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Lamination – does it extend the ink life?
I was speaking to a rep on the phone the other day who was been trying to sell to me for a long time now, she raised one or two questions which l’m hoping you can all help me with.
I have a versacamm which has a 2-3 year ink life, i’ve been laminating with a 5 year laminate in the belief that the laminate will extend the life of the prints.
Is this the case or is she correct in saying that the laminate does not extend the ink life, it just protects from the elements thrown at it on a daily basis.I’d like to know who is right on this one so i know who has being fibbing to me. 👿
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6 Replies
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as i understand it apart from abrasive resistance it also helps to protct against uv harmfull light – there are high level uv block out laminates and some not so good its the uv light that accelerates fade.
i was confused so asked a optision and he told me that any transparrant surface will reduce uv quite a bit –
the life of the laminate is as a guide like vinyl but will extend the life of the inks how long though ?????
chris
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The lams do both , UV protection , anti fading and extend durability (unless you use a real cheap lam that has no UV blocking ability)
UV resistance however is a function of the inks more than the lams. Some colours fade more than others , yellow seems to be going fast on some of the full solvent printers here in South Africa where UV levels are very high.(unlammed prints are fadinging less then 6 months ) After 18-20 months , a print on my delivery pickup , unlammed , printed on coated vinylwith the old inks (solink , not ecol or fuill solvent) has started exhibiting signs of red fading vs a control print kept indoors.
Lams do more then that however , they also finish the print in various ways , like for example a soft matt or a full matt will reduce glare when prints are viewed under certain lighting conditions. -
So what you’re saying Rodney is that the prints coming out of my versacamm with the eco sol inks will do at very best 2-3 years unlaminated, which i accept. But by using a decent laminate with UV blocking agents it should in theory extend the prints. If it’s a five year lam can i expect a five year life from the prints on the signs?
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I could be wrong here , but I believe the years on a lam (or most vinyls) refer to the adhesive properties. I can’t say how long a print will last , I would not really stretch it beyond 3 years with lams if it had to come to me giving a written warrantee.
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its a tough one mate, as has been said various things to consider.
if roland gaurantee a print 3 years UV life on a print, it’s on a sign that is NOT getting washed regularly, not exposed to harsh conditions and probably NOT south facing for the 3 years. “i could be wrong on that though”
adding a laminate with UV protection is going to at least “garantee” your 3 years durabilty ide think. on a vehicle, you could give same UV gaurantee on fading but NOT on the vinyl/print overall… what i mean is printed or not, the vinyl is going to take abuse and depending on how it is fitted could look crap in 12 months.
(this is only my own thoughts on vehicle graphics being laminated) if laminating any vinyl prints, never laminate with a clear vinyl that doesnt have equal properties as the vinyl holding the print below.. infact, the laminate would be best with higher properties than the one below. we all know know how important it is to clean a vehicle till its squeeky clean? this improving the life of the vinyl graphics… yet we laminate onto a ink polluted surface and put it onto a vehicle when the only thing the laminate has to hold onto is the ink! in many cases depending on printer, the ink is just sitting on the surface of the vinyl… now cross a recessed area with the laminated printed wrap vinyl. once stretched in and heated in place, a few weeks later the whole pulling back game is in full swing. the base wrap vinyl is holding strong to the squeeky clean van body, but all the laminate has to grip is the ink saturated surface… the ink is only sitting on the surface of the vinyl so it starts to delaminate. many moons ago i would buy in prints and watch this happen, even when i was applying. we have moved on leaps and bounds since then and much better materials to work with are available, but although much better, the same things can and do happen.
i would never give more than 3 year life on a laminated print. ide even feel dubious about offering 3 years… i recon ide not gaurantee but offer an “expected life of 3 years”dont know if i have just created more confusion with my reply :lol1:
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Cheers lads.
Very interesting points, and l hear you about the fitting Rob.
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