Removing iron-ons

Mabel's clothing labels resist the wear and tear of laundry and children beautifully! Iron-ons are the classic choice for clothing labels.

But can they be removed?

The short answer is, it depends.

Many people are able to just pull them off by picking at a corner that has come loose over time. By design, however, the iron-on label ever so slightly melts to adhere to the fabric.

If you have been aggressive with the iron (by heating longer than recommended on the package) to adhere the labels (as I was with the socks shown to the right*), you may be left with a little bit of residue on your clothing. Note that I was able to remove the name part of the label, but not the base part that melted into the sock.

Some people recommend to "Try ironing it and when it is warm ease up a corner and pull fairly hard." I understand that some people have had success with the following method:

1. Place a piece of parchment paper over the label and heat the label with a hot dry iron.
2. Remove the parchment paper.
3. Pull it from a corner while the label is still hot. (Be careful not to burn yourself! Use a blunt knife to do this.)
4. Peel label away from the clothing.
   
5. The label may break as it cools.
6. Repeat as necessary.

I haven't had a chance to try heating up the label and then removing the residue -- when I do I'll post back here with the results.

Alternately, one could iron a new one over the top (should the item be used by another member of your family).

Variables which may affect the ease with which labels are removed: washing in hot water, excessive washing, time, fabric (smooth cotton vs fleece).

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* The labels on had been on these socks for about six months. In that time they had only been washed in cold water.

Not just for kids' stuff!

You may know that Classic Stickies and Skinny-Minis™ are perfect for toys, containers, cups, bottles and more. You may even know that they withstand the dishwasher, microwave, UV Rays and hard wearing children.

Don't let that stop you from using them to label your things too! From your reusable lunch containers to USB memory keys, make sure that your valuable things come back to you!



Because they withstand water and UV rays, they are the perfect solution for identifying your indoor and outdoor tools!

Help out your teachers!

Do you send stuff (like group snacks or craft materials) to school or daycare in reusable bags? Imagine being the teacher or caregiver and trying to remember which bag belongs to whom at the end of the day! Make their lives just a little bit easier by eliminating the guesswork with the creative use of Mabel's Labels products.

(Images show a Bag Tag on a reusable grocery bag and a Skinny-Mini™ on a can opener.)

What else can I do with Tag-Mates™?

Mabel's Labels Tag-Mates™ (stick-in clothing labels):

• are ideal for quick labeling – no iron necessary!
• resist the wear and tear of laundry and children beautifully!

But that's not all! Here are some ideas I've heard about (but haven't tried)*:

• Tag-Mates™ are the perfect size for Leapster / GameBoy cartridges. (I've heard that Skinny-Minis™ work well for this too.)
  
• Used by the elderly residing in assisted living centers. (Name and room number on the label.)
• Identifying baby soothers.
• Use on fabric sandals (beachy ones) with clothing tags in them.
• Hockey gear.
  

An additional note, if you order the labels without an icon, the text tends to be larger and easier to read.

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*Your mileage may vary!

Larger size text for Tag-Mates™?

Mabel's Labels Tag-Mates™ (stick-in clothing labels):

• are ideal for quick labeling – no iron necessary!
• resist the wear and tear of laundry and children beautifully!

But what's a person to do if you find the text too small to read?


Solution:

Order the Tag-Mates™ without an icon!

The image to the left shows the approximate sizes* of text if you order the label with an icon or without an icon.





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*Text size will vary with name length. For example in the image without an icon (bottom) the text size for "Nicole Lee" would be smaller than is shown for "N. Lee."

The image is not an actual photograph of the Tag-Mate product. (It is an approximation of the actual product.) The actual product has rounded corners.

Laminating allergy alert labels

Many parents use Mabel's Labels allergy alert labels on their food containers and travel gear to help remind other caretakers of their child's food allergy or another serious allergy.

Pig in the Kitchen came up with this clever hack using the allergy alerts, a laminator, a hole punch and some ribbon to make allergy alert tags for bags or zippers or what have you!

(Photo below and hack idea used with permission of Pig In The Kitchen.)

Can you take off shoe labels?

It's well known that Mabel's Labels shoe labels are:

• extra tough
• extra sticky
  
• do not rub off on socks
  
• fit nicely into the insole of shoes, boots, skates and rollerblades and are
  
• shipped with protective overlays to ensure durability.

But what happens if you want to take the labels OFF the shoes?

From Lady M's post "More on Mabel's Labels":

"My son outgrew his his nicely labeled shoes this week, and I wanted to return them to anonymity before giving them away to Goodwill. With only a little bit of tugging effort, I was able to remove the Mabel's Labels from each shoe, with barely a trace of stickiness left in the shoe.

The labels stayed on when they were supposed to stay on. And they came off when they were supposed to come off. I'm a fan."