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You are here: Home / Crafts / Paper / Make Your Own: Waterproof Labels

Paper

Make Your Own: Waterproof Labels

Waterproof labels

 Waterproof Labels

A few weeks ago I shared a recipe for making your own bath paints.  And now I am sharing the how-to for the labels I used.

I know there is no need to  label your kids’ bath paints as it will be quite obvious which colour is which.  At least it will be if you use see-through jars…But I couldn’t resist labelling the paints.  Having done so, though, I realized that the labels would get trashed after half a bath time.  The answer?  Waterproof labels!

You could use this technique for any number of labelling projects – provided that the item you are labelling is made from glass…

 

You will need:

  • Printed labels
  • Tacky Glue
  • Paraffin wax OR a white crayon
  • Paper towel
  • Hairdryer

 

Instructions

To get started, clean your jars and spray paint the lids – if you’re going to go to the trouble of labelling them, you might as well pull a Cinderella on the lids.

Design and print out your labels.

Waterproof labels

Stick the labels to your jars using cheap and cheerful home made tacky glue (I swear by  this stuff!!!).

Waterproof labels

When your labels are firmly attached, paint over them with melted paraffin wax OR draw all over their surface with a white crayon.

Waterproof labels

It is obvious that the crayon is the more convenient option, so why even include the instructions for the paraffin wax?  Because:  I would never melt paraffin wax JUST for waterproofing labels (unless I am doing a million labels), but I had some already melted from making the paper drinking straws and I did not have any white crayons to hand.

Next you’ll want to wrap a paper towel around one of the jars.

Waterproof labels

Blow on it with a hair dryer until the wax/crayon starts melting.  The excess wax will be absorbed by the paper towel.  You will be able to see this happening as the wax will seep into the paper towel, making it translucent.  Your label will also become translucent.  Make sure that it is uniformly translucent.  Little “dry” spots will mean that the wax hasn’t been absorbed properly and those areas won’t be waterproof.

Waterproof labels

When you think the wax is sufficiently melted, wipe the label with the paper towel and set aside.  Repeat with all the jars.

Waterproof labels

And there you have it.  Waterproof labels in minutes.

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22 Comments November 4, 2012

Comments

  1. Judy Hay says

    September 10, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    Just wondering if anyone has dried ironing their labels with wax paper to make them waterproof?

    Judy from Ontario Canada

    Reply
  2. Melody says

    March 22, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    Will this method work on plastic containers?
    I use sticker paper. And have used laminating sheets or contact paper to cover the sticker paper before applying it to the container. But water seeps in through the edges. Do the crayon prevent water seeping in along the edges?

    Reply
    • Dedri Uys says

      March 25, 2018 at 10:41 am

      Hi Melody. The crayon makes regular paper waterproof, but whether or not the edges will lift eventually depends on the type of glue you use, not the crayon and its waterproofing skills. If you use a really strong glue, it shouldn’t lift.

      Dedri

  3. Lisa says

    October 6, 2017 at 6:03 am

    I am going to try this tomorrow! I make homemade moisturisers and have been sick of the printer ink running when I leave a jar on the bathroom sink and wanted a cheap and more environmental way of fixing the problem. I don’t want the waste of using labels where you waste the background cheating and I like the look of plain copy paper.

    Reply
  4. Rachel K says

    June 5, 2016 at 5:42 am

    I’d love to try this! I want to make myself a label for my mugs and drinking glasses using this method; do you think it would hold up to being washed with dish soap and such?

    Reply
    • Dedri Uys says

      June 8, 2016 at 9:36 am

      Hi Rachel, the wax would wash off after a few washes, depending on how vigorously you wash them.

  5. Conner Baldwin says

    March 14, 2016 at 11:59 am

    Attagirl! Id used old fashioned gel glue as librarian – good mix. But the waterproof bit was a need. Thanx !

    Reply
  6. SabrinaM says

    June 2, 2015 at 9:38 pm

    This looks amazing. Was it done with just regular white paper or label paper??

    Reply
    • Dedri Uys says

      June 7, 2015 at 6:58 pm

      Hi Sabrina. Just regular paper :)

  7. Lauren says

    March 16, 2015 at 10:30 am

    Does this actually work? I wanted to make some waterproof labels for body scrubs that will be in the shower. Would it work with sticker paper?

    Reply
    • Dedri Uys says

      March 16, 2015 at 11:12 am

      Lauren, I have never actually left a bottle with a label standing in the shower (as in under constant running water), but my labels stayed on (and pretty) through numerous splashes. They also stayed nice in the fridge (condensation and all).

  8. Rena says

    February 5, 2015 at 2:18 pm

    Is there another type of glue to use instead of tacky glue? I’d love to try this!

    Reply
    • Dedri Uys says

      February 8, 2015 at 9:08 am

      Rena, you can use any glue that works on the item that you wish to stick your labels on. Elmers should work…

  9. Steagle says

    January 8, 2015 at 8:36 am

    Thanks for this very clever idea. in keeping with my “no-waste Christmas” theme I made all my Christmas presents this year, and upcycled all the glass jars I collected. These labels worked really well and were completely waterproof. I actually couldn’t find any paraffin wax, nor could I find any single white crayons (and I didn’t want to buy a whole pack in keeping with the no waste Christmas theme), so instead I tried candles. Just super cheap ones and they worked a treat :)

    Reply
    • Dedri Uys says

      January 11, 2015 at 11:13 pm

      Candles work wonderfully. I am surprised that I didn’t mention that in the post.

      I had a look at your post and it is great.

      Thank you!

      Dedri

  10. Shera says

    November 20, 2014 at 4:15 pm

    Would this method hold up if the bottles are refrigerated??? My labels keep coming off my glass bottles after being refrigerated. Would this seal them enough so that the humidity of the bottle itself wont affect them?

    Reply
    • Dedri Uys says

      November 21, 2014 at 11:45 am

      Hi Shera. That is actually a very good question. I am going to have to do some experimenting before I answer definitively. The waterproofing will work on refrigerated bottles, but whether or not the labels will come off will depend largely on which glue you use to attach the labels to the bottles.

  11. Caroline says

    June 29, 2014 at 3:56 pm

    Thanks, I was making some cool video game inspired jars (long story) and i REALLY wanted to make the labels waterproof, so I just wanna say thanks, your ideas saved my crafts projects :)

    Reply
    • Dedri Uys says

      June 30, 2014 at 3:33 pm

      I’m so pleased someone found it useful, Caroline!

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