Found a cheap way to label patch cables that actually stays on

I got sick of trying to read faded sharpie marks on my patch cables in the server closet at work. The labels I bought from Amazon kept peeling off after a few weeks because of the heat. Then I saw a guy on a forum mention using clear heat shrink tubing over a paper label. I tried it with some cheap 1/4 inch heat shrink from Home Depot and a Brother P-Touch. You just print the label, wrap it around the cable, slide the heat shrink over it, and hit it with a heat gun. It's been 3 months and none of them have moved or faded. Anybody else got a trick for labeling that survives a messy rack?

2 comments

2 Comments

coleman.jade8d ago

Oh, I've been down that same road with labels falling off in warm racks. The heat shrink trick is solid, and I'd add that using a laser printer on the paper label makes the text last even longer than an inkjet. One other thing that's worked for me is using colored heat shrink in different lengths codes for cable types, so a quick glance tells you what's what without reading every label.

susanh467d ago

That color coding idea is genius, I might have to steal it for my home setup! I once spent a whole Saturday labeling cables the old fashioned way and by the end I couldn't tell a network cable from a power cord.