Question Where to find this?

[tedshock]

Hello all, trying to locate an item we purchased about 12 years ago from Graphitek of VT, who are long out of business.

It's a 15" wide roll of clear "release liner" (pictures attached). Shiny on the release side, matte (dull) on the back side. It's how they used to supply their masked cut vinyl. Many years ago we bought a 50 yd roll of the stuff from them, but I can't seem to find it anywhere now. Does anyone know where this may be sold? Or if it's as dead as Graphitek now is?

 

[Gino]

How is it used ?? Or what is its use ??

 

[tedshock]

How is it used ?? Or what is its use ??

Basically it's for cut, weeded vinyl. Instead of leaving masked vinyl on the existing paper backing the vinyl comes on, you would mask the vinyl, and then remove the paper backer (exposing the tacky vinyl side). Then, you'd place the masked vinyl onto this stuff (pictured above) to take the place of the "paper backing".

We were told by Graphitek they used it for "appearances and easier backer release". Apparently when they weeded their vinyl, they didn't want the "Cut lines" that are often used (to weed smaller sections at a time) to be seen from the backer paper. So they'd weed, mask, and transfer onto this clear liner. Seems a little frivolous, but the stuff did work well. It releases very easily, while surprisingly, still holding strong before needing to be removed.

 

[Gino]

Humm...... sounds like nice stuff. Just seems like an extra cost for an extra step or two for no real advantage. Like to see it in use, that's for sure.

 

[mfatty500]

I got something similar from Stahls, years ago, I don't know if they still sell it. I can't recall what they called it. I still have some

 

[tedshock]

Humm...... sounds like nice stuff. Just seems like an extra cost for an extra step or two for no real advantage. Like to see it in use, that's for sure.

It's really nice stuff. Graphitek used to mask with clear masking, thus why they didn't want people to see the "weeded cut lines" around consecutive lines of text (or in between words) on the original vinyl's release paper.

Obviously less of an issue if you're using regular white masking material. And yea, an extra step but for certain cases it's great (that's why a 50 yd roll lasted us over 12 years

 

[Ray Miller]

Doesn't it have a shelf life?

 

[MNT_Printhead]

Doesn't it have a shelf life?

I have rolls of Moncor vinyl at work that where there before I started that are close to 10 years old and still have great tack and work because they have been sitting in boxes bagged and unopened, I just used a full roll last week and did they same for a similar job for the last 5 years with no failures. I also have rolls of Calon and a few other discontinued vinyls that weren't bagged and have almost no tack on a wall rack behind my desk - I use them as decoration and take note when a sales rep visiting notices and mentions how old they are to me because that is who I should be buying from more often than not.

 

[JBurton]

I have a mess of 3m synthetic liner that was wound off of some white vinyl onto orange vinyl... Didn't know why I saved it until now, where am I shipping it to?

 

[victor bogdanov]

Humm...... sounds like nice stuff. Just seems like an extra cost for an extra step or two for no real advantage. Like to see it in use, that's for sure.

Maybe that's why they're out of business

 

[tedshock]

I have a mess of 3m synthetic liner that was wound off of some white vinyl onto orange vinyl... Didn't know why I saved it until now, where am I shipping it to?

I have that too from using series 225 vinyl from Gerber/3M, but that synthetic liner is 'tougher' than the stuff I posted about and more 'stiff'. Best way I can describe it, is the 3M synthetic liner can be "creased" (and then it's hard to relax once done); this stuff I inquired about above can be creased but then smoothed out rather easily.

 

[Signarama Jockey]

We were told by Graphitek they used it for "appearances and easier backer release". Apparently when they weeded their vinyl, they didn't want the "Cut lines" that are often used (to weed smaller sections at a time) to be seen from the backer paper. So they'd weed, mask, and transfer onto this clear liner. Seems a little frivolous, but the stuff did work well. It releases very easily, while surprisingly, still holding strong before needing to be removed.

I'm sorry, but I still don't totally understand. This stuff helps so the customer doesn't see marks on the original backing paper? Is that important? Does it change how the vinyl looks when it gets applied?

If you used it and liked it, it's not my place to try and change your mind - maybe I'm just not getting it.

 

[tedshock]

I'm sorry, but I still don't totally understand. This stuff helps so the customer doesn't see marks on the original backing paper? Is that important? Does it change how the vinyl looks when it gets applied?

If you used it and liked it, it's not my place to try and change your mind - maybe I'm just not getting it.

