Is there different shades of white?

[James Haseldine]

You’d be surprised!

I don’t know about vehicle wrapping films as that’s not my area of expertise however I used to work for a large paint manufacturer and once saw a single colour card with 50+ shades of white – all very subtle and you may only notice by tipping the card slightly or looking under natural night, but different none the less.

I’d guess it would be the same for vinyl as different manufacturers have their ‘version’ of a colour. I know when I’ve buy my materials I have to be careful with the supplier I buy from as I could end up with slightly different colours, especially if I’m trying to match a repeat order.

[Alex Crosbie]

With paint there are hundreds of variations of white.

I’ve had the same conversation with a customer in the past, I just said I matched it to the closest vinyl colour that was available. Unless the customer buys some new back doors that are painted metal it’s as close as it’s going to get!

Even if you could find a vinyl that perfectly matched chances are the dark substrate of the glass will have an affect on the vinyl colour making it look slightly darker.

You could always suggest you wrap the rest of his van to match the windows 😉

[Robert Lambie]

quote James Haseldine:

I used to work for a large paint manufacturer and once saw a single colour card with 50+ shades of white

Sorry James, that was a thin teaser copy of 50 shades of grey you were reading mate. 😕 😉 :lol1:

yes, as james says there will be differences in white.

I will give you a good instance where "i was stung" by this…
The UKSB truck… and twice!

Part of the truck is printed, blending out to white only.
our guys printed on Oracal, but ran out of digital white and just stuck in 3M white. and continued…

the UKSB truck was wrapped at night, outside under flood lights.
next day i arrive and i can see there was a colour change.

i went in and complained to our guys, one bloody brand for the whole job!!! 👿

they printed it again… but guess what… they used a different "clear laminate" half way through… same base vinyl, different laminate….
guess what?
Another colour change midway thru! :headbang2:

there was actually ANOTHER similar error, but i forget what it was…
unbelievable how one of our biggest weekly work load of jobs is truck wraps and has been for many years. yet they managed to screw up mine 3 times! :lol1: :lol1:

anyway, in answer to your question, yes… whites not always white, or should i say, brand to brand.

Paint as has been said is much worse. funny enough, i have same issue inside the UKSB truck. :vomit: :lol1:
Renault white has a tinge of blue in it, the ford white has a creamie white in it. put them next to each other in a bright room like in the truck and it stands out a mile!!!
i found this out after getting all the panels in the truck sprayed by two different body shops. yet another lesson learned! 🙄 :lol1:

[Ghais Din]

Loads of different shades of white are available for vehicle wraps,

All have a lightly different shade,

its real difficult to find the correct white, lol

[John O'Sullivan]

quote Robert Lambie:

quote James Haseldine:

I used to work for a large paint manufacturer and once saw a single colour card with 50+ shades of white

quote :

Sorry James, that was a thin teaser copy of 50 shades of grey you were reading mate. 😕 😉 :lol1:

yes, as james says there will be differences in white.

I will give you a good instance where “i was stung” by this…
The UKSB truck… and twice!

Part of the truck is printed, blending out to white only.
our guys printed on Oracal, but ran out of digital white and just stuck in 3M white. and continued…

the UKSB truck was wrapped at night, outside under flood lights.
next day i arrive and i can see there was a colour change.

i went job!!! 👿

they printed it again… but guess what… they used a different “clear laminate” half way through… same base vinyl, different laminate….
guess what?
Another colour change midway thru! :headbang2:

there was actually ANOTHER similar error, but i forget what it was…
unbelievable how one of our biggest weekly work load of jobs is truck wraps and has been for many years. yet they managed to screw up mine 3in and complained to our guys, one bloody brand for the whole times! :lol1: :lol1:

just wondered what they said when you complained?? Was it "its only Rob’s truck" 😮 or " Didnt think you would notice ":o 😀
O….. And are they still working tere?? 😀 😀 😀

[Martin Pearson]

I always point out to the customer before I cover back windows that it won’t match the paintwork, chances of finding a vinyl that is an exact match to a particular paint colour is almost impossible as has been said, increased cost but you could always buy a can of what ever paint colour it is & spray the vinyl :lol1: :lol1:

[James Haseldine]

quote Robert Lambie:

quote James Haseldine:

I used to work for a large paint manufacturer and once saw a single colour card with 50+ shades of white

Sorry James, that was a thin teaser copy of 50 shades of grey you were reading mate. 😕 😉 :lol1:

Ha, Ha! I think it could have been the pre-watershed version 😮

Going back to the issue of white, as a sideline I’m putting together some books to sell and was looking at paper the other day – proper thick stuff. Even they’re not straight forward – you can have natural white, high white, brilliant white or diamond white (which quote is the ‘whitest white’!) How much further can white get?!

[Chris Wool]

if you have ever seen a car painted in base white you will understand why they tint it a shade.