Etch/Frosted Vinyl – Couple of Questions

[Jon Marshall]

I would do it wet and have the panels 1-2mm smaller than the actual window size.

[John Dorling]

Window etch is the only thing I do wet, as the app fluid seems to help ‘float’ any dust out from under the vinyl, but use low/medium tack app tape where necessary cos the high tack is a sod to get off!

John

[Tim Painter]

No need for app tape on the solid one.

Spray the window and place the vinyl side to it and peel off the backing.
The fluid will hold it enough to give you a third had.

Then you can spray the adhesive side, grab the 2 lower corners and flip it.
Then squeegee out the fluid.

If you use tape and do it wet squeegee and leave it to start grabbing a bit then spray the tape let it soak in a bit then peel off the app tape.

[Neil Speirs]

Sorry to hijack slightly but who’s etch vinyl are u guys using?

[Stuart Miller]

When applying frost to glass I treat the vinyl as if it was window film.
i.e. No application paper and install wet.

Small white marks in the film or glue when applying dry do not in my experience disappear with time. They are usually caused by some defect or crease and are different to the milky marks you get with water drying out.
Applying wet I always get an unblemished finish.

I usually oversize and trim on the window. If the pane has true rectangular corners then you can slide into place and only have to trim two sides.

Slip solution is usually 3 fl oz baby shampoo to 1 litre of water.

Several methods of removing backing paper depending on size of window, experience and personal preference.

1) As advised above and probably easiest for small panes. Wet cleaned window, Stick vinyl side to glass , remove backing paper, spray adhesive, grab corners flip and stick.

2) Tape securely top edge to window frame. Pull backing paper down 30 cms at a time spray exposed adhesive, squeegee and repeat to bottom. Remove tape at top and trim to fit.

3) Reverse roll. This is a window film technique which is widely used on film as it has a thin backing liner but can be awkward on paper backed vinyls.
The frost is rolled tightly with the backing paper on the inside. The first few cms of backing paper are peeled back and the adhesive is sprayed. The backing paper is then rolled back around the rest of the roll
(awkward to explain but a diagram is here http://www.tintdude.com/reverse.html) and as the roll is unwound more adhesive is exposed and the liner (in theory) ends up stuck to the back of the applied vinyl. keep wetting glass and newly exposed adhesive as you go. A good firm squeegee is needed at the start to lock the film/vinyl to the glass but then it is best to just keep spraying and unrolling to the end of the pane and do a final squeegee when it is all on the glass.
Again no application paper and a proper film squeegee such as this
are best.
Also wet the outside surface of the vinyl before using squegee. Always push and after trimming edges remember to go over with a cloth/towel covered hard card and bump all the edges to make sure laid down well and dry.

As soon as you start cutting graphics or text into the vinyl then application paper will have to be used and this then complicates the whole process.
Some weed as normal before application. others wait until applied before weeding on the glass.
Either way if there are small pieces it can be difficult to remove the application paper without lifting the frost from the glass. Best to wait an hour or so and in some cases even overnight before carefully pulling application paper, which should be soaked well with solution beforehand.

When applying just frosted text to glass panes I go back to a dry application as they will lift if done wet and it is often not possible to go back later. The few that do get white marks are usually easily replaced and I carry a few spare letters to the job site to cover this.

good luck and practice a bit to find what works best for you.

[Peter Dee]

quote Graham Dungavel:

Morning all,

r

I have just done 2 of the partition panels as a tester, one thing I have learned is not to do a hinge in the middle on frosted, it will leave a thin line of backing paper "shavings" on the final product, just an FYI for anybody reading!

Graham.

I guess you tore the backing paper off rather than did a push cut with scissors.

I do the same as Ian re wet application.

[Stuart Miller]

quote Neil Speirs:

Sorry to hijack slightly but who’s etch vinyl are u guys using?

For long lasting projects wanting a permanent and a quite white looking frosting I use Bekaert Clear Frost polyester window film.

However for most of my graphics or frosted window work I use Metamark who have a basic frost with a 4 year durability and a range of dusted, silver and crystal all with 7 year durability.

Never tried others as these have always served by needs and performed well.

[Graham Dungavel]

Thank you for the helpful replies!

In regards to the shaving, I slit the backing paper with a fresh scalpel and then wiped the area with a tack rag, I guess the film picked up any remaining particles from the edge of the cut though. No worries on this though as i have been doing them in one go with a hinge from the side and it has been fine.

I will have a go at doing the blockout on the windows wet by using the liquid to hold the vinyl as suggested, as well as taking some spare in case i make a pigs ear of it!

[Colin Bland]

When you cut the backing paper just fold it over so that the fluffy edge does not come into contact with the vinyl works for me

Colin

[David Rogers]

Why crack / slit the backing anyway? (A la ‘crack-back’)

Can’t see any real advantage for doing etch as it creates more problems than it solves.

[Glen Mathers]

Go with a wet application all the time with etch, i’ve never done any etch dry as yet, Rob makes it look so easy in his video demo i watched a while back though 🙁

[Graham Dungavel]

quote David Rogers:

Can’t see any real advantage for doing etch as it creates more problems than it solves.

Absolutely! I know that now! :lol1:

The fitting went ahead today without any problems, using the fluid to stick the flood panels to the window the flipping them over worked a treat!

On the doors the strips had text cut from them, I weeded before tape and then applied wet, after about 10 minutes I soaked the application paper and it came off without a single problem.

Vinyl was oracal 8510 and app tape was oratape medium tack.