Fastyre Labels

What is Fastyre?

Fastyre is the name given to a label material that is suitable for applying to unusual surfaces such as rubber tyres. Tyre shops, like any other shop, need to label up their stock with barcodes, prices, makes, models, sizes, and even the EU fuel efficiency, noise and wet grip rating.

Test: Paper, vinyl and Fastyre on a tyre

Check out the video below. Here you can see me applying 3 different label types to a tyre. I leave the labels in place for a few hours for the adhesive to to get a good grip. I then come back a while later to attempt to remove the labels and see how they hold up.

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What have we learnt?

We've learnt that Fastyre is the strongest which was to be expected. Let's go into some more detail of this 24 hours test:

Paper

For starters, it felt like it wasn't sticking when I applied it. After 24 hours, it might as well be a peelable adhesive. There was very little resistance to peeling this label off of the tyre.

Vinyl

The standard permanent adhesive with vinyl labels is usually pretty good for most uses including horticultural, but it didn't stand up to the task of being applied to a tyre. While it performed better than paper, it still peeled off with ease. This would still be unsuitable as a tyre label.

Fastyre

I think this speaks for itself. In the video, you can see the effort I had to put in to removing the label. Handing the label before and after application is unpleasant as it feels like it doesn't want to let go of your fingers. Considering the strength of the adhesive, it impressed me that it didn't leave a residue behind on the tyre. I would be confident that you could re-apply this on the tyre again and it would still outperform the paper and vinyl labels.


EU tyre label

This image is an EU rating plate for tyre labelling. I'll briefly cover the information and why this benefits the customer using the tyres. The point to take away from the information below is that it will be printed on a Fastyre label applied to a tyre.

Fuel efficiency

To put this simply, it's down to how much fuel is required to move the vehicle. The less fuel needed to roll the wheels, the more efficient the tyre is rated. The highest fuel rating is A while the lowest is G. This means that choosing A rated tyres over Grated tyres could save you up to 6 litres of fuel every 1,000km. This could also save you over £200 of fuel over the life of the tyres. Don't forget, saving fuel also has less impact on the environment. While on the subject, other ways of saving fuel and money can be down to the tyre pressure and the weight of your vehicle. Try carrying less in the car when you don't need it and check your tyre pressures regularly.

Wet grip rating

When it comes to the grip of your tyres, the EU only focuses on the grip of the tyre when stopping in the wet. The highest rating is A while the lowest is F. This means that a passenger car applying full brakes at 50mph will stop 18 metres shorter on A rated tyres than if it were on F rated tyres. This is important as it can prevent the possibility of an accident. Gratings are not used on passenger cars.

Noise rating

This is a 3 stage rating for the rolling noise of the tyres, as a vehicle passing by at a steady speed will produce more noise from its tyres than from its engine or exhaust (with the exception of "riced" cars that have been fitted with deliberately noisy exhausts). The information regarding this rating is somewhat vague, but it still has some value. 1 black wave is known as quiet, producing noise at 3dB or more below the European limit. 2 black waves is known as moderate, with a noise between the European limit and 3dB below. 3 black waves is classed as noisy at a value over the European limit. Newer cars are being produced in a way that they block out a massive chunk of the outside noise while you're inside it, but imagine what effect it would have on a town or city if everyone was rolling around on noisy tyres.


Printing technology

To consider the print technology, you need to first think about the environments the labels will be subject to:

  • Temporarily outside, possibly in the rain.
  • In a hot or cold humid warehouse.
  • Possibly subject to scuffing and light abrasion.
  • Might be subject to oils and light chemicals.

The recommended print technology for printing these labels is thermal transfer. This means printing with a ribbon. Thermal transfer will ensure the print doesn't fade under standard conditions. Thermal transfer can be achieved in single colours. For the above EU tyre label, it would be recommended having the blank rating plate pre-printed, and using your own printer to print the black data that is variable depending on the tyre. It might even be worth considering a laminated solution if you find the thermal transfer print doesn't achieve the longevity you require.

Recommended printer

When it comes to Fastyre labels, we can produce any shape or size you require. We don't keep this as a standard stock item because it is so specialist. We can produce is various quantities to pass the savings onto you. As for the printer, you can use this in almost any thermal transfer printer on the market. We'd recommend our LabelStation Pro300 as we can guarantee the labels, ribbons and printer will all work together to give you the highest print quality suitable. We also offer our own technical support for our LabelStation printers printing with our consumables, so you can count on us getting you up and running in no time. For more information or to request a quote and a sample, please contact us.