Dealing With Bubbles
You will probably end up with some bubbles in your decal job. Small
bubbles will go away in time (the film breathes, and will flatten
out after a few weeks at an appropriate temperature). If you want
to work on the bubbles immediately, apply moderate heat, then poke
them with a pin, pressing the film down with your thumb immediately
afterwards. Have patience though, the film will lay flat on it's own
in time unless the bubbles are unusually large.
Storage
Your decals must be kept clean, dry, and laid out on a flat surface.
If storage is to be longer than 1 year, It is recommended that they
be kept in an airtight container or bag. If you regularly use decals,
make sure to rotate your stock.
Decal Removal
Decal removal can vary in difficulty, depending on a few things; the
quality of the film to be removed, how long it's been on, if it's
weather-beaten, etc. Move along the decal with a hair dryer or heat
gun, while at the same time picking the letters or striping them off
with your finger nail or plastic razor blade as you go, this can be
a timely process. If the decal is a very large vinyl graphic or if
you have several large vinyl installations to remove. You could also
purchase a vinyl stripping wheel, which is a disc shaped device that
is attached to a standard drill.
Another method that works well is to spray the decal with a window
cleaner and use a metal razorblade to scrap the decal from the surface.
DO NOT do this if the surface the decal is on is a painted surface,
for example the body of the vehicle.The metal razor could scrap the
paint. Use metal razors only on decals that have been applied to glass.
If the surface is a painted surface you can use "plastic razor
blades", these razor blades can be purchased at any local hardware
store. The window cleaner will allow the blade to float on top and
remove the adhesive and vinyl without damaging or scratching the surface.
Measuring For Decals
When we refer to overall area, this refers to the imaginary rectangular
area that surrounds the particular group of letters you are measuring
for. Here are some examples of measurements of overall area:
When you select an overall area, we will make
your decal as big as possible, and still fit within the overall area
selected. Due to the unlimited possibilities of what you can create,
your decal might not fill the entire box. For example, a decal size
listed as 12" x 12" might actually measure to 12" x
10.5". We try to come as close as possible to the stated size,
but there are cases of slight variance.
Sometimes, you might need to include a minor
obstruction within the overall area, but make sure it will fall in
a spot that won't interfere with the lettering. Please be aware that
doing so might require the decal to be modified before installation.
For instance, you can always separate lines or individual letters
of a decal before application if you wish.
SCOTCH 3M Premium
3 mil outdoor cast Vinyl:
We use only the best vinyl material available. Opaque, polymeric,
calendared, 3M vinyl film with clear, pressure-sensitive adhesive.
Most of our Vinyl is "rated" for 7 years. This means that
the manufacturer says under normal conditions, the material should
not peel, crack, delaminate, or fade for 7 years. As a matter of fact,
in most cases, the material considerably outlives this rating. These
decals also carry our 3 year warranty. All of our vinyl films have
excellent water resistance and work well in marine applications. They
also resists mild acids, alkalis, and salts, our vinyl graphic films
also hold up well under clearcoating applications.
Vinyl Colors:
It is impossible to get "web safe" computer screen colors
to properly match all the colors of our Vinyl. The actual Vinyl colors
are far more vibrant than what you see on the screen. We have a variety
of different colors and styles of vinyl. To view samples of our available
vinyl colors visit our online
color selection guide.
