| Face Material | | Any material, including paper, film, fabric, laminated or solid foil, suitable for converting into PS label stock. |
| Face Side | | The unlined side of a double-coated tape. |
| Face Splits | | Linear cuts put in the facestock during coating or on press to meet specialized end-use requirements. |
| Facestock | | Any material, including paper, film, fabric, laminated or solid foil, suitable for converting into PS label stock. |
| Fan Fold | | Zig-zag fold. The put-up of pressure-sensitive labels on a continuous backing in such a way as to form a flat pack as different from roll form. |
| FasStrip | | 40# and 50# bleached super-calendered paper liners. Characterized by good surface hardness and good tensile strength. |
| FC | | FasClearŪ |
| FDA | | Food and Drug Administration. Regulations for PS applications apply to the following area: Adhesives: (1) Direct food contact, such as labeling of fruit and vegetable with an edible skin (175.125); (2) Indirect food contact, where incidental between an adhesive and a food may be possible (175.105). Facestocks: (1) Contact between paper and dry foods (175.180); (2) Contact between paper and aqueous and/or fatty foods (176.170). |
| Feeder | | In printing presses, the section that separates the sheets and feeds them in position for printing. |
| Feel | | The degree of stickiness of the adhesive determined by touching with one's finger. This is often a misleading test to determine adhesion. |
| Felt Side | | The smoother side of the paper for printing. The top side of sheet in paper manufacturing. |
| Fiber Filled | | An adhesive that has had fibers added to it. These fibers help in conversion of the products, by preventing adhesive flow. Fiber filling does allow for as much elongation as a regular transfer tape. Fiber filling does not provide as much stability on conversion as a "Carriered" product. |
| Film Coating | | Application of light, pigmented coating. |
| Films | | Acetate, polyester, polyethylene vinyls and other polymeric. Face material manufacturing from synthetic high molecular weight polymers. |
| Finish | | The surface property of a film determined by its texture and gloss. A gloss finish, for example, can be shiny and highly reflective, while a matte finish is generally dull and reflects little light. |
| Firm | | Refers to the resistance of an adhesive to flow. |
| Fish Eye | | Round or oval deformation in an adhesive, coating, or ink. |
| Flagging | | A lifting or peeling away of the end of a tape wound on a spiral-wrap application. |
| Flame Resistant | | The ability of a tape to withstand exposure to a flame. Flame resistant (fire-retardant self extinguishing) materials will burn when exposed to flame, but will not continue to burn after the flame is removed. Burning rate, smoke density, toxicity of fumes and melt drippings are important factors in assessing flame resistance. |
| Flame Retardant | | A material that resists burning when exposed to a flame. |
| Flexibility | | Property of facestock material that indicates how readily it conforms to curved surfaces. |
| Flexographic Printing | | A method of rotary letterpress printing. |
| Flow | | In printing, the ability of an ink to spread over the surface the rollers of a press. |
| Flow Out | | The ability of an adhesive to level after application. |
| Food Contact Adhesives | | Adhesives meeting specified sections of the Food & Drug Administration Code of Federal Regulations. These regulations cover direct food labeling as well as incidental contact. Special product recommendations are necessary for specific applications. |
| FSC | | Forest Stewardship Council |
| F.O.B. | | Free on board. Indicates that a quoted price includes loading on a railroad car or truck at the designated point, but no further transportation cost are included. |