Nikkalite reflective (from europoint)

[Hugh Potter]

sample just arrived, i can’t make a proper assesment until tonight under real conditions, but i’m not sure i like it, very much like the old kiwilite, thin, not as reflective as the nikkalite either (under flash photo anyways).

all i need when i have one week to produce 2000 items for a major player in the field i target.

[Jill Marie Welsh]

Try to find 3M Scotchlite. I tried the Oracal stuff and found it thinner, harder to weed (tears easily) and generally not near as nice as the 3M.
Love….Jill

[Shane Drew]

Hugh, I’ve used both Nikkalite and Oracal/orafol.

To be honest, I changed to Oracal because its thinner, a better adhesive, and I found it much easier to work with although its harder to weed without tearing as Jill says.

That said, this year I have moved all my reflective business over to the 3M 680cr, because its print receptive, better than the other two, and the ‘cr’ version is removable, and bubble free to apply.

Here, the costs are similar, but by far the superior product of all 3.

Just my experience anyway.

[Jon Marshall]

3M is very nice, but at nearly £25 a metre it ought to be!

Allprint do Nikkalite.

[Hugh Potter]

quote JonM01:

3M is very nice, but at nearly £25 a metre it ought to be!

Allprint do Nikkalite.

yeah, for this purpose i’m not gonna be spending £25pm, thanks anyways though Jill / Shane.

have spoken to allprint, i’ve just emailed them to haggle the nikkalite price a bit,

I have to admit, i just find this all a little disappointing, a simple newslettter would have enabled me to at least test the films properly,

[Jon Marshall]

The 5R is japanese apparently.

[Cameron Steer]

Hi All,

The reason we have changed are as follows,

both new reflectives are just that "New" you wont have tried them before and are not the brittle type you mention.

5400 is a 3 year reflective with a clear cast coating to give it strength and stop it from having the brittle effect.
5600 is a 7 year film with a graphic adhesive for vehicle graphics that can be removed the same way as plotter vinyl.EC104 certified for vehicle application, also with a clear cast coating.
Both are suitable for both thermal printing (edge) and low/solvent inkjet, the clear cast coating gives it a flexability that the Nikalite doesnt have.

Hope this makes the descision clearer , we can still supply Nikalite if required but Oralite gives us and our customers more potential uses and opportunities.

[Shane Drew]

quote Cameron Steer:

Hi All,

The reason we have changed are as follows,

both new reflectives are just that “New” you wont have tried them before and are not the brittle type you mention.

5400 is a 3 year reflective with a clear cast coating to give it strength and stop it from having the brittle effect.
5600 is a 7 year film with a graphic adhesive for vehicle graphics that can be removed the same way as plotter vinyl.EC104 certified for vehicle application, also with a clear cast coating.
Both are suitable for both thermal printing (edge) and low/solvent inkjet, the clear cast coating gives it a flexability that the Nikalite doesnt have.

Hope this makes the descision clearer , we can still supply Nikalite if required but Oralite gives us and our customers more potential uses and opportunities.

hhhmmm very interesting….. thanks for the heads up cameron. Had a visit from oracal today, wished I had known this then 😛

[alan flynn]

hello all
i have had 2 years of hell with reflective, front film coming of,flaking, and before this about 23 years of no trouble,
if anyone wants some pictures of whats been happening i can email you,
bit please be very careful i am having to go back to jobs i have done over 2 years and sort them out which has really taken most if not all my profit away if you take into account removal time and glue remover,
i will let you have more info when i have had less to drink,
regards
alan flynn

[Hugh Potter]

Hi Alan,

which reflective were you using?

never had any problems to be honest,

[Shane Drew]

never had an issue in 15 years either Alan. Interested to know the brand.

If it was an issue with the product, I’d be fronting up to the manufacturer for reimbursement

[Stuart Taylor]

quote Cameron Steer:

Hi All,

The reason we have changed are as follows,

both new reflectives are just that “New” you wont have tried them before and are not the brittle type you mention.

5400 is a 3 year reflective with a clear cast coating to give it strength and stop it from having the brittle effect.
5600 is a 7 year film with a graphic adhesive for vehicle graphics that can be removed the same way as plotter vinyl.EC104 certified for vehicle application, also with a clear cast coating.
Both are suitable for both thermal printing (edge) and low/solvent inkjet, the clear cast coating gives it a flexability that the Nikalite doesnt have.

Hope this makes the descision clearer , we can still supply Nikalite if required but Oralite gives us and our customers more potential uses and opportunities.

Cameron,

Could you clarify what you mean by EC104 certified ? ECE 104 is a complex regulation regarding Retro-reflective markings for HGV but most people look at this for guidance on "conspicuity" markings i.e. stripes and boxes to sides and rear. For this part of ECE 104 there are minimum requirements for the reflectivity levels eg 450 cd/m2 for White, 300 cd/m2 for Yellow. Normally these levels are only possible with micro prismatic reflective products. I can only find a US tech bulletin for Oralite 5600 which classed it as "engineering grade" which normally means glass beaded technology. Glass beaded reflective products don’t normally achieve the same level of reflectivity, for example a white glass beaded product would typically achieve approx 70 cd/m2 which is a long way off the minimum requirements of ECE 104.

Could you confirm if 5600 is micro prismatic or glass beaded ? If Oralite 5600 is glass beaded are you saying it meets the requirements for ECE 104 with regard to "conspicuity" and the required levels of reflectivity ? You did state that these were "new" products so perhaps the US bulletin is out of date and the product has been improved ??

There are other elements of ECE 104 that refer to "graphics" that do allow/require lower levels of reflectivity than the conspicuity striping/boxes defining the shape/length/size of the vehicle so you may be referring to this area but would appreciate it if you could clarify this.

[Jill Marie Welsh]

quote :

2 years of hell with reflective

I wonder if it was Avery?
Love….Jill

[Hugh Potter]

i think the nikkalite is a little more versatile when it comes to lifting and relaying after a few minutes, it is still prone to delaminating though, then again, what reflective will ever be reposionable?

Hugh

[alan flynn]

hello all

i have been using reflective for over 20 years and no problems, the last 2 have really damage my name and my business, so much so i am having to re invent myself, i will dig some photos out and see if i can post them, i don’t want anyone going through want i am going through,
i have changed to oracal and so far so good, yes it conforms really well, but does mark if you have to move it,
once i have had some more input from my supplier i will put up what make they are , sad thing is it is a least 2 makes

regards
alan flynn

[James Martin]

Hi found this thread after a search for oralite 5400 and was looking for anyones thoughts regarding this film.

Its for chevron stripes along the skirting of a small van.

customer obviously wants them to stand out.

Nikkalite??

Orafol??

3m 680cr??

5r flexlite??

Wish I was going to sign and digital.

[Hugh Potter]

quote James Martin:

Hi found this thread after a search for oralite 5400 and was looking for anyones thoughts regarding this film.

Its for chevron stripes along the skirting of a small van.

customer obviously wants them to stand out.

Nikkalite??

Orafol??

3m 680cr??

5r flexlite??

Wish I was going to sign and digital.

HI James,

the orafol is good, not suitable for everything i do, but works well for the vehicles etc,

Hugh

[James Martin]

Tks Hugh

Do you use the 5400 or 5600?

[Hugh Potter]

there’s some great colours, and it can be printed on i believe but, they don’t / didn’t stock it, which meant we’d need to buy a whole roll. shame as there’s some interesting colours in the rather large range!

Hugh