SHRINK SLEEVE

When you want to brand your product from top to bottom, shrink sleeve labels give you a way to create 360-degree coverage for your products. Shrink sleeves have grown in popularity over the past few decades after making an initial splash when Tylenol used them to combine attractive labeling with tamper-evident sealing.

Shrink sleeves are now growing in popularity for cans, bottles, and other containers, but there are still many people in need of quality product packaging who don’t know how these labels work. Here’s a quick breakdown of what a shrink sleeve label is and what makes it different from other labeling solutions.

Shrink sleeve labels are full-color, 360-degree printed labels that utilize heat in the application process to conform the label to the shape of the container. The labels are typically printed on either plastic or polyester film material and are commonly used on aluminum cans and glass or plastic bottles.

One of the greatest advantages of using shrink sleeves is that it allows you a 150 percent increase in label real estate compared to pressure sensitive labels. This additional space can be used to help tell your brand story, add more imagery, or make room for all of the regulatory information that needs to go on your label.

Beyond branding, shrink sleeves can function as more than just a label. Like in the Tylenol example, shrink sleeves can double as tamper-evident sealing to give your products the extra security they need with a perforated shrink cap. Shrink sleeves can also be used to package multiple items together for the purpose of offering it as one product. Because shrink sleeves are form-fitting, you can package different sized and shaped containers, like free samples or two-for-one deals, together easily.

Another benefit of using shrink sleeves is that they are much made of very durable materials. This makes them an excellent labeling option for products like hair care products and beer that are often in humid or moisture-heavy environments like showers and refrigerators.