Vinyl Signs, Vehicle Wrapping and Architectural Wrapping Films

      

The Vinyl Corporation have been supplying self adhesive vinyl products into the signage, automotive and marine markets for over thirty five years,within that time the composition and durability of sign making vinyl has evolved and progressed into the ubiquitous and durable advertising media that is offered by The Vinyl Corporation today.

Sign Vinyl, What is it and how is it manufactured?

There are four main categories of Sign Vinyl: CALENDERED ( Spelt correctly) MONOMERIC Vinyl, CALENDERED POLYMERIC Vinyl, VEHICLE Wrapping Vinyl and CAST Vinyl.The chemical composition and differing manufacturing processes are outlined in previous BLOG articles.The point of entry short term vinyl is the MONOMERIC Calendered vinyl or the Economy 3-5year vinyl including Ri-Mark, Ritrama L&M grade vinyl and the AVERY 500 series Matt and Gloss vinyl or the superior enhanced ORACAL 651 Gloss and ORACAL 631 Matt vinyl, these films are ideal for promotional settings which offer good coverage and exceptional value for money, projects such as internal retail sales signs, courtesy and demonstration vehicles, exhibitions and Wall Art.

What Is POLYMERIC vinyl or PVC?

POLYVINYL CHLORIDE (PVC) Polymer is a hard piece of material until it is heated and reduced to a molten state, at this point Plasticisers, coloured pigments, heat and UV stabilisers, fillers and processing aids are added prior to the material being passed through the Calendering pressure rollers, these rollers stretch and roll out the film to the required size and shape.

PVC  PLASTICISERS

The Plasticisers used in this process are the key ingredient, the term Polymeric refers to the grade of plasticiser that is used, this is a LONG CHAIN plasticiser and is less prone to shrinkage or migration, this is called POLYMERIC as Poly is many and metric is a unit or body, suggesting that POLYMERIC vinyl can expand and contract in many directions, as opposed to the MONOMERIC vinyl which can only stretch or shrink in One Direction.

CHEMICAL EXPLANATION….you know you want it!

Phthalate Esters are esters of phthalic acid these are mainly used as the all important plasticisers in polymeric vinyl, these are added to the plastic to increase the Flexibility,Transparency, durability and longevity, Phthalates are manufactured by reacting Phthalic Anhydride with Alcohols, many varied alcohols can be used such as Methanol to Ethanol or even Tridecyl alcohol.

DURABILITY and Flexibility of POLYMERIC Sign Vinyl

Polymeric plotter vinyl, this is usually 60-80 microns thick and is much more dimensionally stable than MONOMERIC CALENDERED vinyl, which is thicker and less flexible. The Vinyl Corporation supply a wide range of polymeric vinyl from AVERY 700, LG Chem, Simply Vinyl and MACTAC 9800 these are 5-7 year life and ideal for vehicle graphics and external signage. This generic form of vinyl is often called “ stabilised” or longer life vinyl because of the long chain construction of the plasticisers that permit better binding to the film and are therefore more efficient, reducing migration and shrinkage.

CAST Vinyl and CAST WRAPPING VINYL

The Vinyl Corporation have been supplying cast vinyl striping for over thirty five years, as Arlon Graphics along with Fasson and 3M were the only suppliers of vinyl cut stripes in the early 1980’s .CAST Vinyl was clearly the first choice for the material to cut through The Vinyl Corporation’s first Gerber 380 sprocketed plotter in 1986…. soon Ultramark and fasson developed a very respectable 5-7 year life polymeric vinyl … the rest as they say is history.

CAST WRAPPING VINYL

Wrapping Vinyl is manufactured and supplied in both polymeric and cast material in the UK, The Vinyl Corporation will always recommend that the CAST Wrapping Vinyl is selected, this will be either the ORACAL 970RA or the AVERY SUPREME WRAPPING FILM if the project requires a colour change wrap. Should the current work involve Print and wrap, then The Vinyl Corporation will recommend the AVERY MPi 1105 and then laminated with the DOL 1460 Easy apply RS ,or for the installers that prefer working with the ORAJET product then the Oracal Proslide 3951RA accompanied by the 290F laminate bundle.

There are so many choices and variations of products that can be selected from the range of products that The Vinyl Corporation hold in stock, so if any specification sheets or further details or advice is required to match the correct vinyl to the current substrate or conditions then please contact our dedicated help desk on 0115 930 1133 or email your enquiry on dmtvc.march@btconnect.com