Black reflective vinyl behavior

[Otto Peltonen]

I think all black reflective vinyls , despite the manufacturer, work that way. I´ve never used the 3M stuff, but Avery HV 1200 works just like that (see the pic, Jimi printed black on black reflective, and when photographed with flash, non-printed areas show as white)

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[Paul Loades]

Hi Fabrice, although I haven’t used the 3M version, I have seen a picture of it on the boards here somewhere… and it did reflect white when lit…

I have used a cheaper commercial grade reflective black before on a couple of occassions, but if you go this route be aware that the first lot worked fine and the second hardly reflected at all… both from same supplier and same make… so not sure if theres a shelf life for it.

Hope this helps.

Paul

[Fabrice Menard]

thanks for your answers, very appreciated.

No problem for shelf life as I don’t intend to buy a lot. The rest will go on my bicycles… :lol1:

[Paul Loades]

not your shelf life, the shelf life it’s had before you buy it…

I only bought as close a I could to what was needed. Bought and used it straight away on both occasions. You dont know how long it’s sat on a shelf in a warehouse somewhere. I would assume that black reflective is not a fast turnaround product.

Regards

Paul

[Fabrice Menard]

I understand that but if the material makes problem I can always deal with the supplier to sort an arrangement 😉

and the customer already know that such product has small life expectency (it’s to be used only 1 year on bicycle racing wheels).

[Hugh Potter]

I’m not sure shelf life would have been the issue Paul,

I use a lot of black reflective, the stuff I used on my van was old stock, i’d had it in my workshop since July 08 and I’d bought it from another member on here so I don’t know how long he’d had it, so at least 30 months old on my shelf and there was no prob at all, no shrinkage and certainly no problem with reflectivity.

I ran out of that and often work with the 3m now, not as supple but a good film – it’s usually what I put onto AA trucks for repairs – and other little ventures.

LG, very old as it was discontinued about 3yrs ago – unless they’ve revived it. the nikalite wasn’t very good, both LG and nikkalite were pretty creamy gold rather than white.

the main thing to remember with reflective, and I get this a lot from people who do not understand how it works, is that it will only "reflect" light back at the source so there’s no point using reflective unless someone is gonna see it from in their car or they’re standing under a light!

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[Jill Marie Welsh]

The 3M black does shine white.
I use it on firetrucks here.
I only use 3M reflective but I only do cut vinyl not wraps.
Love….Jill

[Paul Loades]

Sorry to part hi-jack the thread!

The second lot of black reflective I bought, I used on my own van…as I liked the effect I had achieved on my customers van. Along with reflective orange to make up my logo.

At night the orange screams out at you, but the black reflects so little that you occasionally see what I can best describe as a purple tinge. There is no problem with shrinkage, just reflectivity!

To be honest should have changed it ages ago, but as always with your own stuff…

will try and get a pic and post it…

Paul

[John Harding]

yep all black reflects white (well all the ones ive used do) 😀

[Paul Loades]

as per earlier reply, this is the best shot I can get of the black reflective on my van… as you can see orange is spot on but the black’s not great.

Paul

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[Robert Lambie]

quote Fabrice Menard:

Hello all,

a customer of mine asked to make cut stickers out of black reflective vinyl. 😎
He said he wants a black vinyl which appears white when lightened.

He said 3M 580E may be OK (first time a customer tells me the name of a kind of vinyl 😮 ).

Do you know if this 3M material really behaves like this (~white when light on it)?

Because of the high price (and small order from this customer), I don’t want to order without being sure. None of my providers wanna give any sample (I’m in France/Germany border).

In short, yes black reflective does give a sort of white reflective appearance. but depending on the brand of reflective you use this varies on just how white. by that i mean… i have used several over the years. some are whiter than others but have a varying tinge of colour through them like creamy brown… its still reflecting bright, just has colour tinge through it.

regardless, your customer has "specified" a brand and code of what he wants you to use. so if its not what "you and i" would deem as "white" that’s his problem, he requested it.
I would also imagine calling your local 3M supplier and asking the question would be a quick fix on what colour it reflects.
As for price being expensive, again, your customer has specified a brand and code of vinyl they want, your own pricing should be ajusted to allow for this. if your supplier has a minimum quantity and you know your not going to need it all, then you must charge the customer for that too. Yes we are here to keep the customer happy, but not work at a loss.

At the end of the day, someone doesnt walk by the Wrangler Jeans Shop only to walk into the Armani Jeans Store and expect to pay the same price do they? Your customer sounds like they know what they want and will expect your price to reflect on that, pardon the pun! 😀

[Fabrice Menard]

quote Robert Lambie:

In short, yes black reflective does give a sort of white reflective appearance. but depending on the brand of reflective you use this varies on just how white. by that i mean… i have used several over the years. some are whiter than others but have a varying tinge of colour through them like creamy brown… its still reflecting bright, just has colour tinge through it.

nice to read this.

quote :

regardless, your customer has “specified” a brand and code of what he wants you to use. so if its not what “you and i” would deem as “white” that’s his problem, he requested it.

OK but if this code was given by a man who knows someone who tells him blablabla… I think it’s also up to me to warn the customers about the product behavior even if he mention the brand code. After that, I don’t mind selling him the product he asked, but at least I warned him.

quote :

I would also imagine calling your local 3M supplier and asking the question would be a quick fix on what colour it reflects.
As for price being expensive, again, your customer has specified a brand and code of vinyl they want, your own pricing should be ajusted to allow for this. if your supplier has a minimum quantity and you know your not going to need it all, then you must charge the customer for that too. Yes we are here to keep the customer happy, but not work at a loss.

Of course I will charge the customer the correct way, I can find this 3M film by the meter so it’s not a real problem it’s only that I don’t want to buy before knowing how the product behaves.

On getting advices from suppliers (eg: question about which color the black reflects). I don’t expect advices from suppliers anymore, especially the people that are only on the phone to take orders, I was disappointed several times from several suppliers (never the same people on the phone also, hard to trust advices then).

I prefer advices from people who us the products. In this respect, this UKSB forum is grea and I now have the information I need. Long life to UKSB!