Premium Wax Barcode Ribbon

CW-12 is our premium wax grade. In the grade table it is the only wax grade listed for semi-gloss paper and for coated paper labels, and it shares matte and matte-coated paper with CW-11. Uncoated paper is the one stock listed for CW-11 alone.

Printer makers point wax at paper with little or no chemical or abrasion exposure, so CW-12 is a ribbon for dry, indoor labels: courier and shipping barcodes, grocery and FMCG shelf labels, office document labels. It is not a film ribbon. Wax ink sits on the surface of a polyester or polypropylene label, so for a lasting print on film move to wax-resin or resin.

Next to CW-11, CW-12 widens the label list by adding semi-gloss and coated paper. Printer makers describe the premium wax tier as giving sharper print and better smudge and scratch resistance, and CW-12 is our premium wax grade. If your labels are uncoated or matte and only have to scan, CW-11 is the simpler choice. If the face is smoother, CW-12 is the one to test.

The step above CW-12 is wax-resin. CW-15 is the first wax-resin grade in our range, listed for coated paper and for semi-gloss and matte synthetic labels. TSC points wax-resin at coated paper, semi-gloss paper and matte synthetics, so a coated label that is stacked, wiped or exposed to damp is a reason to try CW-15 or CW-20, rather than to push a wax ribbon to a darker setting.

CW-12 is a wax grade, so it runs cooler and faster than any wax-resin or resin ribbon. Zebra's manuals say to set darkness to the lowest level that gives good print quality, and to slow the printer down if quality drops, because slower speeds usually print better. A setting that is too high can burn through the ribbon and wear the printhead, which defeats the point of choosing a premium wax. Zebra also explains why the back coating on a ribbon matters: it shields the printhead from heat and static, and a poor one causes friction that can damage the printhead.

Fine grey lines on blank labels, or long tracks with no print, usually mean a wrinkled ribbon. Reload it, lower the darkness, and set the printhead pressure to the minimum that still prints well. A ribbon that breaks or melts points to darkness set too high, or to a ribbon coated on the wrong side for your printer.

CW-12 is slit in widths between 25mm and 160mm and in lengths from 50m to 600m, on half-inch or 1-inch cores, notched if your printer needs it, and wound inside or outside. Choose a width at least as wide as the label, never narrower, so the printhead is covered end to end.

If you print several label stocks on one bench, tell us what each one is. We suggest whether CW-11 or CW-12 fits it, and we send a free sample so you can check on your own printer. There is no minimum order on standard sizes, standard sizes are dispatched the same day, and MSDS is available on request.