Do you harbor a secret love -- for your hand-held label maker?

Don't laugh, many do.

"You think they're overkill. A machine to print a label when I can do it myself with a pen and a peel-and-stick label? And then you get one in your hot little hands and the world changes," said Cynthia Townley Ewer, picking up her labeler.

She says she's a slave to her Brother P-Touch labeler.

Ewer, editor of OrganizedHome.com, is a firm believer in labeling things.

"There is no such thing as too many labels," she wrote in her book, Houseworks: Cut the Clutter, Speed Your Cleaning and Calm the Chaos.

And she's not alone in her beliefs.

Dymo, which makes eight models of label makers, estimates that 10 percent of American households have at least one of the handy gadgets, compared with 1 percent in 1999, said Michael Kaplan, Dymo's global marketing director.

According to Dymo, U.S. sales of home organizational products such as label makers are expected to grow 5 percent per year, likely reaching $7.6 billion by 2009.

Label makers aren't new, of course: Dymo has had one on the market since 1958. In fact, you probably know someone harboring fond memories of a Dymo turn-and-click model from the early 1980s -- the ones that turn out embossed strips of colored plastic. (Here's a bit of news: They still make them.)

But today's electronic models, first introduced in 1990, are more fun.

The gadgets, increasingly amped up with more and more functions, print an ever-growing array of fonts and characters on tape that comes in a variety of colors and materials, including clear plastic, magnetic and iron-on. At least one model of Brother P-Touch labelers even prints on a very narrow, clear plastic tape ideal for labeling the skinny sides of CD and DVD cases.

Hand-held label makers can be found as low as $20, especially at discount stores. Look for starter kits, which include the machine and several cartridges of the label tape.

"By the time you run out of tape, you'll be hooked," Ewer said.

Replacement tape cartridges are about $8 each, though some holding materials other than plain paper will run more. There's no need to buy ink or printing cartridges -- label makers use thermal printing technology that requires only a roll of specially designed tape and batteries.

"Before buying a labeler, do your homework. The label tape cartridges are not interchangeable between brands. Find the tape, or tapes you'll use the most, and buy the model stocked at the store you shop at the most. It won't do you any good to buy the machine and then find that buying the tapes is always an extra stop, an extra chore," Ewer said.

Or plan to shop the Internet. Dymo products can be found at Dymo.com; Brother P-Touch at brother-usa.com/ptouch.

Labelers that can handle more complex tasks such as batch printing, turning out mailing labels or interfacing with your computer cost more, starting around $100 and going up. But most of these are tabletop models, which aren't as handy as the hand-held models.

"You want one you can carry with you. One that will print a label on the spot, while you're looking at the thing you want to mark," Ewer said.

So what can you mark? Anything and everything.

"It just depends on what tape you use," Ewer said.

Label shelves in the linen closes, plastic containers in the pantry, file folders ...

Changing the batteries in your smoke alarm? Label them with the date. Do the same thing with leftovers in the fridge and those anonymous, foil-wrapped packages in the freezer.

Take it to the wine cellar, out to the garage and label all those screw bins, she said.

"Label your camping equipment too. All those stuff sacks look alike," Ewer said.

Label drawers on the inside lip with what goes inside and you'll just need to peek to find something.

A popular use of label makers is to identify chargers in families where everyone has his or her own cell phone, camera, MP3 player or laptops. Customers can use standard label tapes to sort these power cords, but Brother offers wrapping and flagging tapes to make the job even easier.

Ewer even labels her tap shoes and dance costumes for the Tri-City Tappers.

"Have you ever been in a room with 20 women all wearing the same costumes, wearing the same style shoes? Yes, I label my shoes," Ewer said.

"And just think how handy a hand-held labeler would be on a boat or in the RV. All those storage cubbyholes, labeled," she said.

While the list of uses and features continues to grow, most label-makers remain simple to use.

"We want people to be able to use them without reading the instructions. (At Dymo) we've added what's called WYSIWYG functionality: What you see is what you get. If you bold it, or if you underline it, you see that right on the screen," Kaplan said.

And Dymo's newest model, which prints 195 different symbols, offers a traditionally arranged keyboard, rather than one listing the letters alphabetically -- another nod toward making things simpler.

But all this versatility isn't inspiring just bouts of over-organization, but a certain odd affection from those who use them.

It's nothing short of label-maker love.

* Loretto J. Hulse: 582-1513; lhulse@tricityherald.com