Anyone found blank decals that can be printed on with a basic printer?

I really don't feel like printing labels up for each batch of beer that I make but would love to come up with a brewery name and logo that I could print on decals once and then reuse. Anyone do this? Does this even exist?

My wife was putting a decal on the car and thought it would be a great idea for beer bottles, if of course I could buy them blank and print from my home printer.

Thanks,

Many LHBS here carry them. Have you tried a paper supply store like Staples.

My LHBS has semi printed labels which can be added to on a program and then printed. I had wine labels done this way, but it would be too expensive for everyday beer botles labeling.

My LHBS doesn't carry any type of labels and I have looked online for it at a few supply stores (including Staples) but not in the store.

I have found clear labels, but none that are reusable decals, i.e. put some windex on the back of the decal and slap it on my bottle.

Just a couple suggestions here:

1)You might want to stick (pun intended) with water based glues and plain paper. It really makes cleaning up the bottles a breeze.

2)I have been using the same basic background and simply adding the text to describe the contents of the bottle and the important info, like bottling date, and other batch specific stuff like ABV and "please return bottle" etc.....

Wal Mart, and other places I imagine too, has parchment paper in multi-color packs. This paper has a pretty nice feel and appearance, yet absorbs water readily when it comes time to clean it off the bottles.

While I'm at it, and please bear with me if you're well aware of this already as I'm sure there's a few people who might not be aware of it:
This page might help if you're having a hard time utilizing paper efficiently for your labels. It will work with most image file types.

Matt

Do you bottle?

When I bottle (with crown caps) I use Avery labels #05410 that are 1" round and fit the cap great. They come 600 labels to a pack for a few bucks.

There's also a link to the Avery site where you can download the template and it'll place an icon in your MS-Word tool bar.

If you place your bottles in a cooler (in the summer) you'll be looking at the tops of the bottle anyway.

My brother in law had decals made for his band, and i am trying to find out where he ordered them from. I think it would look like stone brewery labels. Not reusable, but i had the same idea of slapping my brew name on the bottles.

You could always try silkscreening your logo onto the bottles, or maybe spraypaint & stencils. The catch is that both ways are permanent. Regards, GF.

Static Cling labels may be what you're searching for.

I think you can inkjet on these, spray with some clear krylon (since inkjet ink is water soluble and will run/bleed) and use/re-use as needed.

Water-slide decals are out there (look on e-bay to avoid buying large quantities) but I don't think they're re-usable.

Go to onlinelabels.com and order a bunch of samples of different sizes/types. Most are of the sticky type, but would work for bottle caps. Poke around there; it's free to you, and they'll send you a lot of labels as samples.

edit: http://www.onlinelabels.com/OL3078.htm -- beer labels

http://www.onlinelabels.com/material_removable_labels.htm -- removable labels

Go to onlinelabels.com and order a bunch of samples of different sizes/types. Most are of the sticky type, but would work for bottle caps. Poke around there; it's free to you, and they'll send you a lot of labels as samples.

Just browsed the site, and they appear to have done away with their samples program. But still, pretty much every label that you would ever think of is on there...

Beer Bottle Labels - Bottle Labels - OL3078 - 3.4956" x 2.9944" - 8 Labels Per Sheet -- removable beer labels

The regular OL3078 is beer labels with permanent adhesive. You could always just go with a bunch of rectangular labels per page also that are the right aspect ratio...

I don't think that you can get a waterproof label with removable adhesive. But their waterproof labels are *tough*. They might be able to handle a good soaking. I know that the labels from a local brewery around here are "waterproof", and oxi-clean, star san, etc have zero effect on the label other than cleaning it!

Sorry for the double-post. My work proxy is causing some connection issues!

Got an idea from one of the folks around here for a tag that hangs from the neck. Removable and reusable. Sort of slick IMO.

gratus fermentatio,

would silk screening stay on the bottles after running them through sani setting on a dishwasher? I am looking to permanently label my bottles with my brew label, and then have a small area to right in the style with a sharpie, or something.

avibayer said:

gratus fermentatio,

would silk screening stay on the bottles after running them through sani setting on a dishwasher? I am looking to permanently label my bottles with my brew label, and then have a small area to right in the style with a sharpie, or something.

Click to expand...

It would depend on the ink you use, I think most of the brands out there are water proof & are pretty tough, but I'm not sure if the ink could stand up to the heat generated in the dishwasher. You could always seal it with a coat or two of Krylon clear coat, or a similar clear polymer spray. You could also try spraying your logo with a stencil & high heat resistant spray paint, the kind designed for use on BBQ grills should stand up to the heat just fine; though I think I'd still seal it with a clear, food-grade polymer. If you use a spray application, be sure to mask the top of the bottleneck to keep any overspray off the area covered by the cap as the capping/opening process could scrape some of the stuff off & it could fall into the bottle or glass it's poured into. Regards, GF.

EDIT: After thinking about this, I'd definately seal it with food grade clear polymer. I'd be concerned about any chemicals leaching out of the ink/paint & getting sprayed all over the bottles, inside & out. I never considered using this with a dishwasher till now. Some commercial brewers (like Rogue & Dead Guy) use either ink or paint on their bottles, so it can be & is done. Regards, GF.

In the end i think i'm going to go with die-cut vinyl stickers.