Archives for July 2009

For the third (See parts 1 and 2 here and here) installment of our exploration into which bottled water brands work best with our labels, we chose some 16.9 oz bottles that can be found around the Pacific Northwest.  We’re working on getting some brands that are more popular on the East coast, but until those arrive we thought we’d look at some local brands of bottled water.

[singlepic id=140 w=240 h=160 float=center]Pure American, a brand we were able to find at Safeway grocery store, is bottled spring water with an easy-to-remove plastic label.  Our large labels fit nicely on these bottles, with a 1/8″ overlap, and the bottles are sturdy and easy to work with.  The only down side to these bottles is the cap, which is bright blue.  These caps aren’t going to look great with every label design, so watch out for that if you’re planning to use these bottles for your event.

[singlepic id=139 w=240 h=160 float=center]The Refreshe brand of bottled water, which is the Safeway generic brand, also works well with our labels.  Their paper labels are easy to remove, and our large labels fit perfectly on the bottle.  There is a 1/4″ overlap of the labels with these bottles, however, so be careful if you label design has images or text that goes all the way to the edge of the label.  The clear caps and sturdy bottles make this bottle a versatile and inexpensive choice.

[singlepic id=138 w=240 h=160 float=center]Aquarius Spring, which is purified spring water, is carried at Safeway.  There are a few disadvantages to this brand.  First, the water is more expensive than any of the other brands we tried.  Two, there is a nearly 3/8″ overlap of our large label on the bottle, so if your images or text run right to the edge you risk covering them up.  Though the cap is attractive and the bottle itself is sturdy, we would not recommend using this brand if you have other 16.9 oz bottle options.

If you’re curious about a specific brand or have had good luck with a brand we didn’t mention, please let us know in the comments section!

***Please note: It is not legal to re-label bottled water for re-sale.  These posts are intended to demonstrate how our labels can be used to re-label bottled water for non-commercial uses only.***

Now that we’ve looked at which small bottled water bottles work best for our labels, we decided to move onto the larger bottles.  This post will look at three national bottled water brands and how well they took to being labeled.  We know that our customers probably don’t have the time to go out and investigate bottled water brands, so we went ahead and did the research for you!

[singlepic id=134 w=240 h=160 float=center]The first national 16.9 oz water bottle we tried was the Dasani bottle.  These bottles are sturdy, unlikely to dent, and have a distinctive blue color that could tie in beautifully if you have any blue in your event décor.  Our large label size fits perfectly on this bottle, leaving only a 1/16″ gap in the back.  This is a really great brand of water to use so long as you don’t mind the blue cap and bottle.

[singlepic id=135 w=240 h=160 float=center]The next national brand we tried was Aquafina.  Aquafina actually offers two different 16.9 oz bottles, a regular 16.9 oz bottle and their 16.9 oz  EcoFina bottles, which use less plastic and are more environmentally friendly.  We tried our labels on both, and were pleased to discover that our labels actually fit perfectly on both types of bottle.  Our small label size actually works better on the EcoFina bottles than the large size, because this bottle is rather skinny.  The small label fits perfectly, leaving no gap at all, and the height of the label looks great on the bottle.  The only problem with the EcoFina bottles is that they’re very flimsy and dent easily.

Our large label size worked perfectly on the regular Aquafina bottle.  The ends met with just a slight overlap, and the height fits perfectly as well.  If we were to recommend any national brand of 16.9 oz bottled water for our personalized water labels, Aquafina would be it.  Our labels fit the bottles like they were made for each other.

[singlepic id=136 w=240 h=160 float=center]We also tried Arrowhead’s eco-friendly bottle.  This bottle is more flimsy than the EcoFina bottles, with a bizarrely narrow label area that did not fit any of our labels.  The bottles were very dented when we removed them from the packaging, and the narrow label area ensures that our labels hang off the edges of the bottle and look terrible.  We do not recommend Arrowhead’s 16.9 oz bottled water for use with our labels.

***Please note: It is not legal to re-label bottled water for re-sale.  These posts are intended to demonstrate how our labels can be used to re-label bottled water for non-commercial uses only.***

This has been a fun week here at Bottle Your Brand!  In response to the steady number of inquiries we get inquiring about what bottled water brands work best with our personalized water labels, we decided to do a little experiment.  We went to as many grocery stores as we could find, bought as many different bottled water brands as we could fit into our car, and started labeling!  Six hours and nine different brands of water later, we finally have some answers for anyone who’s curious about what brand of bottled water to buy for our labels only.

We’ll split the information into a couple different posts, showing you photos of our labels on the bottles, tips and tricks, and letting you know which brands we recommend and which brands we found difficult to work with.  Let’s get started with the small bottles, which we normally recommend for use with our small labels only size.

[singlepic id=133 w=240 h=160 float=center]The Arrowhead 8 oz bottle is a nationwide brand.  The bottles are pretty sturdy, and the clear caps look nice.  This bottle looks great with our small water bottle label size, though the edges of our small labels do not quite meet at the back of the bottle.  There is a 1/2″ gap at the back.  The original label was easy to remove, and our label fit perfectly from top to bottom.  A great recommendation for anyone who wants to serve 8 oz bottles.

[singlepic id=132 w=240 h=160 float=center]The Refreshe (a Safeway brand) 10 oz bottle is available at Safeway grocery stores.  This is a strong little bottle, so it’s not likely to dent, and we think the clear caps look great.  Our small label size fits the bottle really nicely, with a 1/8″ gap, and as you can see, the bottle looks really lovely with our custom label on it.  Since this is the generic brand of water carried at Safeway, it’s usually less expensive than the other brands.  A great option for someone with a Safeway store nearby!

[singlepic id=131 w=240 h=160 float=center]The Dasani 12 oz bottles are carried nationwide.  The interesting thing with this brand is that you can use either a small or a large label for the bottle.  The small label looks great in proportion to the rest of the bottle, but there is a sizable gap of 5/8″ in the back where the two label ends don’t quite meet.  If you use the large label, the ends have only a 1/8″ gap in the back.  Aesthetically, we think the small label fits the bottle porportions better, but you have to decide for yourself whether you’re ok with the large gap in back.  Here’s a close-up of the gap difference between the two label sizes.[singlepic id=130 w=240 h=160 float=center]

This bottle is a light blue color, with a dark blue cap.  As long as these colors won’t interfere with your event’s color scheme this is a great bottle as well.

Coming up next?  National 16.9 oz water bottles!  Stay tuned for which brands we thought worked well and which brands we don’t recommend at all.

***Please note: It is not legal to re-label bottled water for re-sale.  These posts are intended to demonstrate how our labels can be used to re-label bottled water for non-commercial uses only.***

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