3M or Avery

[DoubleDiamond]

We have been using Avery MPI1005SC Easy Apply RS with DOL 1460 lam and have had pretty good results. The main reason is price though because we get a very good deal as a kit, like $920. I have used the 3M control tac and think it's better, but not enough to justify the difference, I kinda think. Another wrap guy and I were discussing this and the 3M is very good at going over ridges then sinking it into the grooves, like in a roof. The Avery always seems to lift soon after even with primer. The avery seems to thin to me.
I may be answering my own question here, but before we switch to 3M I really need a few recommendations from a few that are more experienced with wraps. We have gone through about 4 or 5 50yrd kits of avery and one wrap with 3M. We are about to wrap 6 vehicles for one customer and 3 trailers. We absolutely love the air release orocal vinyl for these. It's cut our install time in half.
Thanks for the replys folks, Joe

 

[dlndesign]

To be honest, I hardly use Avery. I have used 3M IJ180 for years. The best thing about it is that I have never had a issue with it after a vehicle has been wrapped and out the door. I trust it, and there is a new vinyl they are saying is even better for deep curves or complex surfaces called Envision Series.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...ucts/?N=5786+3294529207+8706696+8697840&rt=r3
If you have a vinyl that's been working for you and works with your budget and the clients. I'd say keep using it until you can find a better, cheaper option! Good luck in your search.

 

[danno]

We use the 3M IJ180cv3-10 with Oracal 290GF or 3M 8518 depending on the customer.

 

[d fleming]

Anything but Avery

 

[Kwiksigns]

If you plan on going over a "ridge and sinking" it in... Nothing will stay down. You are supposed to work into the grooves. From personal experience, the Avery lasts longer if I were to just "sink" it into a groove, with or without primer, compared to the IJ180. I can't compare to the IJ380 because.... I don't use it or need it because whatever vinyl I use, I am going to work into the groove, never heat and push it in. I use the same avery combo you do and have had perfect results every time and nothing ever lifts... So maybe just work on your technique a bit and clean better.

 

[neil_se]

I changed from Arlon DPF6000XRP a few months ago to Avery 1005 EA RS and my installers are very grateful. I've had some serious issues with quality though, I've had to return 3 rolls all from different batches due to contamination, the surface just wouldn't accept the latex ink. I'm pretty disappointed in the quality and how much money it's cost me, and am looking to change to 3M 180c as well.

 

[Snydo]

I changed from Arlon DPF6000XRP a few months ago to Avery 1005 EA RS and my installers are very grateful. I've had some serious issues with quality though, I've had to return 3 rolls all from different batches due to contamination, the surface just wouldn't accept the latex ink. I'm pretty disappointed in the quality and how much money it's cost me, and am looking to change to 3M 180c as well.

I've been running MPI1005SC since release and have never seen that type of contamination, our HP Latex machines print beautifully on the stuff. That being said, we are typically applying to box truck, tailers, and Econolines, no deep ridges though, and yes it is fairly thin but no product failure. Have had far more issues with 3M products, fuzz and dust visible on the roll before I even take it out of the bag, massive color shifts from roll to roll, and horrid corporate practices to name a few.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

and horrid corporate practices to name a few.

AMEN to that! I'm glad to know someone else feels that way as well.

 

[Split76]

I changed from Arlon DPF6000XRP a few months ago to Avery 1005 EA RS and my installers are very grateful. I've had some serious issues with quality though, I've had to return 3 rolls all from different batches due to contamination, the surface just wouldn't accept the latex ink. I'm pretty disappointed in the quality and how much money it's cost me, and am looking to change to 3M 180c as well.

If you wipe it with ipa, it will accept it. We wiped the whole roll because i needed it and didnt have time to get anything else (and it was for my own van). I think atleast for a year avery have had serious issues with 1005 ea rs and latex printers, and we dont buy it until problems are solved. i have heard that some of the rolls do work and some dont, sometimes it works when the rolls are new , and after month or so it doesn't. Who knows..

 

[Bly]

3M

 

[Donny7833]

Oracal, I've been very happy with the performance, printability and consistency. I'm an Oracal fan, but have tried 3M, Avery, and Arlon. I always come back to Oracal.

