The short answer: a dry iron on the wool or cotton setting (no steam), pressed firmly for 10–20 seconds without sliding, then left to cool completely before you touch it. Wait at least 3 hours before washing, and wash in cold water. Done right, an iron-on label outlasts the garment.
Step by step
- 1. Preheat the fabric: press the hot dry iron on the garment for about 3 seconds first. A damp or cold cloth is the most common reason a label will not take.
- 2. Set the iron: wool or cotton, steam OFF. If it is a steam iron, empty the water — and keep the steam holes off the label, because there is no heat or pressure under a hole.
- 3. Position the label: inside the collar, hem or waistband, print facing up, on a flat, dry area of fabric.
- 4. Cover it: lay the piece of baking paper supplied with your labels over the top.
- 5. Press, don’t slide: put the iron flat over the label with firm downward pressure for 10–20 seconds. Sliding smears the adhesive before it bonds. Repeat if any point is still lifting.
- 6. Cool completely: the adhesive finishes bonding as it cools. Remove the paper once it is cold. Don’t pick at the edges to “check” — that is mistake number two.
- 7. First wash: wait at least 3 hours, then wash in cold water.
Doing a whole pile of them
Wait for the iron’s temperature light to go out before the next label — after the first one the iron has given up its heat, and a cooler iron is the usual reason label number two lifts. For a label you want to be certain of, turn the garment inside out afterwards and press the back of the label as well.
Which fabrics work?
Cotton, polyester and most school uniform blends take iron-on labels well. They are not for nylon, and not for waterproof coatings, elastane-heavy activewear or anything that cannot take a cotton-heat iron. For those, put a clothing sticker on the care tag instead.
Washing and care
Cold water wash only — that is what these labels are made for. If the garment is washed in hot water, or goes through a commercial laundry at a boarding school or aged-care home, use sew-on labels instead. If an edge ever lifts after months of washing, ten seconds under the iron re-bonds it.
It still won’t stick
Heat, pressure and time are the three things to check: turn the temperature up, use a flat part of the iron’s plate rather than an area full of steam holes, press harder, and wait for the iron to come back to heat between labels. If it still will not take, contact us and we will sort it out.