Writing on freezer cartons

Robert Green said:

Forgive me if I am in the wrong place, but I'm looking for advice on how to
label storebought frozen food. If there's a hint of moisture on the
surface, most marking pens just stop writing. Is there any sort of label
product or marking pen especially designed for waxy frozen food boxes and
plastic bags? All I want to do is put the date bought in big enough letter
for my mom to read - she's not able to read the tiny expiration dates
stamped on most cartons.

Try a permanent marker, sometimes called CD pens. I use them for
marking up any CDs or DVDs i've made and they do a good job on plastic
bags, boxes etc in the freezer too.

Doc

Robert Green said:

Forgive me if I am in the wrong place, but I'm looking for advice on how to
label storebought frozen food. If there's a hint of moisture on the
surface, most marking pens just stop writing. Is there any sort of label
product or marking pen especially designed for waxy frozen food boxes and
plastic bags? All I want to do is put the date bought in big enough letter
for my mom to read - she's not able to read the tiny expiration dates
stamped on most cartons.

TIA,

--
Bobby G.

A wide tip *Sharpie* marker should work.

"~patches~" <[email hidden]> wrote in

Quoted message said:

Robert Green said:

Forgive me if I am in the wrong place, but I'm looking for advice on how

to

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

label storebought frozen food. If there's a hint of moisture on the
surface, most marking pens just stop writing.

A wide tip *Sharpie* marker should work.

I should have mentioned that I have tried every type of Sharpie and CD
marking pen in existence. The dry-erase board marker seemed to lay on the
thickest line and didn't *immediately* break up into tiny, fractured ink
drops but it's gone after the first freezer shuffle - it flakes right off.

Sharpies only work as long as you dry each box very thoroughly with an
absolutely dry paper towel in a room with low relative humidity and you
write almost immediately after wiping. As soon as the marker tip begins to
wick up even a little water, it's lights out.

I thought china markers, a.k.a. grease pencils would work, but they hardly
leave a mark on the surface of a waxed carton. I have a Marks-a-lot that's
so big, you can hardly write two words with it without nearly passing out
from the fumes, but it, too suffers from the same problem. The slightest
bit of condensation and the pen tip gets wet and will write no more.

I occasionally see labels stuck to frozen food cartons by the grocer that
appear to have been stuck on after the boxes were frozen (the box apparently
was accidentally slit or broken open and they used a label to re-close it).
There must be some sort of freezer-friendly label stock I can use or someone
out there who's found something that works. Arrrgh! I've spent a lot of
time at Google without much luck. :-(

--
Bobby G.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Robert Green said:

Forgive me if I am in the wrong place, but I'm looking for advice on how to
label storebought frozen food. If there's a hint of moisture on the
surface, most marking pens just stop writing. Is there any sort of label
product or marking pen especially designed for waxy frozen food boxes and
plastic bags? All I want to do is put the date bought in big enough letter
for my mom to read - she's not able to read the tiny expiration dates
stamped on most cartons.

TIA,

--
Bobby G.

Laundry markers, and just wipe the surface with a dry paper towel and
label quickly.

You can also slip the item into a large ziplock bag and just write on
that.

Cheers!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

~patches~ said:

Robert Green said:

Forgive me if I am in the wrong place, but I'm looking for advice on how to
label storebought frozen food. If there's a hint of moisture on the
surface, most marking pens just stop writing. Is there any sort of label
product or marking pen especially designed for waxy frozen food boxes and
plastic bags? All I want to do is put the date bought in big enough letter
for my mom to read - she's not able to read the tiny expiration dates
stamped on most cartons.

TIA,

--
Bobby G.

A wide tip *Sharpie* marker should work.

Yeah. What she said. :-)
Just dry the surface quickly first with a paper towel.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

Robert Green said:

Forgive me if I am in the wrong place, but I'm looking for advice on how to
label storebought frozen food. If there's a hint of moisture on the
surface, most marking pens just stop writing. Is there any sort of label
product or marking pen especially designed for waxy frozen food boxes and
plastic bags? All I want to do is put the date bought in big enough letter
for my mom to read - she's not able to read the tiny expiration dates
stamped on most cartons.