 

[neil_se]

If you wipe it with ipa, it will accept it. We wiped the whole roll because i needed it and didnt have time to get anything else (and it was for my own van). I think atleast for a year avery have had serious issues with 1005 ea rs and latex printers, and we dont buy it until problems are solved. i have heard that some of the rolls do work and some dont, sometimes it works when the rolls are new , and after month or so it doesn't. Who knows..

Wow, that's a lot of effort to go through. Luckily I had a 60" roll to swap in and it printed fine. The 3 rolls I sent back were from batches at least 3 months apart which is worrying too.

 

[ol'phart]

Not Even

When you do have a problem with Avery and you will, the difference in price is going to seem minimal. I don't allow Avery material in my shop because I have been there. It took me having to remove and re-install graphics on 30 trucks to learn my lesson. If it's exterior graphics you want then it's 3M you use.

 

[Bly]

If you wipe it with ipa, it will accept it. We wiped the whole roll because i needed it and didnt have time to get anything else (and it was for my own van). I think atleast for a year avery have had serious issues with 1005 ea rs and latex printers, and we dont buy it until problems are solved. i have heard that some of the rolls do work and some dont, sometimes it works when the rolls are new , and after month or so it doesn't. Who knows..

I like the way they claim to have no idea about the issue... every time you return a roll.

 

[jfiscus]

Go ahead and switch now! We wrap 2+ vehicles per day (along with all of our graphics), with in-house installers and sub-contractors. ALL of them will tell ya that Avery is going to fail first. We've tried it in the past on trial basis when Avery would give us rolls trying to get us to switch, and after installing one truck with 3M 180c and the other with Avery's materials you could see lifting and other issues right away. Use the best products you can whenever possible! Re-work costs you a lot more than the price difference.

 

[Jane Diaz]

Absolutely NO Avery in our shop...EVER! We learned our lesson! We got burned bad! We love Oracal and use some 3M also.

 

[heyskull]

We were using 3M IJ180 and have done so with some amazing results but we were offered a stunning deal on some Arlon DPF6000XRP.
We were assured the DPF6000XRP was comparable to 3M IJ180...
Well to be honest it added more than 50% time when wrapping something and to call the Arlon material as positionable was totally misleading.
Also if the material stuck to itself you had a high probability that it could de-laminate!
Do not get me wrong the Arlon DPF6000XRP sticks unbelievably well and I pity the poor mite that has to remove it but in the end I sent the material back to the supplier.
It was a surprise they offered to take it back but the time saved using 3M IJ180 was an un-comparable saving.

SC

 

[MikePatterson]

All we use is Avery wrap film. I have tested 3M and Oracal and the initial tack is brutal. We found with Avery that you MUST heat set after its installed. We have used it for over 5 years and the only comebacks we get are from getting in a hurry and not heat setting it.

 

[Kentucky Wraps]

Really? $100 difference between 3M and Avery is the hangup?
I'm not going to say which is better but I'll detail my working knowledge of them.
•Avery has much lower initial tack than the rest...but the Air egress channeling in it combined with the blue glass plates on the adhesive surface that makes it that way, makes for a lot more pressure needed when installing on big flat surfaces...which kills your hand & squeegee buffers on Box trucks and trailers.
•3M is a little off-white compared to Avery but the liner is wax coated so it tears better.
180-V1 releases easier from the liner and distributes the air better compared to
180-V3 which having the close unidirectional channels, make backer removal more difficult and the air egresses in straight lines...making it harder to get bubbles out.
•Arlon has the brightest white but higher initial tack than both of the above.
•Orajet keeps wanting me to try the latest and greatest formulas...in spite of adhesive failures twice in the past. (Adhesive separating from vinyl) I have a sample kit still waiting for me to print on, laminate and install.
•General Formulations AutoMark is by far the most aggressive adhesive. Perhaps because being calendered and not cast...it needs that to keep it in place over time. But the tack made me want to start throwing, cutting, shooting things and blow stuff up. Maybe I was spoiled with the others.
•MacTac, also calendered and needs lots of post heating apparently. It's the only one I've not used it to wrap with.
I've also not used the Grimco house brand Brite Line.
Politics have been left completely out of this.

 

[neil_se]

I must be doing something wrong, a new roll of Avery MPI1005 and more problems. It's printed fine for the first third of the roll then it just started with problems all of a sudden. They were the least noticeable when I cranked the heat to 120[SUP]o[/SUP]C drying temp 12 pass, but still apparent. Then it just stopped about 5 metres later.