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what is the ritrama vinyl range of vinyl like?
One of my suppliers has what seems a great deal on RITRAMA range of vinyls. Has anyone used this brand and if so, how did you find it, weeding/shrinkage/ fading etc.
Any info appreciated
Thanks
Pat -
16 Replies
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i havent tried it pat, but i know william smith now offeres this range as well as the 3M range. Wm Smith are a reputable supplier so i dont see them getting into something without it being of decent quality.
that said, i have never used it nor know of anyone that does to give proper feedback.like most vinyls, even the big brand names, they will have a budget sorta level vinyl too, ide advise trying some samples before commiting.
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when I started up I got some as a start up deal, seems ok, not as easy to weed as Avery but ok.
As already said get some samples and try.
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I wasn’t too impressed with the sample I was sent but then I was comparing it to Oracal who I believe have acheived a very high standard of vinyl. Oracal just seemed more maleable, softer
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Early this year I have been told that there was major failures on Avery and KPMF vws vinyl’s. While being used for bus advertising causing Viacom major headaches. To that end i believe Ritrama was for most of this year the only specified vinyl brand authorised for use by Viacom.
They have some really nice products and have jsut launched an alternative to EZ apply which costs the same as VWS.
How clever is this, they have embossed the carrier/liner paper with a pattern of small veins. This inturn places small veins in the vinyls adhesive allowing the air bubbles to be easlily smoothed away. We have tried a sample it looks really good and would recommend everyone doing vehicle wrap should have a look at it.
I don’t think you would have a problem if you took on the ritrama vinyls. Most people on the boards, including myself use or have moved over to the oracal range so not sure there is a wide enough spread to bet get a good evalution of other products.
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John wrote
“How clever is this, they have embossed the carrier/liner paper with a pattern of small veins. This inturn places small veins in the vinyls adhesive allowing the air bubbles to be easlily smoothed away. We have tried a sample it looks really good and would recommend everyone doing vehicle wrap should have a look at it. ”I seem to remember this being done years ago cant remember who did it though. did have a sample at the time. I thought it was a gimmick rather than clever, aimed at people who could not apply vinyl well, ie begginers.
I thought the extra cost was not worth it.
Peter
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As a note to the above I am using a fair bit of oracle, but still use a wide range of other makes for legacy colour match and specific apps so don’t think the boards are likely to forget or not be able to give opinions on all other makes
Peter -
Peter you miss the point mate.
The embossed media is on their vinyl for vehicle wrap!
Even for the best of the installers anything that makes it easier to get a better job or do the job faster is a good thing.
Suppose EZ apply is just a gimmick too but if it works!
The ritrama costs less than EZ apply more like VWS and grafiwrap surely if it is easier to work with and them same cost it can’t be ignored.
I also have a laugh at the often patronising way people bang on about dry application vs wet application. I am not really bothered if someone percieves themselves better than someone else becaause of the way they do their vinyl application what ever process or material works for you then use it, so longas you can make money from it.
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Sorry john,
I dont think I did. If it works for you fine, or anybody else for that matter, all I was saying is its not a new idea.
As for your comments on wet versus dry, I may be wrong, but I have yet to see anyone doing a succesfull wrap wet. So If anyone is serious about about improving their skills, and doing a better job, then yes, they must master applying dry.
Just my opinion.may not be worth much, but its the only one I got, cant afford another, so sticking with it 😀
Peter -
From my little bit of knowledge 3M had the textured Backing/adhesive first, then about 3 years ago Avery were showing it at sign UK but I was told by the 3m rep that 3m had Avery in court over it and he was under the impression that Avery were going to license the product from 3m.
I’ve seen it in use and it does make a difference, the adhesive only sticks on the high points so you don’t get full adhesion at first until your happy with the position and then you can push out the air bubbles, finally you have to heat it to make the adhesive smooth out.
Looked very impressive, unfortunately they were demoing it next to the William Smiths stand.
Ritrama, I didn’t like it, very stiff and thick and didn’t weed very well, stuck OK.
This was the 3-5 year stuff though, never tried the higher quality ones.Steve
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For anyone owning a business were vinyl is heavily involved. They would be a fool
To disregard the benefits of dry over wet application. What I will say here is not going to win me any favors with some, but…… if you have to use wet application to apply a section of vinyl 1m square onto something like aluminum, in a relatively warm room. Then forget getting into vehicle wrapping until you can!There are many fluids out there that will help in vinyl application, some are pretty good, but most are plain crap! Unless you’re applying to a completely flat surface, forget wet applications!
