Probably of little interest to those who have a couple of recipes they like and are whipping up hundred ml bottles of Old Favourite, but for new vapers (like myself) who are whipping up half-a-dozen different small samples at a time to try new flavours or people who like to do a lot of experimenting, I've found a fantastic way to label (and re-label) bottles without having to deal with trying to scrape off label/tape gunk: this stuff (Amazon link for convenience, any stationery/office supply store should have it). Same adhesive as in a regular sticky note, but the whole back of the tape is sticky. Make your note (I usually put mix and born-on date), cut off the strip, stick it on your bottle (so far it's sticking fine to LDPE and PE plastic bottles, gorilla bottles, and glass Boston Rounds), then peel it off and slap on a new one when you finish off the bottle. No trying to scrape off label gunk, no waste (since you only use as much as you need).
It's not waterproof, and it doesn't stick well if the bottle's wet, but those are about the only cons I can find. For 3 bucks, a great investment in keeping your batches organized.
Pfft. I labelled my bottles with numbers, permanently, and I record the recipe of each bottle on the corresponding row number in excel.
When I have a "holy crap I need to make more of this" bottle, I copy/paste that line to another book, add notes, a name, and then I worry about a label :)
If it's average tasting, I delete the row and wash the bottle.
I bought an Epson LW-400 labeler (so I can do 4 lines and use 18mm tape). Doesn't smear or come off in water, peels off easily with no residue, and can get the replacement cartridges for about $15 for 2. Don't have to go back and forth to my computer to mixing station. We all have a system that works for our individual needs. I think mixing is just as subjective as flavors....we all have our stuff customized to fit our styles :)
If you're hardcore, lab supply stores sell autoclavable tape that will adhere even when wet (even when autoclaved--surprise!) and can be removed with zero residue. This stuff is the de facto tape at any bio/chem lab, so if you have a friend who works at one, they should be able to snag you a roll.
It's not cheap on Amazon, but here's a link: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B002VA5SEK
You could also just buy autoclave indicator tape and write on it; it usually has the same adhesive qualities.
I got a brother ql-550 label printer for like 20$ and have templates made so i just bring one up type what it is and hit print. The refills are cheap from china and last for ages.
How easy is it to get the old labels off? Or are you just tossing bottles as you use them?
I know it's kind of overkill, but with the cheap price of generic tapes, and the low cost of the printer itself, my PT-D210 handles all my bottle labeling needs.
Also, the labels peel off with no residue, on both my usual LDPE, or the occasional glass bottle, that I use. They also seem to be resistant to water, occasional nic base spills, VG and anything else, so, yeah, I like the labels.
I've had one of these in my house for organizing/labeling other things. works like a champ
Picked it up at an Office store on sale for $20 probably 5 years ago. Works great to label all my bottles with the pertinent info. We use them at my work, so labels are ... cough free. :)
The labels go on and come off really easy.. no left over residue or gunk.
Swiping office supplies from work? Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last have you no sense of decency?
Now if you'll excuse me I have to find somewhere else to keep this box of paperclips, glue, binders, pens, pencil sharpeners, markers and other paraphernalia. I swear I have no idea where it all came from!
More seriously, this has been a neat discussion, seeing the various ways people DIY their DIY supplies. Those little label printers look nifty! I'll probably never buy one, since I'm swimming in Post-It tape for other purposes, but they do look nifty.
LOL. I bought my label maker first... Just happened to work out (through minimal convincing) that my work needed to have one for the office.. Bing, bang, boom.. We got one at work, followed immediately by a shortage in the label tape around the office... Wonder where those went? LOL. But my house is organized nicely!
Technically $3, but you have to spend $25 to get it. Good if already ordering something.
I just use regular scotch tape over a piece of paper if I want to bother labeling a large bottle. For 15-50ml I just write on the bottom of it. If you write on the sides it will wear off too quickly. I don't reuse the bottles unless it's the same flavor because I've had too many things contaminate other juices. I actually just had a 100ml bottle ruined because of that. It was glass but had some plastic in the lid that must have absorbed something because after a day the juice was bad. Same flavor I've made many times I just used a very strong flavor in the bottle before that.
If I wanted to reuse bottles cheaply I'd do the same thing I'm doing now but label them in numbers. Then I'd just have a txt file with what numbers are for what juices. I wouldn't have to ever relabel anything.
You can also just write whatever you want on the bottle with a sharpie then cover it with clear tape. If you want to reuse the bottle you can take the tape off, clean it, then you can rub the sharpie off with a paper towel and some isopropyl alcohol.
Some flavors you can clean out. Others will never come out or are not worth the time when a new bottle is 50 cents and guarantees no flavor contamination. I know some people do like to clean the bottles though and there isn't anything wrong with that. I'm only talking plastic here.
> Technically $3, but you have to spend $25 to get it. Good if already ordering something.
Or hit your local office-supply store - I can't remember where I got mine (I'm a teacher, already had some on hand because I find a million and two uses for it at work.) Probably Staples or Office Depot, some place like that.
For me it's less about re-use of bottles and more that it's a handy way to instantly identify which bottle is which - I've currently got three new flavours I whipped up small tester batches of sitting on my desk, along with a couple of testers of a recipe I'm playing around with percentages on. Picking out the Lemon Sicily from the Blueberry is simple with a quick sniff; telling apart the one with .5% tertiary flavour and the one with 1%, not so much, so the labels help.
I'm not saying not to label them. Just that there are other ways too. I love when these threads pop up because I like to see how other people solved the same issue.
I sacrifice ease of finding the juice I want quickly by writing on the bottom, but it also costs me nothing and is simpler for me. I mostly mix juice up to vape that day or that week so I don't generally have a bunch of bottles kicking around. Right now I'm looking at about 10 though which is a lot but I don't really plan on vaping most of them.