That was Graphitek's reason not mine, as stated above several times.

Our shop liked it as an easier release liner for certain situations. Quite a few times we had a difficult job that either had very small text, thin strokes, or fancy script, that would just not want to release easily off of the backer paper (without really heavy tack masking, which wasn't always ideal). That provided issues for us when we'd send out vinyl to a client (and trying to explain to them to squeegee the backer paper harder and repeatedly didn't always get through to them). Transferring it to this stuff meant it would always release easily.

Like I said, a 15" x 50yd roll lasted us over 12 years, so it's not something we used often. It was also waterproof, so if you were using a vinyl that didn't have a synthetic liner already (like the premium Gerber/3M series 225), it was an option to use this as well.

 

[victor bogdanov]

. Quite a few times we had a difficult job that either had very small text, thin strokes, or fancy script, that would just not want to release easily off of the backer paper (without really heavy tack masking, which wasn't always ideal). T

I bet you would get the same result if you just removed the original backing sheet and reapplied right back to the original backing sheet. Second time the original backing sheet would come off way easier

 

[damonCA21]

I bet you would get the same result if you just removed the original backing sheet and reapplied right back to the original backing sheet. Second time the original backing sheet would come off way easier

When I have had occasional jobs where the cutter has cut a bit too deep, so it doesn't want to come off cleanly I just use a spare piece of vinyl ( one of those odd colours we all have that never got used ). Whip the vinyl off and use the unused backing paper from that on the decal.

 

[tedshock]

I bet you would get the same result if you just removed the original backing sheet and reapplied right back to the original backing sheet. Second time the original backing sheet would come off way easier

Been there, done that, have the t-shirt

In some cases, that worked, but not always. After a few hours of reapplying the original backer, it seems like certain vinyl/small tex/fine text/scripts wanted to re-stick to it, causing issues again. Not often, but there were cases where it happened

 

[tedshock]

When I have had occasional jobs where the cutter has cut a bit too deep, so it doesn't want to come off cleanly I just use a spare piece of vinyl ( one of those odd colours we all have that never got used ). Whip the vinyl off and use the unused backing paper from that on the decal.

We've done that too, using leftover series 225 liners (waterproof)

 

[Signarama Jockey]

That was Graphitek's reason not mine, as stated above several times.

Our shop liked it as an easier release liner for certain situations. Quite a few times we had a difficult job that either had very small text, thin strokes, or fancy script, that would just not want to release easily off of the backer paper (without really heavy tack masking, which wasn't always ideal). That provided issues for us when we'd send out vinyl to a client (and trying to explain to them to squeegee the backer paper harder and repeatedly didn't always get through to them). Transferring it to this stuff meant it would always release easily.

Ahhh, it is for the client! Now I see. Okay, now I get it.

I was imagining an installer on site trying to put a graphic on a store window and the shop owner looking all judgy at them "I can see the cut lines on the backing paper! For God's sake are you even a professional?" And then I was thinking, no, surely it's not that - maybe it might be when the vinyl has a hard time coming off the backing paper as you said. But then I was imagining someone saying "this vinyl didn't want to come off of the backing paper, so to solve that problem I took the vinyl off of the backing paper and then put it on another sheet of backing paper!".

But, if you're prepping it for the customer, then I get it. That makes sense. Thanks for explaining it to me.

 

[JBurton]

( one of those odd colours we all have that never got used ).

You mean to tell me you're not re-labeling all the shelves in your shop every time you have a 20'x7" run of burgundy or dark brown? You just keep it?

 

[DL Signs]

I used to use clear release liners like that, they were common back when cut vinyl was the norm, before printers were commonplace, or affordable (god I feel old).

If you needed outlines, drop shadows, and multi colored graphics with colored vinyl, they all needed to be aligned. One of the easiest and most accurate ways was to transfer parts with transfer paper to clear release liner to make registration of multi colors easier when you lay them. Another option was to use a low tack transfer paper and apply each color to the clear release liner, removing the transfer paper after each one, and lay the next, then cover the entire with a higher tack transfer paper and lay all colors at once. Now that almost everything is printed (and life is so much nicer), I imagine the demand is so low that it's gotta be all but extinct. I know I haven't even thought about that in decades.

Someone might still make/ have/ sell it in smaller sizes, only one I could locate with a quick search is 3M 1.4mil clear release liner (4996 part number), but it's only in 54" x 360 yard rolls for just under $1,300, more for industrial applications than a small shop.