The table

Working the table backwards

On this page11

The instinct is to pick the bottle first Count the required text first Set it at the height the table demands Then look at your panel Straight walls give the most Tapers and ovals give less than they look Watch the band boundaries Which is a genuinely counterintuitive result A carton is the escape Do it once per product, not per print run References

The label is the constraint. The bottle is the variable.

The instinct is to pick the bottle first

Because the bottle is the product you are buying and the label feels like something that gets designed later. For a regulated product that order is backwards.

Count the required text first

Signal word, statement of hazard, precautionary measures, first aid where required, the name and place of business, net contents. All of it has to fit.

Set it at the height the table demands

For the panel size you are considering. Then measure the block it occupies, as printed, rather than as it appears on a screen.

Then look at your panel

A cylindrical bottle gives you a wrap, and the usable panel is the straight wall times the circumference you can print without the label lifting at the seam.

Straight walls give the most

45 HDPE packers and 43 PE cylinder rounds on this shelf. A straight cylinder is the most label-efficient shape there is.

Tapers and ovals give less than they look

18 PE imperial bullet cosmos here. Attractive, and the usable panel is smaller than the surface area, which is the trap.

Watch the band boundaries

If your panel lands at 5.2 square inches you are in the band above 5, needing a 3/32 inch signal word rather than 1/16. A slightly smaller panel can mean a smaller legal minimum.

Which is a genuinely counterintuitive result

Going down a size class can reduce the required type height, though it also reduces the space you have. Both move together and the arithmetic has to be done.

A carton is the escape

If the bottle cannot carry it, an outer carton with a larger panel can, and that is a normal answer rather than a defeat.

Do it once per product, not per print run

The panel, the band and the heights are fixed as soon as the container is. Writing them down once stops the question being re-litigated by whoever is doing the artwork this time.

References

16 CFR 1500.121, Table 1, minimum type size by area of the principal display panel, where type size is "the actual height of the printed image of each upper case or capital letter as it appears on the label". For the signal word: 3/64 inch for a panel of 0 to 2 square inches; 1/16 inch for over 2 to 5; 3/32 inch for over 5 to 10; 7/64 inch for over 10 to 15; 1/8 inch for over 15 to 30; and 5/32 inch for over 30. For the statement of hazard: 3/64 inch up to 5 square inches; 1/16 inch for over 5 to 10; 3/32 inch for over 10 to 30; and 7/64 inch for over 30. law.cornell.edu

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. The cycling and climbing shelf is 972 rows: 383 containers and 589 closures. 5 mL to 2,000 mL with a median of 237; 17 containers at 15 mL or under, 25 at 30 or under, 77 at 60 or under, 132 at 120 or under. 174 HDPE, 147 PET, 42 PP, 20 glass. 188 bottles, 173 jars, 17 tubs and pails, 3 jugs, 2 tubes. 137 white, 72 clear, 69 natural, 37 black, 33 amber. Closures: 381 continuous thread, 39 child resistant, 36 disc top, 26 dome lids, 26 spouted, 19 flip top, 13 spice caps, 11 liners and sealing discs, 9 phenolic.

Written from 16 CFR 1500.121 and 1500.14, and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. Whether a given lubricant or sealant is a hazardous substance under the Act is the formulator's determination, not ours. No point-size conversions appear here because the regulation specifies fractional inches as the height of a capital letter. Climbing area rules on chalk are set by land managers and vary site by site.