Views and Opinions on KPMF vinyl, please?

[Kevin.Beck]

I have never had a problem with KPMF myself, but I suppose it depends upon how small the text is etc.

Did you do a test cut first?
Your plotter might have needed to be adjusted.

[Robert Lambie]

"Rumour" has it that KPMF wrap vinyl is giving massive problems to the taxi fitters around the UK.
Apparently, it is leaving adhesive glue residue all over the taxi once it has been removed after short term promotions of only a few months.

Has anyone else heard the same thing?

[Lorraine Clinch]

Kevin

The lettering is 2.5 inches high with flat serifs.
I know serifs are a pain at the best of times, but I wouldn’t expect problems at this size?

The cutting pressure is fine, I did increase it a few days ago because of this, everything else cuts well.
Is KMPF thicker than most others?
It just doesn’t feel as flexible as other 7-year quality vinyl.

[Martin Cole]

Interesting!
We used the wrapping vinyl for a van, it had printed pictures from top to bottom and halfway across the van and looked fantastic. That was until it started popping out of the contours about one month later.
We used a top-class fitter as well.

Lorraine
I had a similar experience with LG vinyl, we found that very thick and difficult to weed.
Is it just black you have or are colours equally difficult to weed?
Black is the hardest colour to weed anyway but only marginally.

[Lorraine Clinch]

Hi Martin

I have only used the black. But strangely, I cut the same text, a little smaller, out of Mactac’s Macal 89 series red.
It weeded perfectly, not a problem.
I’m right about the flexibility too, the KMPF is almost crispy, like a really cheap 3 year calendered vinyl.

I’m a little disillusioned as to the KMPF range now, because (while I’m having a moan) I bought a log of application tape from them also. I’ve read about problems of tape not laying flat, curling etc., but never experienced it until using KMPF – and believe me, I have used everything from expensive down to real budget.

I’m seriously thinking about trying to get shot of both-maybe I’ll give eBay a try at selling this on!

[Martin Cole]

Lorraine
Have you tried the Mactac Macal 9800 series?
I just bought their new colour range, really nice vinyl.
Also their cast vinyl Macfleet I find really good!

I also use Grafityp 200/300 series and I have never had any problems.

There is a lot of vinyl companies out there that would like your business, I can’t see a need for eBay, didn’t know you even buy vinyl on eBay!
Depends how much you use and to what you would pay per metre but it’s worth making a few calls, I buy my Mactac through Amari and get a really good deal.

Saying that I have yet to use the ”magical Oracal” which the majority seem to use on these boards, only through one of Robs links the other day I actually found out where to buy it sounds the dogs do da’s so I will have to give it a try.

[Brian Little]

Lorraine.
I agree with Martin.
I also would recommend the Mactac macal 9800 which I have just started to use and it is excellent to weed

regards
Brian

[autosign]

Are you sure they sent you the right stuff?
Maybe it is from their 3-year calendered vinyl range?

I’ve used KPMF silver, which is often hardest to weed (black is easiest) and that was fine.

I’m not a fan of the KPMF VWS Wrap vinyl though.
I am also trying the KPMF K7000 Vinyl series tomorrow on a truck wrap, so I will give you feedback on that.

[Hugh Potter]

I have not used KPMF vinyl, but I am with Martin on the LG Vinyl, which is a pig to weed some jobs with.
in fact, every time I have ordered more vinyl I have asked for them to collect the three LG rolls they credited me for but to no avail. At this rate, I will need to use them before they expire the shelf life. Perhaps they just don’t want it back!

Regarding Mactac Maccal 9800, I have one 450 roll of it that was part of a lot I bought, hate it! but then maybe it’s too old.

[Carrie Brown]

We have not used KPMF either.
We have recently received samples from them, but we have told them that Oracal is our main vinyl and are more than happy with that at present.
We will still keep their details in the filing cabinet along with other suppliers that send us info because you never know!

Lorraine
Have you contacted KPMF?
Why not call them and tell them about your problem. You never know they might do something as a goodwill gesture and it might be a better option than eBay???

[Robert Lambie]

most, if not all makes of vinyl are made different, except the rebrands 😉
you get what you pay for… cheap normally means thicker and more difficult to work with. bad to weed and more memory… (pulling back in recesses) having said that some folk manage fitting it better. 😕
the small print on the back of vinyl charts is what you want to compare when deciding if you want to change your material. how thick the vinyls is, the life, shrinkage, colour stability, adhesive type etc etc all need to be taken into consideration. price should come somewhere after that!

[Iain Gordon]

Not sure if this is true, but I was informed that there are only about 3 manufacturers of vinyl "face film" worldwide.

