant motion and influenced by temperature or time, and inevitably begin to migrate to the surface. When they reach the top layer, they encounter the printed information, and this is where the process of "chemical sabotage" begins.

Therefore, if a standard thermal transfer ribbon with a wax-based composition is used for printing, the migrating plasticizers recognize it as a compatible chemical medium. The result is a print that looks perfect, but with minimal touch, it is erased, leaving a completely clean substrate underneath.

Photo source: Weber Etiketten Bulgaria