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A few window application questions...

SUPALOSDOG

New Member
I have to apply some vinyl on a store front window... I recently bought my plotter and some ORACLE 651.... do I need to seal the edges... does a window cleaner's squeegee hurt the vinyl...? what else should I consider...

I am going to clean the window with isopropyl alcohol...

thanks a bunch..
 

WVB

New Member
do I need to seal the edges... does a window cleaner's squeegee hurt the vinyl...?

No because #1 651 is a cal vinyl which will shrink over time... You should really use 751 or a cast film. However, I have used 651 due to cost with clients and the decals still look great..!

The squeegee will depend on the cut vinyl design. If there are really sharp/pointed edges such as on tribal/fire etc., it is possible. However, for the most part they should be fine...
 

grafxxx

New Member
No because #1 651 is a cal vinyl which will shrink over time... You should really use 751 or a cast film. However, I have used 651 due to cost with clients and the decals still look great..!
i agree i have only used 651 or a calendered vinyl on windows or doors and 3 years later it's still looks good.
 

Techman

New Member
clean with rapid prep first, ITs better for winders,, then swab with rapid tac or rapid tac II..

Some additives to window cleaners are not cut with alcohol..
 

Timothy Davis

New Member
clean with rapid prep first, ITs better for winders,, then swab with rapid tac or rapid tac II..

Some additives to window cleaners are not cut with alcohol..

It is when you use 91% alcohol. You might have to look around but we have had good luck finding it at CVS.
 

SUPALOSDOG

New Member
customer called and said it looks great!

I attempted my first window application and it went downhill when I applied a large piece of logo. Bubbles like crazy and I freaked out.. I thought, " how could it be the end of my vinyl career already, I just started!". so I freaked out and looked for help and found out about wet application.. tried it out at home on my windows and it worked. Smooth as, well smooth as vinyl should be... thanks to that dude who posted the help! now on to another project.
 

Craig Sjoquist

New Member
...I clean all windows with ...Bon-Ami ...only cost about $2 or less lasts for hundreds and hundreds of windows ...clean all waxes, silacons, light dirt, stains, etc. perfectly and easy with little effort

13 folds
 

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Wet vs. dry is roughly the equivalent of the sheepmen vs. the cattlemen. Do whatever gets you off. Dry inherently is the more secure method. With dry, when it's down it's down. With wet when it's down it's just sitting there until everything drys.

As far as window washers and squeegees, if you leave any sharp points and corners, even a 90 degree corner, that's where a squeegee will tend to snag the vinyl and start it to lift.

There's sound physics behind this phenomenon. When vinyl con\me to a sharp corner, outside corner for the more pedantic, there is necessarily a point where the vinyl is thicker that it is wide and there or thereabouts is where the minuscule amount of adhesive is incapable of holding the vinyl to the substrate.

On windows, vehicle doors, and most any other place where people might be squeegeeing, toweling, rubbing, etc. I fillet all outer corners to maybe a .01-.02 radius. There's various techniques for doing this depending on just what kind of software and object with which you're dealing. If you don't do it then you're just getting away with it and one day it will bite you.
 

Jillbeans

New Member
Bon-Ami is by far the greatest window cleaner ever, although I have only used the cakes. They are as rare as hen's teeth anymore.
Makes the window squeaky clean. You kinda make a paste with it, smear it on, then buff it off with a soft cloth.

I also clean with Windex or Rapid Tac. I have heard of people cleaning windows with vinegar and newspaper but that sounds too much like work.

I iuse Oracal 651 on windows almost exclusively...it is thicker and more "rigid" than HP vynull. I try to apply it dry whenever possible, but when I must apply wet I use Rapid Tac 2...works great.

I have never edge-sealed a window job.
You will occasionally get a nick here or there but I just tell the client to not use a squeegee window cleaner.
Love.....jill
 

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Would someone be so kind as to explain the technique for cleaning a window with a bar of soap. I assume that Bon Ami is some sort of soap or soap-like substance.

I've always used a mixture of lacquer thinner, water, and sometimes a bit of alcohol.
 

Jillbeans

New Member
There are still 6 bars at my hardware store.
Bob...you take a wet rag, and rub it onto the cake of Bon-Ami until you get a paste-like lather. Smear in onto the window and let dry to a haze.
Then buff it off with a soft cloth, perhaps an old worn-out dish rag or t-shirt.
Repeat if needed.
Love....jill
 

signage

New Member
I use Bonami powder all the time. Don't remember seeing it in cakes. Jill does that hardware happen to be H. P. Star?
 
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