There is one, and one only benefit in wet application, that is… to get the vinyl into place easier. Now starts your problems! Your time is spent expelling the water, lack of adhesion, moisture trapped only to create brittle pockets in the vinyl a few weeks later, cracking and trapping dirt and grime. The time it takes to fit is much longer than dry application. And like they say, “time is money” overall performance of the vinyl is far superior fitted dry than it is wet.3M control TAC came out years ago, it boasted the channels in the adhesive to allow air to escape making application better. It soon failed & the promotion of easy application was pulled…. Avery EZ apply has followed, I believe “maybe” taking the patent from 3M to adapt their own. It too is now reported to be failing around the states. I haven’t heard of ritramas but im guessing it’s along same idea? mactac are launching their own, if they haven’t already?
this is all fine and dandy if they work, & i will eat my words when there is a long history of success. however, my opinion is, “why bother with the big price tags, or become their guinea pigs, when learning how to fit vinyl properly will save you a fortune and put you head and shoulders above your competition?”john, winters coming, give me your views on wet application in a couple of months? 😀
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I have always been a wet applicator, for the last 9 years, simply because i didn’t know any different until joining this group.
I have of course, taught my 2 girls how to apply wet.
Since joining uksb & watching Robs demos of how to apply dry I have practiced fitting dry on many occasions, sometimes it works sometimes not. I have taught myself through these demos & when confident enough I then instructed my 2 girls.They are now quite confident in dry application in most cases but still feel more confident applying wet where registration is important on very large prints on flat surfaces.
As this way (Dry )has proved very cost effective in time alone I don’t make them apply anything dry that they don’t feel confident with as this usually ends in mistakes which means re-printing.
So in my opinion I would certainly apply dry in most cases, but feel that the 3 of us just need more practice as yet.
We have practiced semi wrapping our own van several times until we have now got it right but haven’t had time to spend applying the last side of van as yet,
I think you experienced wrappers will agree with me that our Iveco lwb high roof is one of the worst shaped vehicles to wrap, as the side panels have the deepest concaved panels ever.
This of course is only my personal opinion.
L J
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Sorry to blow some of your theories right out of the water but….
we sometimes work alongside several proffesional taxi wrappers on larger projects and can say catagorically that some of the guys from the south east will only wrap wet, and bearing in mind they are wrapping about 150-200 taxis per year (they do very little else) with very little come backs. Surely this indicates that it is not do we apply wet or dry but more, what suits us and the vehicle best for a quick and lasting job.
You would not consider wrapping a sprinter or iveco wet but a taxi or beetle well maybe.
As for ez apply types of materials the first was definatley 3M “Comply” which was first introduced in a pre release training to us in 2000.
In brief fit how YOU feel comfortable as long as the substrate allows, if not fit how the substrate dictates.
Phil -
We used to use Ritrama for virtually everything about a year ago, and did not have any quality issues.
Only switched to other brands as we found we could get the same quality a lot cheaper elsewhere. -
thanks for the replies guys, will reply again later.
quote :You would not consider wrapping a sprinter or iveco wet but a taxi or beetle well maybemaybe?
phil, can you give me a list of vehicles wrapped that you would say will work 100% every time wet?
when you talk taxi & beetles, where are these guys applying mixed water & how?are you talking temp wraps or permanant, as promotional wraps completely different from what many of us guys will do for our customers.
when i say permanant i mean minium of 18 months onwards. -
What you have to remember is these fitters are extremley competant, not just doing a partial wrap every month or two – this is not meant as a slur on most of you guys out there.
The particular fitters I am talking about just use water, no additives, and a very fine spray – just enough to allow positionabilty. With years of experience they are able to expel the water vurtually as quickly as we ourselves can apply dry.
I cannot give you a comprehensive list of “wet wrappable” vehicles as there are so many vehicles and variants of vehicles out there and I would not want to mislead anybody, suffice to say that probably more TX1 & TX2 taxi cabs are wrapped more than any other vehicle on our roads today and these can be successfully done. What you have to do is look at the vehicle in question and assess the shape of it, is it rounder or squarer, are there nasty sharp recesses or is it a relatively smooth curvature ?. Basically the rounder the vehicle the more likely it is to accept a wet wrap.
Phil -
Rob,
As I recall ControlTac was not a ribbed vinyl. It had minute hollow glass balls between the glue and the vinyl. It was very low tack initially allowing repositioning. When you squeegeed it down the balls burst and the glue made full contact and stuck as normal.
Peter
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