[rowlandwells]

I don't know if any of you out there subscribe to Which gardening if you do  you will have read the article on plant labels and for those he don't read Which its all about buying plant labels other than plastic ones

Which  say the plastic labels get brittle and bust when cleaning something that does happen sometimes but I've found our  plastic labels have lasted us years having  used them and cleaned them over and over again and plastic labels are cheap enough if you shop around  I've even made my own plastic labels

I can understand buying non plastic if you only using a few labels but buying non plastic from prices ranging from the dearest at £1.33p each to the lower price of £0.22p each  puts the price up quite higher than plastic if your using quite a few labels

I'm glad i bought my plastic labels i needed in bulk some time ago at the rite price 

[mumofstig]

Likewise RW some of mine are very old, and they can be made from recycled plastic, so are maybe not the problem that some are suggesting.
When my children were small I used to use their little wooden lolly sticks as a free alternative 
I also cut up plastic milk bottles if I need a few large sized labels for things like squash, which tend to swamp the smaller ones 

[Subversive_plot]

MumOS, I do what you do regarding labels. I still have some purchased labels, but rarely use them. 

Most of mine are 're-purposed' plastic, or other materials.  Good materials:

• old mini-blind slats. I have some discarded blinds after a recent round of replacement. I prefer vinyl mini blinds, but the aluminum ones work as well. The aluminum ones can be recycled if they become unusable.  CAUTION, the aluminum can have a sharp edge.
• Plastic bleach and laundry detergent bottles, cut up
• Other plastic containers or lids, cut up

[Growster...]

A four-pint plastic milk bottle, carefully cut up into 4" x 1/2" strips, which are then cut to a point, yields around 25 labels, and if you 'slide' them down just inside of the pot, they will not bend into the compost!

Cut arund the straight waist of the bottle, so you have a flat chunk of plastic about a foot by 4", then slice up to size! You can also get a few more from the top half, and as a bonus, the square bottom piece is good for a small pot reservoir!

I tend to chuck them each year, although several turn up all over the place later on, and get reused if they're simple plants like radish etc!

(And the green screw lid, with a nail through it, popped into the top of a supporting cane, will maybe stop you poking your eye out as well)!

[steven c]

i have made labels from spare trunking lids cut at about 4 inch lengths these have lasted for years
although made of dreaded plastic i suppose being recycled it is ok they also mark easily with pencil and clean
well. [the sort of small trunking electricians use]

[GraciesGran]

I have some that I bought about 5 years ago, they get cleaned and reused.  I've got some lolly sticks and I also cut up the plastic milk bottles which means they get recycled before going in the bin. 

[lettice]

I've been using plastic plant labels 2x packs of 100 that I bought from the 99p store a good decade or more ago. If I remember right they were when they did the Charlie Dimmock range.
Just wash them off in the sink and they have never snapped yet. I use a pencil on them.

Also use wooden craft sticks from a third party Amazon supplier, but only in greenhouse and indoors as they get wet and hard to read later in the season.
They wipe off easy when wet, so can be used again and again. Once again using a pencil on them.

[snowdrops]

I’ve got hundreds of the purchased white labels in various sizes, I did start to make my own from various plastic bottles but I’ve stopped as I found out that the unused cut offs cannot be recycled by our council once damaged neither the old label if discarded.

[comfreykid]

I’ve got a big box of 6” plastic labels , very well used - always with a pencil .   They  are now over 30 years old and are still very usable. I’ve lost some but never had one break. They are quite thick labels by todays standards. 

[mumofstig]

I’ve got a big box of 6” plastic labels , very well used - always with a pencil .   They  are now over 30 years old and are still very usable. I’ve lost some but never had one break. They are quite thick labels by todays standards. 

I agree - what's the saying, "they don't make things like they used to" ?