Make Your Own Clear Labels in Minutes Using This Cheap Hack

If you love organization as much as we do, you probably label everything from the pasta in your pantry to the Q-Tips in your bathroom. But did you know you don’t need an expensive label maker to craft beautiful, clear labels?

In a viral TikTok amassing more than 602,000 views, cleaning influencer Melissa Pateras (@melissadilkespateras) makes the “easiest, cheapest” labels in just a couple of minutes. Here’s how she does it.

How to Print the Paper Labels

In her video, Pateras starts by showing pages of printer paper covered in the names of the items you’d like to label, like “Cotton Balls,” “Soap,” “Pasta” and “Sugar.” The pages appear to have been made in Microsoft Word using regular single spacing and various font types.

Pateras explains in her narration you can “print out what you want on regular paper in any size or font you like.” If you’re looking to save printer ink, Garamond is always a stylish and money-saving choice.

@melissadilkespateras Label hack #cleantok #organize #organizedhome #diy ♬ original sound – Laundrytok | Melissa Pateras

How to Make the Clear Tape Labels

Next, according to Pateras, “carefully place the packing tape on each of the words and smooth it out.” (To get the best results out of your packing tape, might we suggest this method of ripping it?)

Once you’ve placed the tape, cut out the taped labels. Pateras says you can make the label “as big or as small as you like, meaning you can cut it as close as you want to the letters.”

Once you’ve made the individual tape labels, “fill the bowl with warm water and place the label in the bowl for about a minute,” she says. At this stage, the labels may curl up — that’s completely fine!

To complete the labels, Pateras says, “place your hands in the water and completely rub off the paper using your fingers.” The printer ink will stick to the tape, leaving only a clear, sticky label. Once the paper is completely gone, set the label aside to dry.

How to Place the Clear Tape Labels

Finally, place the tape label onto whatever storage container you desire; it should still be sticky. According to Pateras, it’s OK if the label is still slightly wet when you place it, since it will “allow you to shift it a little if you need to.” And that’s it!

The labels can be used safely in any environment, including the kitchen, bathroom or garage. Better yet, the process is so cheap and easy that you can make as many as your heart desires.