> Labels are great for anything from adding a touch of flair to a recipe you’re proud of or a simple utilitarian approach of having the name, date, and nic content visible on the bottle. How far you go and how much time/money you spend depends on how important it is to you. At the very least, you should be able to identify what’s in the bottle and when it was made or you run the risk of trying to clone one of your own recipes after you try that blank bottle of absolutely delicious eliquid that you don’t remember making.
Starting from the cheapest option and moving up:
Sharpie
Almost too simple. Just write directly on the bottle and if it’s handy and you feel like it, cover it up with some clear tape to make it last longer.
Masking Tape
Another simple solution is rip off a strip of masking tape and jot down the details. It’s typically easy to remove (especially if you use painters tape) and a roll will last a long time.
> The above are the simplest, most obvious, and require the least amount of effort. Boring.
Sticker Labels
A pack of plain white all purpose labels will only set you back a couple dollars and at least gives you something flat and easier to write on. If you’re feeling creative you can give your mixes name tags or go for more of a vintage style.
Thermal Printers
Sticking with the ascending price order is difficult with thermal printers as they hang out in the range of $20 to $200+ so if you already have an inkjet/laser printer, sheet labels would be cheaper in the short term.
The biggest benefit in using a thermal printer is the lack of ink and the ability to quickly print off one label at a time.
On the low end of the price range ($20-$30) you have things like the Dymo LetraTag and the Brother P-Touch that use label tape of various colors and material but are limited to a few lines of text and clipart. On the plus side they are small, portable and battery operated. You can pack all the necessary information as long as you keep it simple.
The mid range ($70-$100) has options like the Dymo LabelWriter 450 and Brother QL-800 which have a larger assortment of label sizes and materials and allow you to print pictures as well as text.
Printable Sheet Labels
This is the most customizable options from the size of the labels to the materials and, of course, color being an option. It’s the only option if you want your DIY labels to look “premium”.
This is easily the best option if you already own a printer and want full color labels. Places like onlinelabels.com offer every conceivable option for printable blank labels from metallic foil to weatherproof polyester in pretty much any dimension you could need.
On the budget side a pack of 300 plain address labels will only set you back about $5 or about 2 pennies per label and offer most of the same benefits, minus being water/juice proof.
What is your DIY labeling solution?
Previous FAQ Friday topics that may be of interest:
I put down a piece of clear tape, write on pen everything I want about what it is, then cover that with another piece of clear tape. It is the easiest, cheapest, and most effective label solution I could think of.
this post arrived just in time for me. I've been using a sharpie right on the bottle. after a few days it fades and after a few more days it's gone. I want to get some cheap labels from my hyaku-en (dollar store) but I want the adhesive to be weak so I can peel it off and re-use the bottle. going there tonight
I’ve come so close to buying a thermal printer so many times, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger with the trusty masking tape working so well. Almost at the end of the roll though, so maybe now is the time.
I grabbed one a year ago and it's been one of the better investments towards this hobby. A dymo labelwriter 450. I just use a template i made for quick labeling, ~~I'll update this post tomorrow with it plus a sample.~~
Template: https://i.imgur.com/wLe7qUw.png
Final: https://i.imgur.com/kFtQhYu.png - the image is given a border to better differentiate from the information. There's white space at the top for writing additional information, which i've generally only used for additional hazard marking for working nicotine bottles. The end result is not pixelated at all.
One of the nice things is if I'm feeling super lazy i can just pull a label off the roll and go back to sharpies for a bit. Also it looks nice when I'm giving samples to my test subjects.
I just ordered this one this morning. I figured I’d like to have the keyboard part since I very rarely have my computer out. If I just got one that was basically a printer I’d hardly ever use it. About to be fancy as hell.
I made some printing plates up and stuck them in a offset printing press to make mine.
It's not too hard. You just need a offset printing press, an image setter, some printing plates, a cutting die, some printing ink and label stock... Yeah, I work at a label printing factory for now..
