why wont vinyl stick to stainless steele?

[Hugh Potter]

might sound daft, but it it the vinyl ? have you tried another type to see ?

i’ve stuck various vinyls to polished, satin, and even tarnished stainless (oxymoron if there ever was), and never had a prob, in fact i still see the recovery trucks driving around wth it on.

is it polished or satin ? (satin = grained in my book) if grained, you really need to dry it off well, even get a heat gun if you want, the tiny scratches in the surface (millions of em) hold moisture, could this be the prob ?

[Phill Fenton]

I’ve had the same problem with a control panel manufactured from stainless steel. I tried all sorts of cleaning solutions but in the end washing up liquid did the trick.

[Steve Dawson]

hugh , its catering grade steel (304) , i.e. , same as your kitchen sink….

i was going to give it a high polish , but it actually looks quite nice as it is , maybe i’ll have to try a polish to remove whatever it is that stopping me stick..

i only use one grade of vinyl (oracle 651) , and i only want to use black , so a bit limited here at the moment…

I didnt think it would be a problem though , 651 sticks to most stuff – never really had a problem.

reason i say heat it up , is that maybe its acting like cold glass , it is cold to touch , even though its been indoors for hours now…..

confusing bit though is that if i apply some text , then take is off , you can see where the letters have been , even if i give it a very good clean , leaves a black outline around the edge where the letters have been , a bit like oil , i haven’t got a good de-greasent here , so i think this will have to be my next attempt…..

i may ring the steel guys though and see if stainless has an ongoing oil leaking property …..

steve

[Steve Dawson]

off to the sink to try washing up liquid……i’ll let ya know

[Mike Kenny]

hi
had a similar problem recently with stainless cabinets in a cafe,
i ended up cleaning with an oven cleaner (mr muscle) which was in the kitchen – it worked a treat and cleaned off the residue that nothing else shifted! try a test area first
good luck
mike

[Andy Gorman]

Cellulose thinners. Again, try it on a small area first.

[Steve Dawson]

Thanks for all the help guys , tried a few of them , still not good though , but the wife has just come home and made a suggestion.

I have been playing about for a few hours with this , she comes home and before shes got her coat off she says "nail polish remover".

I couldnt have ask for anything that could do a better job !!

i think i’m gunna buy a truck full and re-label it as "stainless steel" cleaner for the sign industry !!

:lol1:

job done , thanks again

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote Steve Dawson:

“nail polish remover”.

yep it must be similar to cellulose thinners…cause thats what i use if ive ran out of nail polish remover 😀

nik

[Roger Weichert]

Hi Guys,

It’s my understanding that nail polish remover is mostly acetone.

It’s a solvent used in the fibreglass industry, and I’ve used it for years as a cleaner for video heads and rollers … and for anything else that needs a decent clean.

Gotta watch plastic though 😮 .. it’ll eat into the surface real quick. In fact it is also used as a glue for perspex.

Checkout your local hardware store or fibreglass boat builder, and buy a litre or two.

Regards, Roger

[Steve Underhill]

My whole middle workshop is covered in that steel, I dry lined 3 walls but the last one id bare because i havent had the sink out yet, I have spare offcuts of app tape stuck all over it, have stuck vinyl to it as well and it seems sticky enough to me, and it used to be an indian restaurant before that, so plenty of grease on it I imagine.
Cant think whats up with yours.

[Andy Gorman]

Sometimes new stainless steel is cleaned with a product called IKNOX. It is very good and brings it up a treat, but is greasy.