Many buyers open a quotation request by asking “what is the highest temperature you can handle?”. In real service conditions, however, the success of a label is rarely decided by a single temperature ceiling — it is decided by the combined match of four parameters.
1. Continuous and Peak Temperature
Continuous temperature is the ambient temperature the label sits in over the long term. Peak temperature is the maximum reached briefly — usually minutes to tens of minutes. The two demand completely different materials.
When a hot-rolled coil leaves the mill, its surface can reach 700–800 °C, but it soon drops below 500 °C. Such a scenario calls for short-term peak resistance, not a material rated for continuous 800 °C — the latter costs several times more.
2. Substrate and Surface Condition
At the same temperature, performance differs enormously depending on the substrate:
- Castings have a rough surface and need high initial-tack adhesives
- Rolled coil carries mill scale; the adhesive must penetrate the oxide layer
- Stainless steel is smooth, so adhesive flow at high temperature must be considered
3. Dwell Time
How long must the label remain in that environment? A few hours (read immediately off the line) or several months (travelling with the part into storage)? Dwell time directly determines the required ageing resistance of the material.
4. Reading Method
Does it need a QR code, a barcode, or just human-readable characters? Ink-layer durability varies widely under high temperature. QR codes generally require higher contrast and better abrasion resistance, because once worn they cannot be read at all.
How We Specify
Give us these four parameters and we issue a material structure proposal setting out the facestock, adhesive and liner combination together with the expected service life. Samples with measured data can be produced within 48 hours.