Label, container comprising said label and method of washing such a container

Container comprising on at least one surface thereof an ink-only label wherein the ink-only label defines a label that does not have a paper or plastic backing comprising an adhesive layer and an ink-only image layer, wherein the said ink-only label, has a water permeability coefficient which is sufficient to enable fast removal of the label from the substrate with water or an aqueous alkaline solution, without destructive treatment of the said substrate, wherein a cover layer is applied over the ink-only label which cover layer comprises an acrylic wax and the label on the container having a pencil hardness between 1N and 7N in its dry state and a pencil hardness less than 0.5N after a soaking time between 1 and 15 minutes in water of 20° C.

Process for applying a label to a container, said process comprising providing a transfer label, said transfer label comprising a backing layer and a transfer layer which is releasably attached to the backing layer, said transfer layer comprising an ink-only label, wherein the ink-only label defines a label that does not have a paper or plastic backing, said ink-only label comprising an adhesive layer and an ink-only image layer, wherein the said ink-only label, when applied to said container, has a water permeability coefficient which is sufficient to enable fast removal of the label from the said container with water or an aqueous alkaline solution, without destructive treatment of said container, said process further comprising the step of transferring the ink-only label to at least one surface of said container the label on the container having a pencil hardness between 1N and 7N in its dry state and a pencil hardness less than 0.5N after a soaking time between 1 and 15 minutes in water of 20° C.