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what vinyl can be applyed to lightweight nylon sails?
I just had a request if I could put lettering onto sails.
Is there anything out there suitable for applying onto lightweight nylons sails? From a quick look around I learned that vinyl would only be suitable for temporary jobs….Any suggestion???? : -
22 Replies
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Are you a sign maker or a boat maker? sorry, it is your first post. Not sure on which Vinyl I would use but paint/ink comes to mind due to my silk screen background.
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I am a newbie sign maker…. I met a guy today who makes sails, and he asked if I could do it, as he gets request for it…. He pointed out that the lettering should not really add any weight to the sail as it then would not work properly..
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i go with what daves mentioned, ive screen printed loads of sails, and it wont cause any added weight problems to the sails 😀
nik
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Like Dave and Nicila have said screen print is the best way to ensure it stays on.
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We had a job like this recently and as it was a 1off got a local guy to airbrush it for us. We made and applied the stencil and he popped round the workshop and done his stuff. Was a bit of an experiment, but seems to be holding up!
G
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Would love to know what sort of yachts these sails are for I spent many years competitive sailing & I can’t get my head around the weight issue. Unless you are considering using concrete. Lets face it the added weight you may introduce would probably be less than if skipper & crew did or did not go to the toilet. Screen print works fine you could also ask what he is using for sail numbers & class logo may be you could use the same material. These are often cut out and stuck on the sail. Also are the sails new or used.
The quality of the sailor also effects the life of anything you can add to a yacht
CheersMike
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Dacron is available for sail lettering. It is quite heavy compared to vinyl and I think needs to be heated to apply.
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quote Andy Gorman:Dacron is available for sail lettering. It is quite heavy compared to vinyl and I think needs to be heated to apply.you can buy adhesive backed dacron here in 1370mm rolls. It cuts with a plotter, but when we used it, I don’t recall having to heat it. Then again, that could have been my fault. I never got the job again, so it may well have fallen off in a race. 😳
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When we looked into it all the materials that would do the job either needed heat or to be stitched, that’s why we went down the route we did. Customer was very happy but was aware it was an experiment.
G
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thanks for the advice/tips.
re. adding weight: I haven’t a clue, I am not a sailor, but he was mentioning it….
The sail maker is giving me some material this week to experiment on.
I was thinking of using a template and stenciling, but i am worried about paint bleeding under the template. Anyway, I will wait and see.
I did think about the foil that you can iron on, but with the temperatures required onto nylon, I don’t think it would work…..we shall see………….. -
I’ve never applied the Dacron, but I had a job to cut a load for Pinnell & Bax a few years ago. It was adhesive backed, but I thought it was heat applied to make it stick more betterer (real word!).
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I don’t do any garment work myself so this might be complete rubbish but might be worth speaking to suppliers, I know that there is a garment film specially for nylon but not sure about using an iron, from what I have read you wont get enough pressure with an iron. What about dye sublimation that might be another option, of course they would mean that you would have to buy equipment which might not be an option for you right now.
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My local boat shop sells self adhesive numbers for sails so I would think some one must supply the vinyl to cut. 😕
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We’ve used a fair bit of dacron…it’s hard to cut, hard to weed and hard to apply but does work……….
Cheers
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I did a few tests today… and for anyone who is interested: cutting a negative out of vinyl, sticking it onto nylon and stenciling it with a very dry brush with acryllic based paint worked very well. Also spray paint worked…. I showed the sailmaker who was very happy with the result. Hopefully we will do business in future……
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glad you got something sorted for your customer angelique, but i would think the method you have used will eventually come off in the water through time…as it has not been cured (as in a two pack) being applied 😀
nik
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When I gave my samples back to the sailmaker he said he would do a few tests on them to see how well it lasts……
As a painter and decorator I have to say that my workclothes, that get washed regularly, the paint never comes out, even when I try….
But I take your point….. Is there a paint you would recommend?
(years ago I worked for textile designers, where I did a lot of screen-printing. I recollect that they added a catalyst to the paint……. : 😀 -
Good for you Angelique.
If the sailors are really competitive the sails will only have to last a couple of seasons before the thought of new sails crosses the mind of the crew. either because we are not winning or we need to keep winning either way the answer is never us it’s always our equipment & that means new sails.
Well Done 😀 -
While paint may stay on the sails Angelique, it will be subject to fairly quick fading, black and red acrylic in particular will go to charcoal grey fairly quickly. It also stiffens the cloth whereas a screen ink would be softer. Stenciling on the screen ink would be just as easy as paint I would imagine.
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the material the sailmaker gave me wasn’t so much cloth, it was nylon… very thin and light and looked more like a plastic bag (but a lot stronger of course. So the paint wasn’t hardening the material as such……
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on nylon i would recommend sericols nylotex which is a bit thinner than the other ink nylobag…heres the contact details sericol.co.uk 😀
nik
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in that case I would be happier with spray paint as acrylic and nylon normally don’t like each other 😀 😀
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