How to Apply A Candle Label
You want your candles to stand out for the right reason, because of your gorgeous labels and scents, not because of a wonky label. Nothing looks less appealing than a crumpled, bubbled or uneven label. Our Label expert team, along with our good friends at CandleScience have put together some supportive tips for making sure your candle labels are perfect every time. You want your candles to stand out for the right reason, because of your gorgeous labels and scents, not because of a wonky label. Nothing looks less appealing than a crumpled, bubbled or uneven label. Our Label expert team, along with our good friends at CandleScience have put together some supportive tips for making sure your candle labels are perfect every time.
Tools required:
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Lint-free cloth
- Stabilizer or jig
- Flat item to smooth (credit card etc.)
- Pin to pop bottles
- Candles
- Labels
Let's get started!
No better time to get started than now! Get started as you normally would, pouring and setting before labelling them. This helps prevent the labels from getting dirty or damaged in the pouring process.
The first step for applying your labels is to make sure your application area is completely clean by using the rubbing alcohol and your cloth to carefully clean the surface of your candle jar or tins. Make sure the surface is completely dry before you begin to apply. This will help form a strong bond between the label adhesive and your container.
If you are using clear labels, cleaning your candle container prior to applying will also help prevent any marks or blemishes from showing through the label.
This next step is the real hack here – to make sure you get your label as straight as possible, brace your candle container between 2 objects in order to control your application better.
You can use something as simple as two blocks of wood, or even a homemade jig. Some people have also found the empty egg cartons also work well to stabilize jars for label application.
It is also extremely important to make sure that your candles are entirely cool to room temperature (roughly 20 degrees) before applying the labels, to ensure that the adhesive of the labels properly adheres to the candle container.
Aligning your candle label
Decide where you would like your label on your candle jar on your tin in relation to the top or the lid. Don’t forget to take into deliberation what it will look like with the lid both on and off and choose the location that looks good in both circumstances.
When choosing where to apply the label, be sure to look for a vertical seam or edge to help with the alignment. If you applying to a flat surface, look for the straight edge and align the corner of the label with that edge to remain straight.
Appling your candle label
The first step to properly apply your label is to make sure you are starting with clean hands. You don’t want to get your beautiful new labels dirty! Carefully peel the label from its backing and hold the label by the outer edges to avoid touching the adhesive of the label as much as possible. If you are applying the clear labels by hand, we recommend using gloves (lint-free is best!) to avoid fingerprints on the backside of the label. This is quite unsightly once the label is on the candle.
If you are applying your label to a round container, it is best to start at the centre of the label and apply pressure towards the outside of the label to prevent creases.
If you are applying your label to a flat or square container, start at one of the edges and roll the rest of the label to the surface and avoid wrinkles. Once your label is flat, press hard from the centre towards the edge to flatten the label.
Remove wrinkles & bubbles
To remove any wrinkles or bubbles that may have been left behind when applying your label, use a hard, flexible tool like a credit card or gift card, lightly but firmly pushing any creases or bubbles to the edge of the label to push them out of the label.
It takes approximately 24/48 hours to cure the label adhesive completely, to make the tack permanent. This means it is very important to keep your candles at room temp to prevent any further bubbling or lifting.
If the label does for any reason bubble and you can’t seem to remove them with your credit card or other tool, you can try using a small pin. Simply poke a tiny hole in the bubble and try pushing the label once again with the card. This should remove the bubble and once flattened, the hole shouldn’t be visible.
We recommend storing your finished candles at room temp and with a small gap in between to avoid any bumping or rubbing of labels.
Before buying your labels
A few quick tips for before you purchase your labels;
- Decide what shape label is best for your jar. You can use our printable label shapes here to test out different shapes on your candle container.
- Once you have your shape, make sure you know the exact size you need for your candle jar - check out some methods to make sure you get the right size every time, here.
- If you don’t have a home printer, or want a professional final product, you can order full-colour, custom printed candle labels through Avery WePrint. You can simply personalise your label design with one of our free templates, or upload your own design. We will then print and cut your labels in our Australian Factory and ship you the final product.
- You can also order blank labels to print yourself at home if you prefer, order as many or as little of each size or shape, so you can test out different labels on the same container to see what you like more in person. You can also order our traditional packaged sheet labels, available in retail stores, or on our website here.