Back in July 2016 I printed some samples and stuck them out the back of our building where they would be subject to the midday sun, wind, and rain. Being a laminated plastic material you would expect them to last, and I know they do last, but for the sake of an experiment I decided to go ahead with a few different sizes and colours. I'm sure our neighbours are a little perplexed by the array of colours stuck to our building, but it's all in the name of science.
18th July 2016
It was late afternoon while the sun doesn't hit this side of the building. I used isopropyl alcohol to clean the majority of the crud from the plastic surface prior to sticking the labels down. The only thing to note here is that the high grade (HGe) tape is the only one with the extra strong adhesive. Not likely to have an effect on this test is the flexible (TZe-FX) tape which is usually best for curved surfaces such as wrapping round cables and pipes.
1st November 2016
15 weeks later and all that's changed is the weather. It's a lot cooler and has previously been a lot wetter, but it was dry at the time I took the photo. The camera on my phone doesn't have a manual white balance which has caused the colour of the labels to look somewhat washed out. All of the labels still have their vibrant colour to them, and they have stayed stuck. It's not yet hit freezing temperatures so I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store in the winter months.
2nd March 2017
It's been 32 weeks since application and everything still looks pretty good. The edges of the labels have collected some muck that's trickled down the side of the building, but the colours are still vibrant and the text hasn't faded. Not a single corner has started to peel, which is something to be expected with a square corner. Also the gloss finish is still... well... glossy. As far as the "special" labels go, the high grade one has the stronger adhesive, the flexible ID is a little more flexible, so there are expected to hold up better than the others, but they're all looking as good as new.
We'll come back again later in the year to see how they're doing, but I wouldn't be expecting anything different. Hopefully these tests answer some burning questions you might have regarding the long term quality of the labels. Why not check out how durable the Dymo XTL labels are when used as floor labels over a 60 day period.
View Brother TZe Durability Test Data
**** **** 2017
