Cheap Vinyl/lam? tell me why not to use it.

[Johnmpcny]

I have been using a few Orajet, general and others. Other than a car wrap we love the stuff from http://www.instantonemedia.com/ and Bigfish who carries the same stuff.

It is air release and goes on great, print is equal to any other we have used. The laminate looks better than anything I have used.

So when or why do I not want this as my go to vinyl/lam?

Will it not hold up as well on PVC outdoors with the lam?

I having a hard time spending more, unless I see a clear advantage.

 

[neil_se]

I'm not opposed to using smaller manufacturers, it's just difficult to know how the vinyl is going to last in the long term. The year before last one of my suppliers sold me some polymeric calendared laminate that shrunk back about 5mm on every sticker we produced with it.

The same can go for larger manufacturers too though. Around the same time I had to reprint thousands of contour cut stickers as the 3M vinyl shrunk and curled like crazy a week later. My testing procedure is better these days but I'm still very hesitant to change from our tried and tested materials as a bad decision means reworking hundreds of metres of vinyl down the track.

On the other hand we've been using a particular series of Taiwanese-made monomeric calendared vinyl that is far better than the 3M, Arlon and Avery equivalents at the same price point, so it can be worth trying too.

 

[SignManiac]

To me any time you mention the word "cheap", I immediately see unforeseen problems down the road. I like my work to stay out of the shop for as long as possible.

 

[Christian @ Visual Graphx]

are you sure that vinyl was polymeric? Monomeric has a high tendancy to shrink where as polymeric is close to cast in performance... IJ40, 3551, etc.

 

[Salmoneye]

Shrinkage. I use quite a bit of inexpensive vinyl but I use it for short term work.

 

[Johnmpcny]

how long to you notice Shrinkage?

So the major issue is shrinking with cheap material, as the reason it may fail long term. I am seeing some cast product hitting from overseas now I wonder if all are equal.

How fast should you notice shrinkage? weeks or months? I have stuff months old outdoors, nothing I can see has changed.

 

[Mosh]

cheap materials = race car guy......good materials = good customers....see the difference, don't be a race car guy.

 

[Johnmpcny]

cheap materials = race car guy......good materials = good customers....see the difference, don't be a race car guy.

We do a lot of race related work. Hence our name Speedway Press, 90% is one season and put up new with new design next year. Long term is no the major concern. High quality print is. I have spent a lot and a little, print quality is more machine and profile related. I think the right product mix is more important. Maybe I will see failure in the long term product, I will have to see.

If someone needs to their product to last 5 months what is good is paying more for 5 years life?

Last from what I can tell the warranties on best products are great only if they outright fail in the first few months, if you get more than a year out they cover so little (prorated material only no labor) + the work to collect them is not worth the time.

 

[gabagoo]

I tested a 3ml lam on a 3ml print on a rear entry door that faces the sun. Print lasted a good 3 years with little fade....after that it made it to the 5 year mark with noticeable fading. year 6 looked like it was attacked by a rusty coloured mould. Of course there was shrinkage, but acceptable for what it was.
That's way more than I ever expected a decal to last outdoors in those conditions.

 

[Salmoneye]

There is a place for it all, the trick is realistically knowing when.