Search <freezer labels>

http://www.mileskimball.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=5526&itemType=PRODUCT

http://tinyurl.com/7o5td

Frozen Food Labels

End the frustration that occurs when you hunt through your freezer for
steak, only to find hamburger you should've used weeks ago. Our 1 1/8"
x 1 3/4" labels have lines for date, weight, and contents. Designed to
stick in subzero temperatures. Pack of 105 labels.
1 pack $2.99
2 packs $3.99
---

Sheldon

One time on Usenet said:

Forgive me if I am in the wrong place, but I'm looking for advice on how to
label storebought frozen food. If there's a hint of moisture on the
surface, most marking pens just stop writing. Is there any sort of label
product or marking pen especially designed for waxy frozen food boxes and
plastic bags? All I want to do is put the date bought in big enough letter
for my mom to read - she's not able to read the tiny expiration dates
stamped on most cartons.

First, write your info on a piece of freezer tape. Wipe part of
the container dry, then place the tape. It's a bit more work, but
easier than trying to write on a frozen food box. Here's more
information on freezer tape, if anyone needs it:

http://tinyurl.com/97hgt

OR

http://products3.3m.
com/catalog/us/en001/government/innovative_solutions/node_GS4S40VWXRbe/r
oot_GS3RBW6QFVgv/vroot_31S2JJ7584ge/gvel_WSFF0BLZJ8gl/theme_us_innovativ
esolutions_3_0/command_AbcPageHandler/output_html

HTH!

--
Jani in WA (S'mee)
~ mom, Trollup, novice cook ~

"Robert Green" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Forgive me if I am in the wrong place, but I'm looking for advice on how
to
label storebought frozen food. If there's a hint of moisture on the
surface, most marking pens just stop writing. Is there any sort of label
product or marking pen especially designed for waxy frozen food boxes and
plastic bags? All I want to do is put the date bought in big enough
letter
for my mom to read - she's not able to read the tiny expiration dates
stamped on most cartons.

TIA,

--
Bobby G.

There used to be black waxy pencils. My mom used them and I still have a
couple.

MoM

"Robert Green" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Forgive me if I am in the wrong place, but I'm looking for advice on how
to
label storebought frozen food. If there's a hint of moisture on the
surface, most marking pens just stop writing. Is there any sort of label
product or marking pen especially designed for waxy frozen food boxes and
plastic bags? All I want to do is put the date bought in big enough
letter
for my mom to read - she's not able to read the tiny expiration dates
stamped on most cartons.

TIA,

--
Bobby G.

Didn't folks used to use china markers (grease pencils) for that? They ought
to write through water.

Kathy

MoM said:

There used to be black waxy pencils. My mom used them and I still have a
couple.

MoM

We used to use these to mark prices on goods in my grandfathers "general
store"; the ones we used were Listo "grease pencils". Listo is still in
business, still makes markers with "heavy wax base" .
http://www.listo.com/pencil.htm

A Froogle search shows many online sources, including Sam's Club
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-39,GGLD:en&q=listo%20marking%20pencil&sa=N&tab=wf
if the above link doesn't work, you can use this shortcut to it
http://tinyurl.com/d2jrh
--
To email, replace Cujo with Juno

MoM said:

"Robert Green" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Forgive me if I am in the wrong place, but I'm looking for advice on how
to
label storebought frozen food. If there's a hint of moisture on the
surface, most marking pens just stop writing. Is there any sort of label
product or marking pen especially designed for waxy frozen food boxes and
plastic bags? All I want to do is put the date bought in big enough
letter
for my mom to read - she's not able to read the tiny expiration dates
stamped on most cartons.

TIA,

--
Bobby G.

There used to be black waxy pencils. My mom used them and I still have a
couple.

MoM

I've seen black, red, and yellow wax pencils. I only have a black one
but it does the trick and they last forever without drying out. Most of
the office supply stores carry them. Our small butchersop and even the
m & p grocery store still uses these pencils.

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

You can also slip the item into a large ziplock bag and just write on
that.

Cheers!

Why waste the time and throw more cost and effort into this than
necessary? Eeeegads ziplocks aren't cheap, and the food is already
packaged to death by the manufacturer, lol

"~patches~" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

MoM wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There used to be black waxy pencils. My mom used them and I still have a
couple.

