Vinyl and similar products applied without a heat press > Cold Vinyl

Edjumacate me on vinyl

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Frog:
What is used on all of those car stickers I see, like the stick figure families.
Are they always stuck on the outside?
Are there different tacks?
Are they small enough that they generally apply easily enough that the average Joe (or Josephine) gets them with no bubbles or wrinkles?

Sbrem:

--- Quote from: Frog on August 18, 2015, 04:11:16 PM ---What is used on all of those car stickers I see, like the stick figure families.
Are they always stuck on the outside?
Are there different tacks?
Are they small enough that they generally apply easily enough that the average Joe (or Josephine) gets them with no bubbles or wrinkles?

--- End quote ---

Generally, vinyl is on the outside, and come with removable, or non-removable adhesive. Static cling needs to be printed on the back side so they will stick to the inside of the window (some say they will stick if the ink is on the front side, but I disagree). Check out Gill-Line, good info there.

Steve

Itsa Little CrOoked:
I can't remember, you have a plotter, right?

Heat press is generally cut reversed. First surface (or pressure sensitive vinyl--also called sign vinyl) is cut right reading. Weeding is completely different than heat press for garments. You will usually see 2 types: Cast and Calendered. Cast vinyl starts life as a liquid and is dimensionally stable. 7 years exterior application is a reasonable expectation, unless it faces South or Southwest and catches Arizona type exposure to the SUN. Calendared vinyl starts as a BLOB and is rolled under pressure and spends most of its life trying to get back into its blobish shape. ie: it shrinks.

Cast vinyl=expensive and durable  (also called HP or High Performance Vinyl)
Calendared=cheap and far more temporary (although still, very servicable...once you understand it's limitations) (also called intermediate vinyl)

Application is a trick, PM me if you like, and I'll phone you and walk you through it. Once you know the tricks, it's a slam dunk on flat surfaces. Compound curves and/or over rivets, not so much. Vehicle "wraps" are advanced application techniques. But basically I make a taped "hinge" of the assembled decoration, taping over one end of the transfer mask to the substrate. I then peel the release liner part way from the hinge, then squeegee vertically, up and down from the centerline....overlapping each squeegee pass. I use the release liner as a moving "bumper" or "spacer" to keep the decal from touching the substrate until THE SQUEEGEE forces contact between the adhesive and the substrate.

As Steve said, adhesives also vary. Some are intended as a sacrificial single use stencil, some are static cling. Some are considered removable, but it is still single use for the most part. 

But compared to the heartaches that can accompany screenprinting on garments, the vinyl biz is pretty simple. That's what I think, anyways. It takes some practice though. I can do it in my sleep on flat surfaces.

Having said all that, the vinyl cutting business is in decline, because of digital printing. It will still be around for many years, but not like 3 decades ago.

Frog:
Stan, you're jumping me way up on the compilation scale. I'm just curious about them little window stickers, LOL! Baby steps.
Besides, you know how it starts, make this and that for the wife, and friends, and then someone asks, hey, where did you get that?

I assume that most of the stickers I see were applied by the end users, so that part can't be too tough.

So, when I see them lifting and curling up, they are probably the cheaper calendered type, eh?
Also, how does one remove them when they want to?

royster13:
Oracal 751.....Lasts longer than Oracal 651 but is a little trickier to cut fine details....

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