Labels are considered to be paper products and they can be affected by different weather conditions when they are exposed to them. Humidity is one of the worst enemies of your labels. That being said, it will be slightly trickier when you need to store your unused, blank labels during the warmer and muggy months of the year. Read on to find out more on some useful suggestions on storage location as well as removing a curl if they become damaged.
Store Your Labels in a Room Temperature Environment
Since labels are easily affected by extreme air temperatures, it is pertinent that you store them somewhere that has room temperature. You do not want the effectiveness of your label stock to diminish due to humidity. Exposure to moisture for extended periods of time will have adverse effects on your labels. One example is that it causes your labels to curl. Hence, you will also want to store your labels in a plastic wrap – try to use the same kind of wrap that the labels arrived in.
How to Avoid and Prevent Your Labels from Curling
After a prolonged period of time, curls in your labeling material are bound to happen so don’t be alarmed. If your area gets sticky and very hot during the summer, you will need to pay extra attention to your label stock as moisture is a common cause of bad curling. In addition, there is a chance that the liner of one label sticks to the label that is below it.
In most cases, curls can be avoided if the surrounding conditions are dry enough. If you have no choice but to store them in a moisture-prone area, you can flip the labels over when curling is spotted. When you flip the affected labels over, you help offset the curl and straighten them out. You might also want to place something heavy on top to flatten the materials more efficiently.
Dry Environments Are Much More Favorable
One of the best places to store your labels is a very dry room. This will help keep the negative effects of moisture at bay. You will also want to not store them on a lower shelf in your facility as they could encounter water if you are not careful. Extensive water damage must be avoided at all costs. You should be extra careful if your facility is prone to flooding. Hence, the safest thing you can do is to store them on a higher shelf and away from the floor.
Moisture Is the Root of All Evil
By now, you should already be aware that moisture can cause a lot of problems, especially when your label stock is not stored correctly. If moisture gains the upper hand in this battle, your labels could be damaged beyond repair.
When you decide to take your labels out from storage, you must make sure that any curls are removed first before you feed them through a printer. Otherwise, the curl will affect the print quality or even cause your label printer to jam.
