Opinions on best blackboard vinyl required

[Robert Lambie]

we often use blackboard vinyl, but never had any issues or comebacks from customers at all Warren. so thats about as much feedback as i can give on the product we use, "zero comebacks".
we buy ours from Metamark, think its just called blackboard vinyl, funny enough :lol1:

anyway, as i said mate, ive never had a need to try any other so i cant say what is or isnt a good brand, just that it works for me.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks Rob, pretty much all I needed to know, just wanted to be confident in what I supplied as I have not used it before.

cheers

Warren

[Gavin MacMillan]

I’ve tried various brands and I think zero ghosting is ambitious. If it could come back and bite you on the bum then do tests first, the length of time a message is left on makes a big difference to removal. Also I recently discovered that Mr Muscle cleans these very well but only if you wear a vest and marigolds!

[Stuart Miller]

I’ll second Rob. Have used Metamark with no complaints.
As far as ghosting is concerned I was also worried about it before the first job so did a few trials. With some liquid chalk pens an amount of ghosting was present after a wipe with a damp cloth but this was fairly easily removed by kitchen silicone hob cleaner. The cleaner I used removed all traces of ghosting with the pens that I used. Other household cleaners may also work well. But I sold it with confidence that all the ghosting could be removed.

[Gavin MacMillan]

Hi Stuart, it was after your post that I tried Mr Muscle as I had some here. My only worry is that some places may leave these messages for months at a time. I may need to look at another cleaner or try the metamark vinyl

[Stuart Miller]

Quite agree Gavin it may well be different if left on a long time. My trials were just done over a few hours and only with a couple of types of chalk pen.
Different vinyl, different pens, different timescales could all change things.
But I did find the hob cleaner better than Mr Muscle.

[Gavin MacMillan]

Yeah I’ll try that next time! I did find a matter of 2 weeks made a big difference over a few hours though.

Cheers, G

[Robert Lambie]

I am maybe missing the point here sorry, but "i would imagine" blackboard vinyl is for chalk.
i realise fully there are now fancy highlight pens and the like, and many brands of that too. but your now talking ink on a surface. different inks, different results. i certainly wouldnt give chalkboard / blackboard vinyl on a sign for the customer to come back saying he used a new fancy pen that writes on blackboards but didnt come off mine, so wants a refund? 😕
also, if they are leaving it on for months, then again that’s not your problem, chalk boards are for daily specials, menu changes etc

just a thought, we have good brands of dry-wipe boards in our work. ive left "headers" on for a few weeks and they are tough to wipe off. i wouldn’t call Staples asking for a new one as a result!
anyway, as i said, maybe im missing the point…

[Gavin MacMillan]

Suppliers say that the material is suitable for chalk and chalk pens, so I would expect it to perform well either way. The material is sold as a blackboard replacement, so I would expect messages to wipe of will little fuss. No supplier has stipulated a time frame that it stays removable so I don’t stipulate one to my customer, how long they runs specials is up to them. I do however mention that you get ghosting on standard blackboards and they should not expect vinyl to out perform the standard blackboard.

[Robert Lambie]

quote Gavin MacMillan:

I do however mention that you get ghosting on standard blackboards and they should not expect vinyl to out perform the standard blackboard.

I think that there answers what i am saying Gavin.

Chalk board, dry wipe board etc are that for a reason, to be continually changed.

if the customer decides to leave the message for months at a time and gets some ghosting as a result, then they can hardly expect to turn to us for blame.

at the end of the day we are talking cheap and cheerful signage here. 🙄

[Steve Morgan]

The best material I have ever used is a blackboard laminate (as in Formica type laminate), it’s absolutely flat and cleans very well. The downside is that it needs to be cut, it only comes in 1220 x 2440 and it has to be glued to a good piece of rigid board.
It works best with chalk pens but as Rob says if it isn’t cleaned for weeks there will be some ghosting.