Wind Slits in Vinyl Banners

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Opinions about wind slits in banners vary. The purpose of these semi-circular cuts in the vinyl banner material is to relieve the wind load that can shred a banner to pieces. Sign makers often use anything from soup cans to coffee cans as templates for cutting slits with an Xacto knife or utility knife.

To understand how damaging high winds can be, read my story: The Effect of Wind Loads on Vinyl Banners.Amazingly the pressure of a 75 mile per hour wind on a 3’ x 30’ banner spanning a city street is about 1890 lbs.

Concerned that high winds could send banner material, cables and anchoring mechanisms flying putting passers-by at risk of injury, some well-meaning communities have required wind slits in banners. To some extent, these wind slits do reduce wind loads by 6% to 15%, according to the estimates of experts. Read more »

How to Apply Vinyl Graphics to Banners

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Application of graphics to vinyl banner material requires slightly different surface preparation and application techniques than other applications. What follows is a compilation of some suggestions to make your job easier. Secure the Banner. Before applying pressure-sensitivevinyl graphics, tape or secure the banner to your work table surface using good quality, two-inch masking tape or by […] Read more »

Overlaminate Selection for Vehicle Wraps

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In selecting an overlaminate for vinyl graphics, the general rule of thumb is: use a cast vinyl overlaminate for cast vinyl graphics; use either a calendered or cast overlaminate for calendered vinyl graphics. Calendered vinyl, is not appropriate for a curved surface, especially one with as many curves as the bumper on a car. The […] Read more »

Avoiding Edge Curling When Printing Full Bleeds

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Why the Simplest Solutions are Generally the Best Printing heavy concentrations of ink to the edges of some films can result in edge curl. But there is a simple solution.  Read more »

Graphics Troubleshooting

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Yesterday I received an email with a couple of pictures of applied vinyl graphics with what looked like bubbles underneath the film. See the photo below. The message that accompanied the pictures read: “Could you please take a look at the enclosed pictures and help us with your assessment.” Read more »

Choosing a Translucent Vinyl

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Which is Better for Backlit Signs: Cast or Calendered? Vinyl manufacturers, such as 3M™ and Arlon, produce a broad color selection of translucent cast vinyl films for backlit signage applications. In addition to backlit building signage, other applications include taxi-top signage, mall and airport-terminal advertising, menuboards and canopy fascias. Read more »

How Thermoplastics and Thermosets Differ

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Thermoplastic and thermoset plastics are both comprised of very large polymer chains. Both have similarly sounding names.  Each type of plastic, however, is very unique.  Here’s how thermoplastics and thermosets differ. Cast vinyls are thermoplastics, which are very soft and conformable films, suitable for fleet graphics application over rivets and corrugations. Photo courtesy of Nazdar.  Read more »

The Differences Between Polyurethane and Vinyl Films

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Many in our industry use the all-encompassing term “heat transfer vinyl” to refer to any heat transfer flex film.  The fact of the matter is that many of the heat transfer films on the market today are not vinyl at all. Much of what is sold today is polyurethane or a polyurethane blend. Read more »

Are Premask and Prespacing Tape the Same Thing?

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The plethora of terms used for the application tapes sold in the sign and screen print markets could confuse anyone. In the sign market, many people just use the terms “application tape” or “application paper”.  Frequently this tape is also incorrectly referred to as “transfer tape”. If you are a purist and want to pick a […] Read more »