Iron-on name labels are not only Camp Connection’s number
one selling item on-line, but our number one selling item across the entire
store, so I thought it was only appropriate that I pull out my Iron and put
these labels through their paces. First
though, I needed to find my iron.
Description
Camp Connection’s Iron On name tags have been available just
as they are for something like 20 years. For a product to be a number one
seller for that long without any change, there must be something to it, right?
The labels are ½ inch by 2 inch cloth strips (50% Cotton/50%
Polyester), starched to make them easy to apply. They come in perforated sheets
of 100. The name is printed on in black
laundry ink using -of all things- dot matrix printers imported direct from
1976. This not only explains why there
is no custom formatting (Colour choice is black or black, letter choice is
block or block), it also explains why in the busy season many of Camp Connection’s
staff hear the soothing sounds of dot matrix printers in their dreams.
The name tags are bare-bones basic. They’re not pretty but
they are not designed to be. The claim
to fame with these labels is simple: ‘you put them on and they stay.’ No bells, no whistles, but no hassle. If you’re looking for prettier labels, or to
fasten to something more than fabric, you’ll want to check out the stick-onlabels.
Performance
The name tags come with an instruction sheet. I read it
carefully then picked up my iron, blew the dust off of it and set it to the
highest cotton setting. The instructions
say, in bolded, italic capital letters ‘NO STEAM’ so I turned off the steam. For
good measure, I dumped out any water that was sitting in there. No water means
no steam, right?
I picked my favorite old Gildan Zip hoody to label because
it gets lots of abuse and washed often.
I tore off three labels and laid them out where I wanted them. The instructions call for ironing between
20-30 seconds, so I wanted to see what happened if I shorted the time, then did
the minimum and maximum times.
After Ironing, the labels looked good. The only visible
difference between the three was where I wrote the number of seconds on each
with a sharpie laundry pen. The edges
were all down firmly, the corners stuck fast.
1 Wash
After 1 wash the 20 and 30 second labels were unchanged, and
the 10 second label was almost perfect, except for one corner that was
juuusssst starting to lift.
5 Washes
This turned out to be the most boring experiment ever. At 5 washes, the labels hadn’t changed. Not even the 10 second one. It would not be possible to remove them
without ruining my hoody, and if the printed names had faded at all in the
wash, a close visual inspection and comparison to photos did not reveal it.
15 Washes
I’ve realized that I should have started this experiment
with a new garment of some sort, instead of my favorite old hoody.
The labels? They
appear to be unchanged from the first wash. They are still stuck hard and
fast. Little-if-any fading is evident in
the printing. Just that one corner that looked like it might be a problem on
the 10 second label.
My poor hood however is starting to show serious signs of
wear. The elbows are getting thin and
shiny, and the zipper is starting to pull away at the bottom. My current estimate is that these labels will
outlast my sweatshirt.
Conclusion:
I have dealt with these labels for years, and have never had
any reason to doubt their effectiveness. But I had never actually taken the
time to evaluate them in this manner, either.
Given my somewhat skeptical nature, I had honestly expected the
10-second label to start to curl at the corners and loosen a bit after a couple
of washes. The fact that it seems to
have bonded almost completely in 10 short seconds either means that my poor old
iron is really, really hot, or that I’m the best ironer ever.
Was this helpful? Do you have your own experience with this
product? Do you have questions or comments on the review? Let us know in the comments, or send an email to info@campstore.com.
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