? Installing vinyl on glass

[vid]

Our installer can't get anything to stick to an architectural glass panel. It is, by his description, "frosted glass... like was sandblasted."

Initially it was wiped with alcohol, then the vinyl was placed with painter's tape. That curled.
Then he tried to place it with duct tape. That pulled off as he lifted the RTA vinyl to apply. He then cleaned the glass again with alcohol and followed that with methanol and glass cleaner.
He then destroyed the vinyl in a a dry attempt direct applying the vinyl -- 3M matte black.

On the second visit to the site, Bar Keeper's friend, Sprayway glass cleaner, alcohol --- dry --- nothing stuck. Controltac, hIgh performance film or paint mask.

Acetone is going on the third visit. Any suggestions on what could be the issue?

We can't get specs ... or remove the glass.

 

[Gino]

Generally, you can't put much of any kinda of stickum anything to blasted glass. It's now far too porous and the plane is very uneven. Any lettering should be accounted for before blasting and blanked/masked out, so you can go back and put vinyl in afterwards. Over the years we've done many glass partitions, windows and mirrors and no vinyl will stick to it after it's been blasted..... anyway, not for long.

Can it be hand-painted on ??

 

[T_K]

Here I was thinking this would be a boring thread about a simple vinyl choice! And instead I'm learning something new.

No experience with blasted glass, but I've had tons of issues with textured surfaces, like powder coating. The only solution I've had was to use tons and tons of heat to practically melt the vinyl into place. But if the masking tape is not sticking, I wouldn't expect much else to stick either.

 

[vid]

Porosity --- yes, yes. Such was my assumption..

And yes, it CAN be hand lettered... LOL, as luck would have it, a valiant effort was attempted by a recently hired young spitfire with mediocre credentials as a muralist. Yesterday at 2:00-ish he went for a coffee run. No one knows if he got coffee, but it appears he got the run.

Measurements and centering appear to be an issue with the young buck. This of course leads me to my next question. What removes One Shot from frosted glass? ummmm, ummmm, I'm asking for a friend. REALLY!

Actually, the two tasked with the fixit ticket have a hard time drawing a wiggly line, let alone a straight one. Their plan is to hand hold a stencil and try to roll it. (6" letters - 12 characters)

I fear I will be greeted by some sorrowful faces when they return.



.

 

[Gino]

Other than a pounce pattern, if vinyl won't hold, there's no use in trying to hold a rigid substrate, mainly because the paint will wick underneath it, creating an even bigger mess. On the textured glass, I would use lacquer thinner over and over, until it's squeaky clean. Then, clean that off, with turps.
Pictures might help.

Even for a good seasoned hand-painter, painting on textured glass is tough to do. It has to be done slowly and without any thinners. Maybe a little penetrol for flow, but even that might make for runs. Appraoch it with thicker than normal paint and use a fan on slow speed to hurry up the set time.

 

[visual800]

this whole thing sounds like a big mess. Hope they are in that location forever, next tenat will prolly have to replace that glass

 

[myront]

We use a "wall vinyl" for such surfaces. Although we haven't tried it on this type it works well on stucco, brick and drywall. Print & laminate, apply as usual then apply heat to it using a heat gun attached to a pressing roller.

3M IJ 8624 w/ 8524 laminate (yes, must be laminated)

 

[vid]

Other than a pounce pattern, if vinyl won't hold, there's no use in trying to hold a rigid substrate, mainly because the paint will wick underneath it, creating an even bigger mess. On the textured glass, I would use lacquer thinner over and over, until it's squeaky clean. Then, clean that off, with turps. Pictures might help...

Thank you! Having rookie experience painting, I appreciate the advice. It confirms my suspicions. I did't get tagged to go on this one, so I will convey the process.

this whole thing sounds like a big mess...

Yes.

 

[vid]

We use a "wall vinyl" for such...

Thank you! That was another possible solution that was discussed. However, we don't have that in inventory, so we couldn't set up a test for it.