Application tape for Joe Public

[worthy1]

Hi all,

Tried to do a search but could not find what i was looking for, happy to be pointed to another thread if you know of one...

With vehicle wrapping we dont tend to do stickers that the customer puts on themselves. This means when we do custom decals we have a high tack clear application tape and also a low tack paper one that we choose depending on the application.

We have had a request from a band to cut them custom stickers that they can sell and give out at gigs. Our low tack paper adhesive lifts easy just sitting there and not to mention the look of it over a sticker isnt appealing. The high tack clear looks good but the average joe would have a hard time applying it to anything.

My question is can anyone recomend a application tape that both looks good and is easy to apply? not sure if it is as simple as a meduim tack clear?

Thanks in advance

 

[BobCap]

Stickers

I print stickers for bands all the time. We use Oracal 3640 and print them on our Mutoh VJ1304. We then contour cut them on our Graphtec 8000. Depending on the sixe of the sticker we also sometimes do a light cut on the back of the sticker so they can crack & peel them. Was that too much info?

 

[Fred Weiss]

There really isn't a solid choice with transfer tapes. We used to have a group of decals sitting out for retail which we tried masking with paper and with clear. Either worked fine but what we found was customers could get confused with either.

The clear was the easiest for the customer to appreciate and buy but we would see them on vehicle windows a year or more later where some would apply them and never remove the clear transfer film. The result would be a yellowed, cracked and dried out piece of film covering the decal that couldn't be removed without destroying the decal.

The transfer paper covered decals didn't sell as well because some customers would think that the decal was supposed to look like the colors were muted and wanted brighter colors. In addition, paper tape will dry out and turn hard with long enough exposure to sunlight or fluorescent lights making it impossible to apply.

 

[worthy1]

Thanks for the replies.

These ones will be roughly 10cmx10cm but more of a general question as well. For our wrap business we also have stickers that depending on the car we wrap in the finishing pack we give them is a sticker along with business card, wrap care sheet etc. We leave it up to them to put it on if they wish. The issue is we use our clear app tape and it is very tacky and difficult to remove properly. The paper tape doesnt look great and doesnt always stick to the backing properly (sticks to the decal fine)

Thats an interesting take on it Fred, never thought that the average customer could very well just leave the top clear on, not knowing that it comes off. Mind you have a difficult to remove tape that when they try lifts the decal back up wouldnt help if they did think it would lift.

I guess i just see car decals in a lot of Auto stores, servos, car events etc where they have an application tape that always comes off easy. Always thought that they are prob using a cheap brand, but hey they seem to work well.

Was hoping someone does these types of stickers often and can recommend a type to use that is customer friendly, unfortunately the band will want the clear so it looks more appealing to the customer.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

I'm interested in hearing some recommendations for this also.

 

[Hollidark]

What brand is the clear tape you are using?

 

[worthy1]

What brand is the clear tape you are using?

To be honest, not sure. Its not our main business so when we were getting a bulk load of vinyl for wrapping we asked for some application tape for stickers to. One is a low tack paper tape and the other is a very tacky clear. Bot are unsuitable for customer purchase/install.

After thoughts on application tapes people are usuing that could easily be used by a customer.