Quoted message said:

I've seen black, red, and yellow wax pencils. I only have a black one but
it does the trick and they last forever without drying out. Most of the
office supply stores carry them. Our small butchersop and even the m & p
grocery store still uses these pencils.

Would they wash off in hot soapy water, say for Tupperware type
containers?

nancy

Nancy Young wrote on 05 Oct 2005 in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

"~patches~" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

MoM wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There used to be black waxy pencils. My mom used them and I still
have a couple.

Quoted message said:

I've seen black, red, and yellow wax pencils. I only have a black
one but it does the trick and they last forever without drying out.
Most of the office supply stores carry them. Our small butchersop
and even the m & p grocery store still uses these pencils.

Would they wash off in hot soapy water, say for Tupperware type
containers?

nancy

ummm...masking tape is cheap and sticks to most anything and is readily
written on. Also fairly easy to get off if you need to re-use the
container. You could go with differing colours for differing
applications/food types (whatever).

--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.

"Kathy" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Nancy Young" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Would they wash off in hot soapy water, say for Tupperware type
containers?

Quoted message said:

Dry-erase markers work really well on plastic freezer containers. The
words stay on in the freezer but wash off fairly easily with soap and a
scrub sponge. The box top must be dry; like the OP said, ink pens don't
write on wet surfaces. But they're handy if you keep a handful of freezer
boxes to use over and over.

Thanks! I hate when you don't know if you're having chili or pasta sauce
for dinner. They look alike frozen.

nancy

"Nancy Young" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"~patches~" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

MoM wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There used to be black waxy pencils. My mom used them and I still have
a couple.

Quoted message said:

I've seen black, red, and yellow wax pencils. I only have a black one
but it does the trick and they last forever without drying out. Most of
the office supply stores carry them. Our small butchersop and even the m
& p grocery store still uses these pencils.

Would they wash off in hot soapy water, say for Tupperware type
containers?

nancy

Dry-erase markers work really well on plastic freezer containers. The words
stay on in the freezer but wash off fairly easily with soap and a scrub
sponge. The box top must be dry; like the OP said, ink pens don't write on
wet surfaces. But they're handy if you keep a handful of freezer boxes to
use over and over.

Kathy

Nancy Young said:

"Kathy" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Nancy Young" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Would they wash off in hot soapy water, say for Tupperware type
containers?

Quoted message said:

Dry-erase markers work really well on plastic freezer containers. The
words stay on in the freezer but wash off fairly easily with soap and a
scrub sponge. The box top must be dry; like the OP said, ink pens don't
write on wet surfaces. But they're handy if you keep a handful of freezer
boxes to use over and over.

Thanks! I hate when you don't know if you're having chili or pasta sauce
for dinner. They look alike frozen.

nancy

Mine don't since I put kidney beans in my chili and mushroom slices in
pasta sauce but not the reverse. It's good to know about the dry-erase
markers. It will come in handy. Thanks Kathy for the tip 🙂

In article <A9_0f.11029$Vt3.10295@trnddc01>,

Hal Laurent said:

Freezer tape seems to be difficult to find nowadays, at least in
the supermarkets. I've been using masking tape since my last
roll of freezer tape ran out a few years ago, but it doesn't stick
as well in the freezer, especially on ziplock bags whose surface
can flex.

Hal Laurent
Baltimore

I use a Sharpie permanent marker to write on the ziplock bag. Since
that have that large white area with the logo, the writing there shows
up well. I haven't had any problem with the ink rubbing off.

marcella

"Marcella Peek" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <A9_0f.11029$Vt3.10295@trnddc01>,

Hal Laurent said:

Freezer tape seems to be difficult to find nowadays, at least in
the supermarkets. I've been using masking tape since my last
roll of freezer tape ran out a few years ago, but it doesn't stick
as well in the freezer, especially on ziplock bags whose surface
can flex.

I use a Sharpie permanent marker to write on the ziplock bag. Since
that have that large white area with the logo, the writing there shows
up well. I haven't had any problem with the ink rubbing off.

I do that too, but I do have problems sometimes with the ink rubbing
off.

Hal Laurent
Baltimore