How to Waterproof Bottle Labels for Your Party

Have you ever wondered how you could waterproof bottle labels to serve water bottles cold or in an ice bucket at your party? Themed bottle labels are one of the most loved items of our party packs. Parents love to personalize them with the birthday child’s name or fun name to suit the theme of the party and the kids love drinking from a themed bottle.

But if you plan to serve your water bottles cold, simple paper or card stock labels won’t work well as the ink will likely bleed when exposed to moisture.

So how can you waterproof the bottle labels? Well, there are a few ways to do that, from simple and affordable options to the more expensive and professional looking ones.

 

Affordable Waterproof Bottle Labels

The easiest and most affordable way to waterproof your bottle labels is to use clear adhesive paper or wide packing tape to cover them. Here’s how:

1. Print and cut your label

Start by printing your labels on your choice of paper. For the best results, we usually recommend matte photo paper to make the colours nice and vibrant, or a standard white card stock. Use scissors or a paper trimmer to cut the labels to size.

2. Put the label on your bottle

Roll the label around the water bottle and secure it in place with a piece of tape at the back (or double sided tape for a cleaner look).

3. Waterproof with clear adhesive paper

To waterproof your label, cut a strip of adhesive paper, slightly larger than the label so that you can completely cover it leaving a small border all around. Press down firmly so the adhesive sticks all around the bottle and make sure there are no air bubbles. This ensures no water can come in contact with the printed label.

You can do this with wide packing tape too, as long as it is wider than your label.

4. Your label is now waterproof!

Now you can serve your water bottles cold or keep them in an ice bucket and be confident that the print won’t bleed.

 

Waterproof Labels with DIY Stickers

If you’d like a more polished look, you can try making your own stickers at home instead of printing your labels on paper / card stock. You can get some heavy duty label sticker paper or printable vinyl from your local office supplies store (like Officeworks) or from Ebay, and you can make your labels water resistant as long as you print using pigment ink.

Always check the sticker paper instructions and your printer’s specifications to make sure this is achievable. Please note this method can make your labels water resistant (the ink won’t run when in contact with moisture) but not waterproof, so you shouldn’t submerge the bottles or put them in an ice bucket.

 

Waterproof Labels with Professionally Printed Stickers

The most effective, but also most expensive option is to have your labels professionally printed on waterproof sticker paper. You should be able to find them at online printing companies, like Vistaprint or similar.

 

I don’t normally waterproof my bottle labels because I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary, specially when having the party at home and serving drinks at room temperature. But for an outdoor party, I can see how waterproofing the labels would be ideal to be able to keep the cold bottles in an ice bucket. I would use the clear adhesive contact paper method in that situation, as it’s the most convenient and affordable option.

Want to remember this for your next party? Save this post to your Pinterest for later!

 

 

The labels in this post are part of our Ice Princess Party Printables. You can find more party themes in our shop.