Suggestions on Storing Vinyl?

[jfiscus]

We have a new roll of 3M IJ680CR-10 & know not to store it standing on end (last roll got a hump) but does anyone have a suggestion on how to store rolls "flat"? I guess it could go back in the box but I'd assume that it'd get dusty in there & the big box kinda looks ugly & in the way.

How do you store it?

 

[MikePro]

i stand rolls on end, no humps yet.

 

[Gino]

Presently, most everything is on end on the plastic bases that are shipped with them. Our better grade vinyls are on a dowel hanging out from the wall about 7' in the air, so no one bumps their head.

You don't want to store them flat or you will get flat spots and your media won't lay flat enough unless you have one heck of a vacuum setup.

 

[jwright350]

We stand everything on end with no problems. I've found that most digital print media starts to loose its ability to accept ink well after 6 months, static cling is even worse...maybe 2 months. So use it quick!

 

[rushworks graphics]

we also stand everything on end with the plastic holders that they get shipped with in the box. never had any humps or problems soing this and we've done it for 9-10 years that way.

 

[Bigdawg]

We stand everything on end with no problems. I've found that most digital print media starts to loose its ability to accept ink well after 6 months, static cling is even worse...maybe 2 months. So use it quick!

Wow. That's not been my experience with Oracal or 3M products. At all. What brand are you using that it only has a 6 month shelf life?

And we too stand it all on end except my 24" rolls of vinyl - they are on a wall rack.

 

[J Hill Designs]

also standing on end on the plastic things...no problems...I use the bag it comes in as a dust condom as well..tie one end and slide it over when stored

 

[Gino]

Wow. That's not been my experience with Oracal or 3M products. At all. What brand are you using that it only has a 6 month shelf life?

And we too stand it all on end except my 24" rolls of vinyl - they are on a wall rack.

Of course you're right Bigdawg........ they have over a two year shelf-life for the distributors and about another 1 to 2 year shelf-life for the end-user.

We go through several rolls of various media a month, but there are some things that don't always move. We've never experienced a single problem after 15 years of doing digital printing....... knock on wood.

 

[jwright350]

Wow. That's not been my experience with Oracal or 3M products. At all. What brand are you using that it only has a 6 month shelf life?

And we too stand it all on end except my 24" rolls of vinyl - they are on a wall rack.

Just my experience is all, I don't have years of testing data to back that up.

My 180c and IJ35 don't sit for very long so I wouldn't know.

Just about everything I get from General Formulations (they make lots of "house" brands) seems to not print as good.

And if you can get static cling to last for more than 3 months...let me know what brand you use and I'll switch. That stuff dies out quick.

I do lots of flat bed printing on coroplast, I know that not what we are talking about here...but it looses its corona treatment over time.

I also seem to have bad luck with just about any brand of clear vinyl.


.... I have seen this "humping" on a roll of 2 sided banner once that wasn't rolled tight.. btw it sat for a long long long time unused until I got my UV printer. Turns out my baby mutohs don't really like 2 sided printing much.

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

Not sure why you got "humped". Agree with the others, never had that or the short life problems. But most of us are not in Kansas anymore.

 

[jwright350]

Of course you're right Bigdawg........ they have over a two year shelf-life for the distributors and about another 1 to 2 year shelf-life for the end-user.

We go through several rolls of various media a month, but there are some things that don't always move. We've never experienced a single problem after 15 years of doing digital printing....... knock on wood.

Did a quick search on 3M's site via google. I found places that said 1,2 and 3 year shelf life. Go figure. I don't even think they have consistent position on this. You'd think i would have a 6 year shelf life like they say it will last for.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=ij180+shelf+life

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSSSu7zK1fslxtUO82UPx_Zev7qe17zHvTSevTSeSSSSSS--

 

[AUTO-FX]

Not sure why you got "humped". Agree with the others, never had that or the short life problems. But most of us are not in Kansas anymore.

Mosh is in Kansas.


Oh no, he's in Nebraska. Or Iowa. Depending on which police dept is looking for him.

 

[jfiscus]

This is not standard vinyl, all of out other 48" or wider rolls stand on their ends (on those plastic shipping "bases") without any issues. Our smaller 15" rolls are on the wall; 24-36" are all on their ends in corners of the rooms.

This is printable conform reflective. The last roll sat around ( a month?) in-between jobs & one end developed a small hump (sagging due to the weight I'm guessing?); not much, but enough to cause headstrikes & make 6" of it unuseable & have to print on high head heighth on the rest.... really sucks if you the cost of this material!

Right now I have one of the shipping ends in each end of the roll up on our laminating table, but it can't stay there forever.

 

[Jim Doggett]

Speedclips are great for securing rolls. Really fast and no tape or rubberband hassle: www.signwarehouse.com/p-HT-YT-SPEEDCLIP-50.html

 

[ucmj22]

here is a rack that we built that uses the plastic ends the rolls are shipped in.

 

[J Hill Designs]

nifty!

 

[jfiscus]

Thank you ucmj22 for a relevant reply.
I'm just trying to think of how to do something similar to accomodate the varying widths from 48-60"... Possibly the same just the ends sit on shelves?

 

[ucmj22]

NP. its just 2X12's for the frame and 2X2's cut for the "shelves". we routed the edges of the 2X12's to make it look pretty, and used L brackets to mount it to the wall.