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Can anyone recommend a good quality reflective vinyl?
Can anyone recommend a good quality reflective vinyl? I’ve 8 vans to cover the rear doors in chevrons.
I’ve already done one using the reflective that Europoint sell but it was a pain to use – the main problem was when you laid it on the van and took it back off to reposition it, it left part of the vinyl behind, and when you had to cut it to go round door handles it left vinyl behind then too.
I was wondering if there was a more conformable vinyl or at least a vinyl that you can pull back off without it breaking up?
many thanks
stuart
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10 Replies
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what sort of reflective were you using class1?? class2???
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I have covered the back of quite a few vans using Nicolite reflective sold by Europoint and don’t honestly think you will find a much better vinyl without spending a lot of money.
Robert will probably kill me for this but I always used to apply it with a light mist of water. That way you will get a chance to reposition it and it makes removing excess vinyl a lot easier round hinges and handles.
Reflective by nature is a bit more difficult to work with than normal vinyls and as you know a bit difficult to remove but by using a little water when applying always seemed to work for me.
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Its the Nikalite sold by Europoint – I’m not sure what class it is though.
I might try the next one with a bit of water – I’m like Rob though, Hate using water, don’t trust it!
Any other suggestions?
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shame on you martin 😉 :lol1:
the europoint stuff isn’t oracal like the rest of the range but i find it one of the best to use. nikilite that is…
all reflectives are made up of tiny glass beads to create the shimmering effect when lights hit it. because of this the reflective doesn’t hold itself together very well… breaks apart easy as opposed to stretching.
thats why once you put it down and try lifting it again it just comes away in bits.
nikilite introduced a polyester topcoat which helps prevent the vinyl breaking while installing, it also gives a brilliant gloss sheen off it which others dont.
like you said, once its down and you lift it leaves the pastie type vinyl residue behind if you try moving it. thats just because the vinyl has gripped the surface and your not pulling the polyester layer away from it.
this is a down side of it, but much better than others in my opinion.
luckylite is a great one i have used… it has an almost foil like feel to it and just wont tear, the vinyl and adhesive make-up of it is different so it lifts as well with much, if any glue. i bought this through europoint a while back but its not really stocked, sorry, i dont know who stocks it just now… ill try remember and reply again… the downside of the luckylite was it was about twice the price of the nikalite….dont think the higher you pay the better it is to apply… its not. i have used 3M reflectives costing thousands of pound "per roll" and it performed just the same as the lower end stuff.
one last thing, the cold weather will be making the vinyl extra brittle against the cold metal surface of the vehicle.
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Stuart, I know what you mean and generally I didn’t use water either but as you know it is as sticky as something that is really sticky !!! A light mist just gave me a bit of a chance with the stuff.
How warm is your workshop as obviously temperature will have an effect as well. -
quote martin:as you know it is as sticky as something that is really sticky !!!
:lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:
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For Luckylite (LG Chem) stuff you could try Tennants.
Never used it myself so can’t vouch for the quality of the stuff.
Robert
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I’ve used the LG stuff before and was very impressed. Suitable ONLY for flat panels / bends as it will not conform.
All of the reflectives will tear / come apart to some extent. I did find the LG better though as it seems to have a clear ‘laminate’.
Most suppliers will do several grades of class II – engineering grade which is fine for most stuff & also conformable reflective Class II…it’s about 2 to 3 times more expensive. Then it’s onto class I – also NON-conformable but HIGHLY reflective…prices vary, but it ain’t cheap!!
Try William Smith or Andersons.
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its good practice to put the reflective onto normal vinyl before applying, not just to give you a second chance, but when it is removed in the future, it will be easier.
Avery do a reflective that is a bit stretchy so unlike others, can be applied to simple compound curves,
Peter
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Stuart, maybe get a couple of samples of the other makes and give it a try for yourself, but as I said before I don’t think a different manufacturer is going to make that much difference to the application, I found with some that I could pull them back off if not to much had stuck down but it left a lot of the glue behind so it couldn’t be used again anyway.
I have found the nicolite a lot nicer to use since they introduced the top coating that Robert mentioned and it makes it look like a much higher quality film as well.
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