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Wall Stickers – What Vinyl?
Hi All,
First chirped up on the forum a few months ago asking some questions about purchasing a Print and Cut machine after spending the past 5 years using a Graphtec ce6000-60 for making wall art that I sell online.
Well I jumped in and ended up buying a second user Roland VS-540 and must say i’m quite happy with the machine overall!
The one issue i’m currently having is choice of vinyl, I understand most of the people on this forum are signmakers so i’m in somewhat of a different world to you guys but 90% of my business is made up of designing artwork in the form of stickers (Some Large scale) and putting application tape on it and sending it out to customers with instructions to put it on there walls. I’m sure you’ve all seen the quotes like "live laugh love" etc.
Well I’ve found that the digital media i’m currently printing to (Grafityp M series) seems to have a lot less tack than the old cut vinyl I use generally. It ends up peeling around the edges or not sticking at all especially to silk painted walls.
Unfortunately it is a very competitive market and pricing has to be kept low. I understand Oracal do some wall art range that can be re-positioned but it is quite expensive in comparison to general monomeric digital vinyl and repositioning isn’t really something that is key.
I have also tried a product from MDP called CartonGraf 80 which seems to do a bit better but still seems to be lacking a bit.
Currently looking at trying some Orajet 3162 but before ordering a log was wondering if anyone had any experience and what vinyl to use?
We advise all our customers that the vinyl is intended for flat plastered walls and have had very few issues in the cut vinyl world.
Thanks!
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9 Replies
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The LG brand is the best I have found for value, good life and sticky as hell, LG2700 would be a good starting place the only problem is it can be so sticky that you don’t get a second attempt at taking off and putting down again but would certainly be ideally suited to Matt based surfaces that do not stick well.
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Hi, We don’t do a massive amount of wall graphics but when we do we use Oracal 651 coloured vinyls or Oracal 3651g or 3651gra printable (gra has air channels to prevent bubbles). Haven’t had anyone come back yet, thankfully. 3651 has quite a high tack.
Regards,
Davy -
Are you cutting immediately after printing? If the ink doesn’t have chance to outgas before cutting it will curl.
As for media, I use Metamark’s MD3 for a lot of my printwork with no issues.
I would suggest that old paint may have the usual household grime accumulation on it, especially if it is a smoking household. A quick wipe may not leave the surface clean enough?
I don’t produce wall graphics, by the way, these are just my initial thoughts.Regards
Lorraine -
I dont care what any one says. every now and then vinyl to painted walls fails.
The environment comes into play. heating is on all day then off at night the vinyl reacts and ends up peeling, shrinking and falling off lol.
Always a gamble if you ask me
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quote Jack Mackenzie:I dont care what any one says. every now and then vinyl to painted walls fails.
The environment comes into play. heating is on all day then off at night the vinyl reacts and ends up peeling, shrinking and falling offIf a cheap monomeric digital vinyl is used, then of course it will shrink in room heat and create a surface tension that causes pealing back. or the surface is not prepped or suitable for this application, all reasons for a fail like any large scale application. Like everything, experience and common sense is required…
I use self adhesive wallpaper for anything of real size, but i have lost count of the amount of printed vinyl jobs i have done with matt laminate and had zero issues over the years. by that i mean, years ago we did not have the types of wallpaper we have available these days. anyway, i only use good brands of polymeric digital and have no come backs.
actually, i am sat in my office at home just now and two walls of the room are Oracal digital polymeric with matt laminate. looks as good as the day it went up. :smiles:That said, i am not endorsing everyone run out and use digital vinyl on a wall. But as long as the wall is suitable and a decent brand of media used, fitted correct etc then i see no reason not to consider using it on general room / office size walls.
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One of the other things to bear in mind with wall stickers is the new paints that are now being produced.
You’ve seen the adverts on the telly;
It’s a beautiful sunny day. The kids and family dog all run into the house, through the french doors, from the meadow sized back garden they have and… shock, horror, hand/paw/boot prints all over that beautiful wall.
Not a problem.
Mum gets a damp cloth and in a single wipe, the wall looks like new.
And the reason? Because of the ‘non-stick’ addition to the paint that is now being added by manufacturers. Easy-wipe paints are becoming more and more frequent. I’ve even seen these type of ‘teflon’ additives being put into school clothes now. And if garden cr@p won’t stick to the wall, you can be almost certain that your sticker won’t either.
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Thanks so much for all of your replies! And thanks Kevin for the LG suggestion… I got a sample today from All Print and your right this stuff is Sticky… Seems to be just what we need! Will see how it goes over the next few days but it has a much better feel than some of the other stuff we were using when its on the wall.
You’ve probably saved me about £40 a log if it turns out to be the real deal compared to some of the high tack stuff from other suppliers!
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quote Matthew Boulton:Thanks so much for all of your replies! And thanks Kevin for the LG suggestion… I got a sample today from All Print and your right this stuff is Sticky… Seems to be just what we need! Will see how it goes over the next few days but it has a much better feel than some of the other stuff we were using when its on the wall.
You’ve probably saved me about £40 a log if it turns out to be the real deal compared to some of the high tack stuff from other suppliers!
Hey I was just trying to help with a media that might work, if you end up saving £40 a log I think we should split it LMAO
Nice to know and hope it works out for you, saved me a few times when I needed something stronger.
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Hi Matthew, how have you got on with the LG media? Any reports of the vinyl lifting from your customers since you have moved over to LG?
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