The Ultimate Guide to Buying Personalised Iron on Labels - select the best labels for you


My Nametags iron on labels on a hat, on a blue background

Has your child ever come home with the wrong school uniform? Is your relative living in a care home that regularly loses their clothes? Do you work in an environment in which everyone wears identical items of clothing? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, personalised name labels have the potential to protect your garments from mistaken swaps and becoming lost.

The ability to personalise clothes labels doesn’t just identify your garments, but it also makes them instantly recognisable. The sheer range of customisation options means you can create personalised labels that are wholly unique to you.

You will find clothing labels that iron on or stick to clothes at online shops such as Etsy, but how do you know they’re of a high standard and able to withstand regular washing and rigorous use? If you’re in the market for personalised iron on labels, we’ve got your back! Here are a few tidbits of advice that will help you make the right choice.


What Are Personalised Iron On Labels?

Personalised iron on clothing labels are custom-designed stickers or labels used to differentiate similar-looking garments. They’re predominantly used in schools to prevent mistaken swaps between children. However, they’re becoming increasingly popular in care homes and work environments that require employees to wear identical clothing.

While the traditional type of personalised clothing label is designed to be sewn into garments, the most popular versions today are stickers and iron on tags. People love the ease of use and robustness of the iron on labels currently available in the UK. If you’re searching for a permanent way to label your clothes, they’re ideal.

Iron-on labels for clothing are made with a special type of adhesive that activates when heat is applied. But what makes them so popular is the ability to customise them with a wide range of design details and custom text.



Who Uses Personalised Iron on Clothing Labels?


Name labels for school clothing

Personalised iron-on clothing labels are exceptionally popular among parents of young schoolchildren. Not only do they protect clothes from being lost or accidentally swapped, but they also give children the opportunity to use their creativity — and have a little fun with the design process. School or nursery clothing labels can quickly be ironed onto all school uniform and other garments and accessories, and your child will always know which are their clothes.



Care home tags

Care home residents and their relatives use personalised iron-on clothing labels to ensure clothes in care homes don’t get mixed up with those of other residents. This happens quite a lot when garments are sent to the laundry without name labels. Care home staff identify this as a huge nuisance and a simple iron-on label fixes this problem and identifies the garment’s owner in an instant.



Clothes labels for workplaces

More and more workplaces that require their employees to wear identical items of uniform are using labels with personalised text to minimise accidental swaps and unclaimed garments. Such environments include food businesses, factories and retail stores. You can easily apply an iron-on label to each garment or uniform, and make sure that nothing is mixed up or lost. The garments can be personalised with employees names, company or division, as the labels have space for up to three lines of text.

Order your personalised iron-on labels


What to Look in a Personalised Iron-on Label

Perform a quick internet search, and you’ll probably find dozens of care home tags that iron onto fabrics. But how do you know you’re getting quality? And how do you know your clothing labels will withstand rigorous use and regular washing? Fortunately, there are a few things you can look out for.

The best personalised iron-on clothing labels will have been stringently tested under a range of conditions. When a manufacturer has performed a range of successful tests, they’re likely to offer a guarantee against washing and rigorous use. My Nametags, for example, offers a 10-year guarantee on all its iron-on labels against washing and water damage.

A personalised iron-on label manufacturer that boasts about its sustainability credentials is also another good sign. While you might find some very cheap options on the internet, many of them won’t remain in place forever. As a result, clothing wastage might increase, and landfills will take the brunt. Not only that, you’ll need to buy even more substandard clothing tags — increasing the impact on the environment.

Make sure your personalised iron on labels are made with durable, waterproof materials. You should also check that the dyes and printing processes used to create the clothing labels are of the highest possible quality.

It’s important not to forget about the personalisation process when choosing iron-on clothing labels. After all, the more distinctive your design is, the easier it will be to identify your garments from others. Make sure you choose a supplier that offers a free online design tool. This will allow you to choose text fonts, colour schemes, illustrations and other design elements. You’ll also have the opportunity to add personal details such as a name, nickname, partial address and phone number.

The best online design tools will give you a preview of your design every time you make a change. This means you can spend a while perfecting your design before parting with any cash. This isn’t just important in terms of protecting your garments — it’s what makes personalising clothing labels so much fun.

The Advantages of Personalised Iron-on Clothing Labels

There are several ways to label clothes in order to protect them from being lost or accidentally swapped at school or work. You could use stickers, which are designed as a semi-permanent way to label clothes and personal possessions. However, if you’re using stickers on clothes, you’re restricted to positioning them on care or brand labels.

Of course, there are still lots of people who prefer traditional sew-in clothing labels. While they can look fantastic when applied correctly, they’re fiddly, time-consuming and require a degree of skill. Due to the time it takes to apply these labels, often parents chose not to put labels on everything. Also, these labels can not be personalised as well, and you can usually only chose only labels

Personalised iron-on labels for clothing are probably the best alternative to sew-in options if you're looking for a permanent way to label garments. You can apply them directly to fabrics simply by applying the heat of a domestic iron. They’re robust and waterproof, meaning they stay in place for the lifetime of the garments they protect. And because you can customise iron-on clothing labels, you can make them distinctive and completely original — making locating your lost items a faster, simpler process.



How to shop for personalised iron on name labels

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the best iron on name tags for clothes

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Queen’s Award Winner

We were presented with the a Queen's Award by HRH King Charles III (then The Prince of Wales) in recognition of bringing quality and innovative products to international markets.

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Happy Customers

Because of our commitment to first rate service and quality products, we have a near 100% customer satisfaction rating in multiple countries which is unmatched in the nametag market.

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For kids and Adults

Thanks to our design tool, adults and kids alike can create perfect labels. This is because you can make a total of 19,474,560 combinations using our range of designs, backgrounds and fonts!

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Promoting Sustainability

A total of 1.4 million lost school uniforms (354 tonnes of plastic) ends up in landfill each year in the UK (My Nametags, 2020). Help our planet now by labelling to prevent loss.

FAQs in bold in blue, organge, green, and red text
How do I make my own iron on labels?

The simplest way is to print messages on cotton-based fabric and apply them using fabric adhesives. For the best results, however, design and order iron-on labels online.

When you buy personalised iron-on clothing labels from My Nametags, you get a 10-year guarantee against washing and water damage. This means you can rest assured that your iron-on labels will remain in place for as long as the garments they protect. We use high-quality materials, dyes and adhesives to ensure our personalised iron-on labels never budge or fade over time.

Do iron on name labels work?

Yes, personalised iron-on name labels work very well because they melt into fabrics. They don’t require re-stitching, and they’re a more reliable option than name stickers on labels.

Once you apply a My Nametags iron-on name label to a garment, you can rest assured it’s not going anywhere. We use premium fabric adhesives to ensure our name tags remain in place despite regular washing and rigorous use. That’s why we offer a 10-year guarantee.

How long do personalised iron-on labels last?

If you apply personalised iron-on labels for clothing properly, they’ll remain in place and fully legible for the lifetime of the garment. But you must use a domestic iron for the best results.

We’re so confident that My Nametags iron-on clothing labels will stand the test of time, we offer a 10-year guarantee against damage caused by washing. Once your name and design are printed onto one of our iron-on labels, it will remain clear and bright for as long as it adorns your garment.

Are personalised iron-on labels waterproof

Yes, high-quality personalised iron-on labels are waterproof. But make sure you check the manufacturer’s product description first, as not all of them use waterproof materials.