Avery Supercast shelf life???

[allegraasheville]

I know lots of people hate anything Avery, but to be honest, I've liked everything I've used it for so far...
BUT
I have 3/4 of a roll of Supercast (MPI 1005 SC Ez Rs) that is pretty much unuseable. It was made on 1-22-13 so almost exactly 2 years ago. I've noticed the print quality slowly declining, and I tried to use it yesterday and it printed horribly. It was like I was printing water-based ink on it. The colors weren't opaque at all. The ink was "bubbly" like it wasn't being absorbed into the vinyl. I'm printing on a Roland SC545EX with Eco Sol ink, and the prints I made on the same roll (almost 2 years ago) were great. In fact, our shop van is wrapped with it and it is still looking fine.

What is the shelf life of this stuff? Anyone else have this problem? I know having vinyl around for a couple years is probably NOT ideal, but I just don't use that much cast.

My everyday vinyl is Arlon GTX and that has been great for what we do here.
Can you recommend a cast vinyl that wouldn't turn into an expensive paperweight over time?

 

[allegraasheville]

I know most people use cast vinyl way more than I do, but to spend that much money a time bomb that deteriorates that quickly is really maddening.
It's not like after 2 years now it's starting to be unusable... it's been getting bad for a while, and I'm sure it had some time on it in a warehouse before I even got it.

I will never buy Avery again.

Is all cast vinyl like this? If so, I'll have to find half or quarter rolls or something for the little amount I use it for...

 

[allegraasheville]

My most expensive roll of vinyl is the one that deteriorates the fastest.

I guess that's just how it is, but it frustrates me.

 

[allegraasheville]

Thanks Pat. At least I'm not the only one to sit on vinyl too long. -A very expensive lesson.

 

[allegraasheville]

Thanks! Good ideas.