Different types of vinyl i.e.
Oracal
Mactac
Hexis
Ritrama
etc
use these films and use their own glue and backing to "make" their vinyl.

The names used here are for illustrative purposes only and bear no resemblance to persons fictional or fact if you know what I mean.

Maybe someone can throw some light on this for me

Iain

[Robert Lambie]

i believe it to be a bit more than 3 but yeh not far out the park.

[Henry Barker]

I remember in 92 buying a pallet of PMF vinyl as it was then, and vinyls have inproved loads since then, it was all 15″ sprocket and came from Euromark which I believe was part of Metamark at that time. Never had a problem.

It was great, but living here and ordering from the UK was a bit dodgy so I changed to Avery.

I think if you have a problem with your product you should take it up with your supplier first and see how they answer you.

I had a problem with violet ritrama, falling off the vehicles, I didn’t go and slam the product on a BB/website I went back to Spandex and complained and was told that I had been sent “old stock” they compenasted by sending out a new roll of cast instead. OK no compensation for the job, but no quibble guarantee.

None of us are perfect, we all make mistakes, I don’t use PMF but they had a big factory in Wales in those days making cast and calendered products, take your problems to them and then if you are not dealt with in a satifactory way, come back and tell everybody.

I think thats better for you and fairer to the manufacturer 🙂

[Martin Cole]

”I’ve used their silver, which is often hardest to weed (black is easiest) and that was fine.”

I always remember a rep from some co saying black would be the hardest colour to weed due what goes into producing the colour. I must admit I’ve never noticed it being harder myself, would have to say gold is the easiest colour to weed.

[Alan Drury]

I use Multifix vinyl 7000 series from Victory and very happy with it’s performance I think it shares a face film with MacTac, I’m sure there is some close connection/owned by.
Alan

[tj_pierson]

Iain is right that in Europe there is one major manufacturer of one of the types of vinyl.I think its calendered, rather than cast.

Ive been to the KPMF factory and they make their own cast vinyls, and apply adhesive to the calendered film stock.

We havent used a great deal of KPMF yet, but what we have has been no problem. The factory has a Quality manager you could call, so why not get in touch with KPMF or KPMF Direct, who ever you bought it from.

As for application tape curling I think this is more down to environmental conditions than where you bought from, although some may be more hygroscopic than others. If the temperature and moisture varies throughout the day you will find that liner papers and application tape will curl as they absorb moisture.

[Lorraine Clinch]

Hi all

I had a bad and frustrating day yesterday, and unfortunately I was less discreet than I could have been regarding the problems I have been having with the black vinyl and app. tape.

Before I could make the call myself, I had the Rep from KMPF who I had made my purchase through phone me. She had been told by a customer that I had put these posts up.

There was no hassle from her, she has said she will arrange collection of both and give me a full refund, which is great……
but the truth is, I feel cheapened now, because I have upset her (and she has always been very pleasant when I have dealt with her), and I would have liked to have dealt with this myself. When I put the posts up, I was asking other users their opinion, not trying to start a slagging match, or alienate a supplier who I will not use again due to my embarrassment.

[Robert Lambie]

glad to hear your problem has been rectified… power of the boards eh? 😀 lizzie visits this site daily, im sure she will have saw this and lifted the phone, any supplier would do the same… 😉

[Carrie Brown]

Lorraine, don’t feel bad in anyway…. you are entitled to your opinion ….. you were not slating the company or the person who sold you the stock you were merely mentioning that you have a problem with it and asking if anyone else does? ….. I dont see anything wrong with that. You did not force peeps here to voice their own opinions they do that off their own back.

Thats why this place is good ……. had you not been here you would not have had anyone to vent off to, kpmf would not have come along and read your post and called you …… you would have been stuck with vinyl you were unhappy with …….. at least the problem is sorted for you now ……. but by no means do I think you should feel embarrassed or awkward for speaking your mind.

We all have our whinges about products and suppliers … and we do it here …. We cant all like the same suppliers or products can we!!! The site is not supported or sponsored by any suppliers so no-one is held to ransom over who they can complain about. Its part of what the site is all about to chat, get help, advice, have a laugh and vent off when we need to ….. to peeps who are in the same boat! As long as a post which is having a whinge about a supplier or product is not offensive or inappropriate, then it remains open for others views ….. nothing wrong with that.

😀

[budone]

Personally I think you should feel bad/embarrassed, i would.

You went off on one about a product that you couldn’t get along with, and talked about getting rid of it on eBay.

Your first port of call should have been with the supplier to sort it out.

