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Box Trailer Signage! Help/Advice needed
Hi all
We’ve recently purchased a 12′ box trailer so we can haul out gear, heat presses, printers, mug machine etc around to shows. The box is aluminum and has white sides but it’s NOT new!
The previous owner removed old vinyl signage and of course we’re left with the inevitable mess and discolouring. We did think about removing the mess until someone suggested using a 3mm foamboard to cover the sides and applying our adverts to this.
So my question is, will this approach work? Is foamboard the best solution or should I get my marigold gloves on and get scrubbing 🙂 ?
Cheers
John
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15 Replies
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OK John, this is really going to come down to peoples opinions so I am guessing that you will get a mixture of replies, some saying it will be OK and some saying it won’t.
Personally I wouldn’t go down that road at all. If you are a signage/promotional goods company then your own advert for your business should be the best you can do. 3mm Foamex could be fitted fairly easily to the sides of the trailer but I would be worried that it may start to warp a bit of not fitted properly, it is also a plastic and dirt can quite easily get ingrained in the plastic. With you hauling the trailer all over the place it is going to get very dirty so could end up looking very sad in a short period of time. Once the dirt is ingrained no amount of cleaning will get rid of it.
If I were going to clad it with anything it would be something like Di-bond that has a powder coated finish and would be a lot easier to keep clean. OK it is going to be a lot more expensive than foam but it will last where I don’t think foam will. The thing about cladding it with anything is that you are going to increase the weight of it. Maybe not by much but it all counts.
You could try either "T" cutting it which is what I normally do when vans need to be cleaned up, go to a motor factors and get a cutting compound to do this. They are available in different grades to basically remove paint/deposits at different rates. I normally use an H3 compound if the van is really bad or something like G10 if it only really needs a polish. The motor factor will be able to give you more details.
If you don’t fancy that you could always cover the sides in vinyl and then put your adds over the top or get someone with a printer to print your own design and apply that.
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Thanks Martin.
I don’t mind a bit of elbow grease and was going to take that route but thought I’d check out the suggestion.
The side panels have some sort of grain pattern on what appears to be a sort of plastic coating there since new I’d guess might make cleaning more difficult.
The worst of the mess is the brown goo left after the removal of the vinyl lettering.
Regarding our intended signage, I’m going to need some inspiration for this and will likely get someone to do it for me!
Cheers
John
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John, if its glue then cutting compound is not your best option, that will just make it worse!!!! If you have a lot of glue to remove then you should try something like meths or IPA (isopropyl alcohol) to remove the glue first even TFR works reasonably well. There are chemicals available from spandex and people like Grafityp for glue removal as well but these tend to be more expensive. Even if you were going to floodcoat it or cover with a print you would need to get rid of the old glue first.
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Just getting the meths 🙂
Later!
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quote John Cooper:should I get my marigold gloves on and get scrubbing:yes1:
Meths won’t do it, but don’t buy any expensive proprietary cleaners. A gallon can of Tar & Glue Remover from your local motor factor will do the job just as well.
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Gosh, you’re looking well John! (Childs)
John (Cooper), yes I’d also be tempted to clean the goo off with ‘tar & glue’, then cover the whole thing in vinyl.
Gareth.
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quote Gareth Lewis:Gosh, you’re looking well John!.
Thank you Gareth.
Second childhood I think. 😀
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I think I saw that bloke once in a blue movie! 😳 :lol1:
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quote KARL WILLIAMS:I think I saw that bloke once in a blue movie!
Please Karl.
It was an educational film. 😀
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quote John Childs:quote KARL WILLIAMS:I think I saw that bloke once in a blue movie!Please Karl.
It was an educational film. 😀
It was John, it certainly was!!!! 😀 😀 😀
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quote Harry Cleary:It was John, it certainly was!!!! 😀 😀 😀
Always glad to be of assistance Harry. 😀
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well as its a show trailer i would cover it in print of your products 4 flat sides it does not have to be high quality rap vinyl. i would laminate it thou essayer to clean and you will probably want to change it next year.
chris
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Certainly was educational chaps! I now have two kids cos of you John! :lol1:
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Just to bring this thread back on topic!
When are the rehearsals for the next blue movie 🙂 ?
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there is a vinyl that hides all, blockout vinyl i think from Victory, even covers existing lettering. Just coat the sides and start again
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