A number of factors can cause puckering and tunneling of a premask or application tape laminated on a screen printed vinyl graphic. These factors fall into three broad categories: environment, material processing and product selection. Read more »
Adhesion Testing
Testing the Bond of an Ink or Paint Whether you are screen printing or painting, the coating must bond to the substrate for the service life of the product. Depending on the physical properties of the coating that you have selected for a project and the substrate to which the coating will be applied, the […] Read more »
Water Size Recipe for Glass Gilding
In glass gilding, a water size is the glue that adheres gold leaf to the glass. Made of water-clear gelatin and distilled water, it is essential for creating a brilliant gold mirror finish. Of course, you can also apply gold to glass with oil size, if you want areas of a design to have a […] Read more »
Why Photoluminescent Films Glow In The Dark
Have you ever wondered why photoluminescent films, such as RTape’s GlowEfx™, emit a bright greenish glow when the lights go out? The pigments in photoluminescent films as well as in fluorescent films work very differently than other types of pigments. Read more »
Correcting Plotter Cutting Problems When Cutting Heat Transfer Films
Troubleshooting Checklist If you are having problems cutting polyurethane heat transfer films, check the following possible causes: Read more »
Marvelous Magnets Can Open Up New Revenues from Tradeshows to Vehicles
What do you get when you combine magnets with vinyl? Some marvelously magnetic creations that demand attention. Flexible magnets are opening new marketing doors for companies large and small. In fact, the possibilities are virtually as endless as your imagination. Read more »
Boat Wraps Boast Big Opportunity for Vinyl Installers
Wrapping boats may be the next big thing as the vehicle wrapping trend extends itself from the highways to the waterways. You’re already wrapping cars, why not venture into the wonderful world of boat wrapping and expand your business? Read more »
Wrapping Vegas
The basic elements are the same with wraps of all sizes, but large mass transit wraps offer some additional challenges that offer valuable lessons from graphics installers of all shapes and sizes. Read more »
Problems Transferring Graphics?
Are you having problems with you application tape transferring all of the letters from the release liner? Here are a couple of suggestions: 1. In applying the application tape, use either a 3M gold nylon squeegee or a Teflon squeegee. Softer plastic squeegees and felt squeegees do not have sufficient hardness to cause the adhesive […] Read more »
The Difference between FlexCut Sticky and FlexCut Sweet
Both FlexCut Sticky and FlexCut Sweet are 100% polyurethane films. Other than that one similarity the two films are very different. Each product has its own unique performance properties. And these differences make one film a better choice for a specific application versus the other. Still both films have their place in the product mix. And […] Read more »
