Adhesives are usually specified by name — "we need a strong one", "the last batch peeled". Both are descriptions of a failure, not of a requirement. The system is decided by four things: what the label sticks to, what temperature it meets, whether it is wet, and whether it ever has to come off.
Model guide · last verified 2026-10-21 · published in English · technical questions: contact the lab
The order matters because the answers eliminate systems rather than rank them.
1. What is the surface? Paper and board, glass, rigid plastic, flexible plastic, painted metal, powder-coated metal, recycled board with a rough open surface, or a low-surface-energy plastic such as PP or PE. Rough and low-energy surfaces are the two cases where a standard permanent acrylic under-performs and the answer is either more tack or more pressure, not a thicker coat.
2. What temperature does it meet — and when? Two different temperatures. The application temperature (the container when the label goes on) and the service temperature (what it lives in afterwards). A label applied at 3 °C in a cold store and a label that lives at −25 °C are not the same problem, and a label applied at 25 °C that lives at −25 °C is a third one.
3. Is water involved? Condensation on a bottle coming out of a chiller, a wash-down, a wet-wipe regime, a humid warehouse. Water-based acrylic tolerates condensation at application reasonably well; what it does not tolerate is being asked to bond through standing water without the right grade.
4. Does it ever come off? If yes, the answer is a removable system and the permanent systems are off the table regardless of every other answer. If it must come off cleanly after six months in the sun, that is a harder requirement than most buyers expect and it needs testing.
Our 115 constructions use five adhesive families. The counts below are the actual number of codes, not a range description — if a code is not in a group, it does not use that system.
| System | Codes in range | Facestock it is coated on | Where it earns its place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water-based acrylic | the majority of the 115 | Paper and film | General purpose permanent labels; lowest unit cost; broad compatibility |
| Hot-melt | 17 | Paper and film | High initial tack on rough, fibrous or cold surfaces at speed |
| Solvent acrylic | 16 | Film only — PET, BOPP, PE | Chemical exposure, plasticiser migration, wash-down, pharma and cosmetic |
| Removable | 11 | BOPP and PET film, one PE | Promotions, price changes, returnable assets, rework |
| Freezer | 5 | Paper and BOPP film | Application and service below freezing |
Counts are constructions, not products: a construction is facestock + adhesive + liner, so the same adhesive can appear across several thicknesses.
The table is the honest version of the decision: it names the system, the reason, and the codes in this range that use it. Where a case is not covered by a code here, that is a gap in the range and we say so rather than stretching a construction to fit.
| Application | System | Why | Codes in this range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry goods, cartons, general logistics | Water-based acrylic | Clean dry surface, no chemical load, cost-driven | FL010x–FL011x, MJ01xx–MJ03xx |
| Chilled, condensation at application | Water-based acrylic | Tolerates surface moisture better than hot-melt | Paper and film grades, e.g. FL0304W21 |
| Frozen, applied cold | Freezer | Retains tack at and below −20 °C | FL0103W21, FL0105W21, FL0204W21, FL0209W21, FL0213W21 |
| Beverage, wet bottle, curved | Water-based or freezer film | Condensation plus curvature; film facestock for conformability | FL0204W21, FL0209W21, FL0213W21 |
| Chemical, wash-down, aggressive wipe | Solvent acrylic | Continuous film, no surfactant residue, slower migration | FL0206W21, FL0208W21, FL0212W21, FL0304W21, FL0305W21, FL0311W21–FL0318W21 |
| Pharma, cosmetic, plasticiser risk | Solvent acrylic | Slows plasticiser and oil migration from the pack | MJ0503W21, MJ0602W21, MJ0701W21, MJ0702W21, MJ0801W21, FL0304W21 |
| Rough recycled board, high speed | Hot-melt | Initial tack on open fibrous surfaces | FL0104W21, FL0106W21–FL0108W21, FL0210W21, FL0214W21 |
| Promotion, price change, rework | Removable | Comes off without fibre tear or residue | FL0201W21, FL0202W21, FL0203W21, FL0205W21, FL0207W21, FL0211W21, FL0303W21, FL0314W21, FL0316W21, FL0317W21, FL0401W21 |
| Security, tamper evidence | Oil glue on void film | The void message is in the film, not the adhesive | NE0103W21 |
Edge lift after a week. Almost never the adhesive. It is either a facestock that is too stiff for the radius, an application temperature too low for the adhesive to wet out, or too little dwell pressure at the applicator. The label goes down, looks right, and lifts from the edge inward as the memory of the film pulls it back.
Peeled off in a chiller. Condensation between adhesive and surface. Water-based acrylic is the better family here, but the applicator matters as much: the label has to be pressed while the surface is still wet, not after the water film has formed.
Adhesive transfer on removal. A permanent system asked to do a removable job. There is no way to make a permanent acrylic come off cleanly by choosing a thicker liner; the formulation has to be removable, and the dwell time and surface still matter.
Failure only in summer. Plasticiser or oil migration from the container into the adhesive, softening it. It shows as a label that slides or wrinkles when warm. This is the specific case where solvent acrylic changes the outcome, and it is the reason the system exists.
Polypropylene and polyethylene containers have low surface energy, and adhesive bonds to them far less strongly than to glass or paper. The common mistake is to answer this with a higher-tack adhesive. High initial tack makes the label stay down for the first hour, which passes incoming inspection, and then it lifts under load.
The real answers are mechanical — more dwell pressure at the applicator, a warmer application, a longer wrap — or a different film facestock that conforms instead of pulling. If a customer is labelling HDPE or PP containers and the labels lift, we ask about the applicator pressure before we ask about adhesive grades, because that is usually where it is.
Give us these five and the recommendation is precise the first time:
1. The surface, named. "HDPE bottle, 60 mm diameter" not "plastic".
2. Application temperature and service temperature, both in °C.
3. Whether the surface is dry, damp or wet at application.
4. Whether the label is permanent or must be removable, and after how long.
5. Width and quantity. Master width is 1,080 mm, we slit to order, MOQ is 1,000 m² and lead time is 15–25 days depending on construction and slitting programme.
We send free sample rolls so the choice can be tested on your own container and your own applicator. That test is worth more than any datasheet we could write, and we will tell you which two or three codes to put in it.
Answered by the coating and conversion team, not by marketing.
The chemical-resistant system in depth — mechanism, the 16 codes, and when it is the wrong answer.
The five freezer constructions and the difference between applied-cold and stored-cold.
The 11 removable codes, the dwell window, and why a permanent system cannot be made to behave like one.
Where tamper evidence comes from the film rather than the adhesive.
The facestock half of the same decision, including conformability on flexible containers.
Answer five questions and narrow 115 constructions down to the two or three worth sampling.