[ QUALITY LABELS START HERE.
{ IF YOU WANT THE BEST RESULTS, STICK WITH THE BEST COMPONENTS. } Building a great label means choosing the right top-quality components to precisely match your application, environment, appearance requirements, and print technology. That’s why 3M offers such a wide variety of adhesives, facestocks, and liners to choose from. This selection guide is designed to help you quickly find the components that have the performance characteristics you need for your next label job.
PERMANENT Adhesive Type 1 2 Adhesive Properties Temperature °F Description High Service Low Service Minimum Application Initial Peel Ultimate Peel 100 High-Temperature Acrylic High-temperature adhesive that exhibits low outgassing characteristics. UL/CSA.2 450 –40 50 Fair Excellent Excellent 350 High-Performance Acrylic Universal adhesive, ideal for powder coatings and oily metals. UL/CSA.
FACESTOCK SELECTION POLYESTER Service Temperature Printability Conformability Chemical Resistance Moisture Resistance Outdoor Durability 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 5.0 –20° to 257° F None Poor Excellent Excellent Excellent White Brite Gold Matte Gold Brite Silver Brushed Silver Matte Silver Clear 1.0, 1.0, 2.0 1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0, –40° to 302° F Flexographic, Hot Stamp, Ion Deposition, Letterpress, Offset, Screen, Thermal Transfer Poor Excellent Excellent Excellent White Clear 2.0 2.
VINYL Printability Conformability * Chemical Resistance Moisture Resistance Outdoor Durability Flexographic Excellent Fair Good Good Multipurpose film available in flexible, semi-rigid or rigid. –20° to 140° F Flexographic, Letterpress, Thermal Transfer Excellent Fair Good Good Handles outdoor conditions well. 3.2, 3.5 4.0 3.5 3.5 –20° to 140° F Flexographic, Thermal Transfer Excellent Fair Good Good 3.2, 3.5, 6.
POLYPROPYLENE Service Temperature Printability Conformability Chemical Resistance Moisture Resistance Outdoor Durability 1.2, 2.0, 3.3 1.0 2.0 –20° to 140° F Flexographic Good Good Excellent Good White White Metallized Clear Silver 2.3 2.3 1.2, 2.0 2.0 –20° to 140° F UV Polypropylene TC White Clear 3.6 3.
ACETATE Facestock Colors Mil Thickness Acetate Clear Matte Clear White 2.0 1.5, 2.0 2.0 Service Temperature Printability Conformability Chemical Resistance Moisture Resistance Outdoor Durability –20° to 140° F Flexographic Poor Poor Poor Poor Features Rigid film, tears easily, works well for security seals. SPECIALTY FACESTOCK SELECTION POLYIMIDE Facestock Colors Mil Thickness Service Temperature Kapton® Matte White (DMI or TT) 3.
SPECIALTY FACESTOCK SELECTION ACRYLATE Printability Conformability Chemical Resistance Moisture Resistance Outdoor Durability –40° to 392° F 530° for 1 min. 482° for 5 min. 440° for 60 min. Laser Markable Good Excellent Excellent Excellent Ultra-high temperature performance. Can be imaged and “kiss cut” by a laser beam. Long-term readability, chemical and abrasion resistance. 2.0 –40° to 392° F 530° for 30 sec. 500° for 7 min.
TOP COATING GUIDE POLYESTER TOP COATINGS Top Coat TC/TC5 Gloss A high-gloss, general-purpose polyester top coating designed for use with a wide variety of film inks. Excellent for thermal transfer printing with resin ribbons. Top Coat PT A print-treated polyester designed for print receptivity with most film ink systems and thermal transfer printing. The end-user should fully evaluate specific ribbons for suitability.
LINER SELECTION Ultimate Lay Flat Semi Lay Flat Back Side Printable Fanfold Roll-to-Roll Liner Mil Thickness Description 40# SC 2.4 Semi-bleached, super calendered kraft sheet. • 44# Polykraft 3.1 Polypropylene has been laminated to a 44# brown kraft sheet. Excellent caliper control and strength making it ideal for high-speed labeling applications. • 50# SC 3.1 Semi-bleached, super calendered kraft sheet designed for high-speed die-cutting and matrix stripping.
OUR MOST POPULAR COMBINATIONS We pride ourselves on being able to create the right solution for your application and process requirements. But we realize that with more than 2,000 products, sometimes it helps to have a starting point when determining precisely what your needs are. Below you’ll find a list of common applications and the component combinations that many of our customers have used with outstanding results. They can serve as a good starting point.
Product Use: All statements, technical information and data contained in this document are based upon tests or experience that 3M believes are reliable. However, many factors beyond 3M’s control can affect the use and performance of a 3M product in a particular application, including the conditions under which the product is used and the time and environmental conditions in which the product is expected to perform.
