Clear Stickers

Printable clear labels are quite pricy and often not available in small quantities. But there is a easy way to produce your own transparent stickers using packing tape.

Step 1: Supplies + Tools

You need:
Laser print or copy of your motive (The maximum width or height should not exceed the width of your packing tape)
Clear packing tape (I used tesapack® strong 66m * 50mm)
Bowl of water
Spoon
Scissors

Step 2: Transfer Print to Tape

Stick the packing tape on top of the motiv. Use the spoon to rub the tape against the print to make sure that all the toner sticks to the tape.

Step 3: Cut

Roughly cut out your motive.

Step 4: Soak

Put the cut out motive into the bowl of water and let it soak for some minutes.

Step 5: Rub Away the Paper

Use your finger to rub away the paper. Keep on rubbing until all the paper is gone, sometimes it goes easier when you wet your finger from time to time. Let the sticker dry. Don't worry if the sticker doesn't feel sticky, it will stick again when dry.

Step 6: Use It

When completely dry, you can stick your sticker wherever you want, e.g. on a glass jar.

Comments

[KTEDP]

can you use clear Scotch tape?

[AndelDOA]

Yes, works well for small stickers

[✨CraftyQueen✨]

How long should you leave it in. (On average)

[AndelDOA]

That doesn't really matter. Important for the transfer is the rubbing, not the time it sticks to the paper.

[BengM1]

Can I still use transfer tapes if I already have one, instead of the packing tape?

[AndelDOA]

I have no experience with transfer tape, so I can't tell you if it will work or not... But as I understand it, there are easier ways to transfer images with transfer tape, so I'd just follow the instructions of the transfer tape.

[naperu]

drawing with ink and try to put it in the water. will it work?

[AndelDOA]

I don't think so. Regular ink interacts very differently with paper than toner from laser printers or photocopiers, I don't think you can transfer it to tape with this method.

[LoriD47]

i did this with my ink jet

it did work, but not very well

the wording came out very faded, but you can still see it

[Tj&]

it doesn't work with inkjet

[APC23]

Does the water have to be boiling or can it just be room temperature?

[AndelDOA]

Room temperature is working fine.

[ElizabethB237]

Greetings, I love your idea of making stickers. But I'm having trouble. I have a HP printer/scanner/copier All In One" That's what it says on it. It's not an ink jet. But the ink just runs away in the water. I did make some cool stickers as practice, but only with magazine photos. Those turned out very good! I also tried a school issued photo of my daughter. That did not work either. I want to make some stickers of my family...not magazine people. Haha! What am I doing wrong? Thanks!

[AndelDOA]

Sounds like you're doing everything right. I think the problem is with the printer.

Is the word LaserJet or Color LaserJet on your printer? That's how HP calls their laser printer. OfficeJet means it's ink, which won't work.

The fact that the ink washes off with water sounds strange to me; Either it is in fact ink, and then it will not work to make stickers, or something is wrong with your printer and/or paper.

[Adysonfloyd]

What if you draw the design onto paper and ink it? If you try to make it into a sticker would it work?

[AndelDOA]

I don't think it would work with ink... with coloured pencils maybe, but I have not tested that...

[Siddy1]

does it stick on Prismacolor markers and ink pens? I tried it like that, and the ink pen looked faded on the paper, and the color didn't even go on the tape.

[AndelDOA]

I haven't tried that myself, but I don't think so... it needs to be something which remains on top of the paper and doesn't get absorbed by the paper like markers or ink...

[Luckie4us]

Mine keep coming out cloudy. Am I not rubbing the paper hard enough? What am I doing wrong?

[AndelDOA]

I can imagine two possible problems: Either you're really not rubbing enough or the glue of your tape doesn't like water. You could try to wet a bit of your tape and rub it without applying any paper. If it turns cloudy, the tape is the problem.