Full Wax Ribbons

In addition to printing custom labels and providing blank labels for a wide variety of labeling needs, Etiquette Systems prides itself on offering a sizable range of labeling supplies, including various types of thermal transfer ribbons. The most common of the latter are full wax ribbons, which comprise 80% of the thermal ribbon market. While full wax ribbons are less durable than wax/resin and full resin ribbons, they´re also less expensive. All thermal transfer printing processes use heat to print an image onto feedstock. Although the labels formed this way are single-color and rather plain, they tend to quite durable, ideal for tasks like inventory management and asset tracking. Specifically, here´s how a full wax ribbon works. The ribbon material is coated with a wax-based ink, which can be applied during manufacture using a solvent-based or hot-melt process. When you print with a full wax ribbon, tiny pins in your printer´s print-head heat up and press the ribbon against the feedstock. The coating on the full wax ribbon melts, transferring the ink from the ribbon to the feedstock and forming the desired image. Full wax ribbons have a lower melting temperature than wax/resin and full resin thermal transfer ribbons, and are formulated especially for use with paper and low-end synthetic materials. This leaves a lot of leeway in their use, which partly explains their high market share. Applications ideal for full wax ribbons include the following: Shipping & carton labels Compliance labels Garment tags & labels Retail labels Shelf & bin labels Warehouse labels