Imagine the boot on the other foot and one of your customers doesn’t like the shade of green you’ve used or isn’t happy with the weight of an A-Board or just generally isn’t happy with the final product. You’d hope they would come back to you and discuss the problem before heading off to the local business meet and telling all the other business owners that your products are !

[Marekdlux]

Well I think she does feel bad and doesn’t need to be told to feel bad. 🙄
-Marek

[Richard Urquhart]

hardly budone
i dont think for one min she went off on one just said it was a pig to weed
why make somone feel worse than they do already !!!!!

[Carrie Brown]

quote budone:

Personally I think you should feel bad/embarrassed, i would.

🙄 :lol1: Yeah whatever!!

Lorraine should not feel bad at all ……. at the end of the day KPMF could have had their own say on here if they had not been banned …… reason for ban …… coming on not as themselves but as a pretend member ….. registering as a make believe signmaker then recommending their own products in posts and pm’ing peeps about their products … all this done underhand and against board rules.

KPMF are not the only company here to have been whinged about …. I know full well Europoint our main supplier have been, Grafityp have had someone complain about them before on here and plenty of other suppliers …….. do you see any other supplier actually resorting to calling the customer to make the customer feel bad and to try to turn the tables on someone who voiced their own opinion which they are entitled to!!!!

Everyone voices their opinion on here and other sites about one thing or another …. thats part of what the site is about!! Crikey …… whats going to happen now? ….. everytime we express an opinion on a product here we might get the supplier calling and trying to make us feel bad for not liking their products!!! 😕 Not everyone is going to like every supplier or suppliers products …. fair enough and we are all entitled to say if we find a certain product easy or difficult to work with ………. Lorraine only said it was a pig to weed then light heartedly mentioned the ebay thing!!! Crikey pin her up and shoot her now!!!

Perhaps you should be looking more at the supplier that actually resorted to calling a signmaker and continued to make them feel bad for expressing their view on a vinyl that in her view was difficult to weed!!! Ive mentioned before that I find certain types of garment print difficult to weed compared to another supplier ….. did I get a phone call because I said that …. no and I would not expect to either!!

😀

[Marekdlux]

Tell us how you really feel, Carrie. 😀
I thought I may have been a little out of line with my comment, guess not.
-Marek

[Carrie Brown]

Marek … well I will probably be the next in line for shooting now!! 🙄

[David Rowland]

(:) soon carrie soon 😉

[Brian Hays]

quote Carrie Brown:

Perhaps you should be looking more at the supplier that actually resorted to calling a signmaker and continued to make them feel bad for expressing their view on a vinyl that in her view was difficult to weed!!! Ive mentioned before that I find certain types of garment print difficult to weed compared to another supplier ….. did I get a phone call because I said that …. no and I would not expect to either!!

😀

Did they not just call to offer Lorraine a refund? hardly think that is calling to make her feel bad? Lorraine said they had been very pleasant & there had been no hassles. Or have I missed something? 😕

[Robert Lambie]

I think Carrie is just venting after reading Lorraine “felt bad” about how she went about sharing her “genuine” problem on this site, but knowing fine well the person she is feeling bad about wrong doing, did exactly that to every single member of this site not so long ago. So much so, got banned 2 maybe 3 times under different alias. So in a roundabout way, don’t feel bad Lorraine, she never! And was asked/given chance to reply on the boards or by “phone”. none came…. How sales staff go about getting sales, shouldnt reflect on the company/product itself, staff will be staff… doesnt help matters though. 😕
All that said its water under the bridge. Lorraine is new here and obviously doesn’t realise just how many suppliers login here ever single morning. Having said that, if you have an unreasonable supplier slinging you a deaf ear, let us know…. 😉
For the record…
KPMF is not a bad vinyl, infact it is a reputable film & company. They are huge in the states… & I mean huge…. I think everyone knows them in the UK/Europe for the VWS “vehicle wrap” which is very popular around Europe for taxi wrapping and the like. I for one have used it on occasions…. but never their cast range etc…
Hence why, when I was told this week about a huge problem with glue residue, I wanted know if anyone else was hearing same. “Ide guess” even on that it is a bad batch… who knows… (i’m just a nosey bugger, and feel its my job to find out all these sort of things)

[Lorraine Clinch]

Hi everyone

Thanks for your support Carrie, Marek, Richard and Rob.

Budone, I hear your comment, and you are entitled to your view, just like everyone else. I just hope I never meet you down a dark alley after upsetting you…

There seem to have been a few threads off this one, and has certainly got a few people ‘agitated’. I am hoping, however, that this one can now be put to rest?

Cheers everyone!!!!

[Robert Lambie]

hi lorraine, not a problem. consider it done. 😀