Dissolvable Labels

Reusable containers come back from the wash with the label still welded on — so someone stands at the sink with a scraper, or the container goes back out with last week's date on it. Neither is a labelling problem you can buy your way out of with cheaper paper; it is a question of what the label is made of.

We supply dissolvable labels: face stocks and adhesives that hold normally in use and then disperse when the container is washed, so the label leaves with the water instead of with a scraper. Intended for reusable containers — food rotation and day dots, meal-prep trays, laboratory sample and reagent bottles — where the label has to survive one cycle and then be gone. Supplied as direct-thermal rolls or printable sheets.

Where Dissolvable Labels Are Used

Wherever a label has to come off cleanly, without scraping:

• Food service and central kitchens — day dots and use-by labels on reusable containers.
• Meal prep and catering — reusable pans, trays and gastronorm containers.
• Laboratories and healthcare — sample, reagent and specimen containers.
• Hospitality and housekeeping — reusable storage and service containers.
• Food processing — batch containers and in-process vessels.

Need a label that survives water rather than dissolves in it? See Waterproof Labels. For the general paper range, see Paper Labels.

Key Features

Leaves with the wash water, not with a scraper

The face stock and adhesive are formulated to break up in water rather than to resist it, so a soak or a wash cycle separates the label from the container instead of leaving it welded on — labour comes out of the wash-up, and containers turn around faster.

No residue left behind

Because the label disperses rather than being peeled, there is no gum line, no torn paper and no ghost of last week's date on the container — which matters where the container is going back into food contact and has to look, and be, clean.

Works on the containers you already reuse

Made for the plastic, glass and stainless containers already in circulation in kitchens, labs and commissaries — you are not buying new containers to fit the label.

Printed and cut to your operation

Supplied as direct-thermal rolls for on-demand day-dot printing, or as printable sheets for laser and inkjet — die-cut to the shapes and sizes your line already uses.

Technical Specifications

• Face stock: water-dispersible paper-based label stock
• Adhesive: water-dispersible, formulated to release in water rather than resist it
• Formats: direct-thermal rolls; printable sheets
• Printing: direct thermal (rolls); laser or inkjet (sheets) — confirmed per grade
• Removal: disperses under soaking or a wash cycle; no scraper, no solvent
• Sizes and shapes: die-cut to your specification
• Dispersion time, temperature and wash-cycle performance: confirmed against the selected grade for your process

Tell us the container, how it is washed and how fast the label has to be gone, and we will confirm the grade.

How to Select and Order

• Start from how the label has to come off — a short soak, a commercial dishwasher cycle and a long soak tank each call for a different grade; tell us the wash process and we will match it.
• Choose the format by your printer — direct-thermal rolls where labels are printed on demand at the station; sheets where they are printed in batches on a laser or inkjet.
• Check the surface and the storage conditions — plastic, glass and stainless behave differently, and a container that goes into the freezer before it is washed needs the grade confirmed for that cycle.

MOQ, lead time and freight depend on material, size and quantity — send your specification and volume and we will quote.

FAQ

• Is this the same as a biodegradable or compostable label? No — and the two should not be confused. This page describes water-dispersible label stock: the mechanism is that the label breaks up in water. Biodegradation and composting are separate properties that depend on the specific grade and on the conditions it is exposed to. If your project needs a compostability claim, tell us and we will confirm it against the specific grade and its documentation — in writing, offline.
• Will it come off in a commercial dishwasher? It is designed for a wash cycle, but the result depends on cycle temperature and duration. Tell us your wash process and we will confirm the grade rather than assume it.
• Can I use it on containers that go into the freezer? Storage temperature and wash temperature are two different requirements. Tell us both and we will confirm the adhesive.
• What printer do I need? Direct-thermal rolls work with standard direct-thermal label printers; sheets are printed on a laser or inkjet. Confirm the grade against your printer before ordering.
• Can I test before ordering? Yes — request samples and run them through your own wash cycle on your own containers before you commit a specification.

Bofeng New Materials supplies dissolvable labels to food service operators, caterers, laboratories and food processors as part of its Eco Labels range. Tell us the container, the wash process and the surface, and we will specify the grade.

Get a quote or request samples: jason.zhan@bofmat.com

Related: Paper Labels · White Thermal Labels · Waterproof Labels