Send us a pm if your aussie or nz and going commercial.. I can help with your labelling requirements. We can print professional full colour designs on direct thermal (or any) label stock for you to overprint your flavours on with a cheap thermal printer to give you maximum flexibility.
Just missing the offset printing press, an image setter, some printing plates, a cutting die, some printing ink, label stock, and the desire to purchase all those things ;)
Skip the offset press and go straight for flexographic press if you do ever get the desire :p you can pick up a Mark Andy for as little as $150k
It's funny that you say that because I operated flexos for several years. Of course, those were for printing on corrugated boxes so they wouldn't really work for labels. But maybe my experience would translate a little bit.
I use an old notebook and scribble the details on 1 line, cut that piece out, and tape it to the bottle with 1 corner of tape folded into itself for quick easy removal when it's time to wash the bottle out.
I use the clear scotch tape and a Pilot G02 0.38mm pen because it has a super fine tip for writing small.
I've always thought fancy homemade computer printed labels were a little over the top for this hobby, and frankly just another unnecessary expense. I can appreciate some of the artsy designs and the time that goes into making something aesthetically pleasing, but I'm a cheap and simple man so scrap papers and tape have always been my go to labelling solution.
I use stick-on labels instead of tape because I'm a special kind of lazy where even taping something to something else is too much work, but +1 for the Pilot G2. I send that bitch to the store for pens and she comes back with something other than Pilot G2, I kick that bitch out my house.
I'm simple and just bought some blank sticker labels from Target. Cut them in half for smaller bottles. I put vg, pg, nic in the top left corner, batch date in the bottom right, and I like to draw a little picture of whatever the flavor is supposed to be with some colored markers cuz why not?! (actually, the power of suggestion works wonders for tasting the vape IMO)
They're a pain to remove and if they get soggy they start to peel and fray, so I don't recommend them. I typically reuse plastic bottles once or twice but for the same flavor, then toss em so the labels have to be expendable tbh.
Stores like Michael's or Hobby Lobby have quite the selection of labels if your looking for something fancier than the plain white address ones. I have like 8-10 different labels now that I use, it just depends on what I feel like when I mix something. I also found a roll of printed masking tape that looks pretty neat as a label. I'm not trying to be all professional or serious or anything, just something fun for me and the two other people I make juice for.
I picked up a Brother P-Touch on Amazon, one because it was very cheap, two, because Amazon also sells Chinese made off-brand printer tapes for it and a 5 pack of those was the cost of one roll of the 'real' tapes and so far work just as well. Lastly, I had to buy it because i'm juvenile and giggle about a company naming their product P Touch.
One thing I've been doing lately is printing out labels with a QR code and the ATF batch number. The QR code has the recipe so I can check and see what's in the bottle pretty quickly with my phone. I could just print out the recipe on the label but I've been doing it this way so that when I make adjustments to a recipe, then let it steep for awhile, I can test it without knowing the precise variation until after I've had a chance to figure it out by just relying on my palate.
Not sure how useful it is but it's been a fun experiment to see how well I can guess what is different before actually looking at the changes. It probably helps that I have a terrible memory and dozens of batches mixed up at any given moment.
I use the Avery Label Companies Software to format the labels. Print them on plain paper. Cut them smaller than 1 7/8th Inches. Rip a piece of clear packing tape off long enough to cover the label and overlap about a 1/2 inch horizontally, cover up the whole deal and plaster to bottles. Keeps them "liquid resistant".
I have moved from Avery Labels (their software is really good) to Neato labels. I have to cut them out after they are printed but holy shit do they look good.
I must have some really awful labels because they absolutely will not stick to glass bottles. They are just the plain Avery ones you use for mailing. So if I want to make printed labels that look a little nicer, I have to put clear packing tape over the top of them and make sure the ends overlap each other. This makes them a huge pain to remove so I just use painter's tape and a sharpie. I used to tape nice labels on the bottles I made for other people but lately they just get the painter tape too lol