So you want to learn about materials?

Well that's fun. And as it turns out we've spent quite a bit of time thinking about materials so you've come to the right place. We'll give you a little overview of the various materials generally available to print on, what we use for what, and what we don't use and why. Here we go...

Plain Paper

We're reasonably sure you know what paper is. Paper labels and stickers are pretty much just paper with an adhesive backing. Paper labels come in various finishes... plain (sort of like the address label on your most recent Amazon delivery), matte (a.k.a. slightly upgraded plain), and gloss (a plain label with a glossy coating on top).

Advantages of Paper

Inexpensive

Disadvantages of Paper

Looks cheap unless coated
Very hard to get vivid graphics with colors that "pop"

All kidding aside, the primary problems with paper, in our opinion, are that the color vibrancy is just not as good as with other materials and we think that paper labels sort of look a little cheap. Because they are--paper labels are by far the cheapest option available.

Unless specifically noted on a product page, we do not use uncoated plain paper labels. We use gloss coated paper labels for certain items where we believe the print quality will still be excellent and where we beiieve customers will be happy with print quality.

Fancy Paper

Here we are again with more paper. Well, in this case, upgraded paper. Have you ever seen a wine bottle lablel with a little bit of texture to it and thought, wow, that's a nice wine bottle label, I think I'll buy that wine? No? Not surprising.

Fancy paper is typically either a linen or cotton blend and definitely has a luxe look and feel to it. That comes at a price.

Advantages of Fancy Paper

Looks fancy

Disadvantages of Fancy Paper

Generally about twice as expensive as plain paper

We don't use a lot of fancy paper and when we do it's typically for wine bottle labels that don't require water resistance and are light on complex graphics and/or photography. If we do use it we use either Avon Brilliant White if we want a flat label or Estate Laid Paper #4 if we want a bit of texture. Feel free to Google those if you want to learn more.

Vinyl

You're perhaps familiar with vinyl itself or by another name--PVC. Vinyl/PVC is a type of plastic used in construction materials and many other industrial situations. Awesome, right? Well sort of. Vinyl is great for flooring, vehicle wraps, and large windows or sidings, but there are other options for the awesome label we're going to stick on a wedding favor for you.

Advantages of Vinyl

Durable: resists tearing and to some extent scuffing. Great for bumper stickers, window stickers, and things that will be subjected to rain, sleet, snow, or sun for months at a time.
Water resistant: Won't immediately turn into a huge mess when exposed to water like paper labels generally do. Generally dishwasher safe if the printing process is appropriate.
Decent looking: Color vibrancy and overall look is pretty good

Disadvantages of Vinyl

Vinyl is great for bumper stickers and so forth but we're not aware of a lot of product packaging or "high end" work that is produced in vinyl. The industry leans towards BOPP (more on that below) for high quality, durable prints
In our humble opinion, the smell of it is annoying when you have to work with it for long periods of time

BOPP

Not to be confused with the famous song MMMbop by Hanson, BOPP is biaxially oriented polypropylene. A fancy name for stretched polypropylene. It's pretty good stuff and, in many ways, similar to vinyl. It comes in a variety of finishes from flat matte to glossy, produces significantly more color vibrancy than paper (similar in vibrancy to vinyl), and it's cheaper than vinyl. So, we use it for lots of stuff.

Advantages of BOPP

Durable: resists tearing and scuffing.
Water resistant: Won't immediately turn into a huge mess when exposed to water like paper labels generally do.
Great looking: Pearl and gloss BOPP just look great when printed on. Fine detail stands out and the colors are vibrant.

Disadvantages of BOPP

Vinyl definitely wins the long-term water resistance prize. BOPP is fine for beer bottle labels that will sit in a cooler for a day or two but not for that awesome sticker you have on your water bottle that is going to be run through a dishwasher many times.
More expensive than paper but less expensive than vinyl.

Most of our items are printed on either pearl or gloss BOPP. Matte finished BOPP exists but we think a little bit of sheen makes colors pop and just make the end result look a little more sophisticated for events like weddings where sophistication is important.

To sum all that up...