Plant label markers that don't fade.

[George the Pigman]

Has anyone actually found a permanent marker for use on plant labels that is genuinely permanent ie doesn't fade after 6 months outdoors?

[George the Pigman]

[KittyKatt]

This may sound a bit odd, but the best marker I've found is a pencil. It usually stays on the label for well over a year, and even survives washing in the dishwasher. When I  want to re use the label for something else I just remove it with an ordinary eraser. At the moment I'm being a bit "posh" and using a "Bic matic" pencil with a retractable lead and an eraser on the end, as I was given a pack of them, but I usually use whatever I've got lying round the house. I've had problems with so called permanent markers too!

KittyKatt

[Paulh]

My mother wrote "Gardener's Delight" on some labels about ten years ago which doesn't wash off and is still bright and clear and I re-use them each year. No idea what she used.

Otherwise, yes, pencil lasts much longer than you would expect.

[Doris_Pinks]

Gotta be a Sharpie, got labels from over 6 years ago, and you can still read em! :-)

[galina]

Gotta be a Sharpie, got labels from over 6 years ago, and you can still read em! :-)

me three  ;)  - soft pencil  :)

[strawberry1]

I use a brother plant label printer. 3 years on in bright sunlight and they are as good as new. The labels don`t fade at all and don`t come unstuck. Probably one of the best things I bought. I have old printed labels in a box and now I just root through and find what I want. I like the different print sizes and that you can make a double row and can get coloured labels

[Alex133]

I'm with the pencil brigade - lasts for years - label itself more likely to get brittle and break than writing to be lost!

[sunloving]

Ive had the same problem , you need a pen for using home made milk bottle labels and pencil wont stick.

Must try a sharpie though as everything seems to fade.

Dad had a brother machine for birthday and spent hours doing dahlia labels only to discover once everything was out that the ink was water soluble and so lost them all and now doesn't know where/what anything is. Do you have the name of the ink you have been using?
xx sunloving

[strawberry1]

I use the genuine labels and they are not at all affected by water. I even wash all labels before storing. It`s cheapest to print more than one label on a run ie just 2 spaces in between each. I normally did 5 or 6 at a time

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brother-TZ231-Laminated-black-white/dp/B00000K13A/ref=acc_glance_office_ai_ps_t_1

naturally I did shop around for the cheapest suppier and found one online that supplied red, green, yellow and white with reasonable postage. That amazon link is only for an example, I haven`t used that supplier

[antipodes]

Yes this year I went for random pieces of wood (for example from wooden fruit boxes that can be easily broken up) and pencil and I can read all the varieties (for once!).