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Customer Instructions - DIY Vinyl install.

HulkSmash

New Member
I found these set on instructions on a website. Pretty helpful to give to customers. You can design it up and put it on your own "letter head" and give it to your customers with their vinyl to install.

Hope this helps..


Instructions:

For proper adherence, all surfaces should be considered as dirty and should therefore be cleaned prior to any vinyl application. Household surface cleaners, such as Windex, are acceptable; however, we recommend a 2-to-1 mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol. After thorough washing, wipe the surface dry with a clean, dry, lint-free cloth.
Air and surface temperature must be above 55 degrees Fahrenheit for the application of the vinyl. Apply the vinyl using the following steps:
(Note: It is recommended that a novice installer have a helper present on the following steps. It is not a requirement however it will help insure a quality installation.)
Measure and mark the area you wish to apply your vinyl using a water-soluble pencil. Water soluble pencils are available on our accessory pages. Precision marking will help assure a level application. Once you have the overall area defined and marked, you should have a good idea as to where the upper right and left corners of the decal should be placed. At this time, take your decal (paper and all) and tape the right upper corner of it to your predetermined area. Have your assistant hold the upper left corner of the decal in place while you stand back a few feet and look at it. If you like it's placement, move on to step 2.
Tape the left corner in place and put a piece of tape down the center of the decal. At this time, using your water-soluble pencil, place a mark on the right and left side of the decal. Make sure you mark both the tape and the surface you are mounting the decal to. You will be aligning these two marks later, so be sure you can see them clearly.
On the Left side of the decal, hold the paper and peel off the tape until you reach the center of the decal. (The decal should stay stuck to the application tape at this time) Cut the paper as close to the center as you can, without scratching your surface.
Spray the surface on the left side with water or application fluid (we recommend the application fluid) Note: do not spray water or application fluid when using reflective vinyl. Reflective vinyl should be applied on a dry surface. Place the left side of the decal down on the surface, taking care to line up the lines you drew in step 2. With the application tape still intact, squeegee the decal to the surface by applying pressure with smooth even strokes. Start at the middle of the decal and work your way out to the left. Note: Before you squeegee, make sure there are no wrinkles in the decal or application tape.
Lift up the right hand side of the decal and remove the remainder of the backing paper. (It is ok to lift up the piece of center tape at this time). Apply application fluid to the right hand surface. Place the right hand decal taking care to align your marks on the right hand side. Again, start at the middle and squeegee toward the right hand side of the decal. Note: Before you squeegee make sure there are no wrinkles in the decal or application tape.
It is a good Idea to wait just a couple of minutes before you remove the application tape. This allows the application fluid to begin drying and will prevent the decal from trying to come up. Once it is adhered to the surface, squeegee the entire decal a second time. Then carefully peel the tape off the entire decal.
It is common for there to be some small bubbles throughout the decal. These bubbles will leave by themselves within a few weeks. If you have any major, bubbles you can eliminate them by carefully heating the area with a hair dryer or heat gun, then puncturing them with a needle and applying pressure with your thumb. Note: You can do more damage than good by chasing the smaller bubbles. They will leave themselves as the vinyl breathes and the application fluid evaporates.
 

XENTRIX

New Member
That's a LOT of information! Thank you for that. I was looking for something quick to print off for a customer in waiting. I just wonder does the average person read anymore or do they prefer directions such as Ikea's?
Anyway, very helpful! :u rock:
 
I made this to give to customers that don't want to pay for installations. More than half the time they screw it up and come back to reorder AND pay for installation.
 

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FireSprint.com

Trade Only Screen & Digital Sign Printing
I would say that prepping the surface is something your instructions should have more clarity on. If they wrinkle to vinyl, or tear it, it's not hard to understand that was their fault. But if they apply it smooth, and it falls off a few days later, or starts to peel, you'll have a harder time convicting them that it's not necessarily the adhesive's fault.

Here's info from 3M on wall prep and testing. Same concept for other surfaces too:
 

truckgraphics

New Member
I always heard that Windex was bad for vinyl adhesive, so never use it except on glass, where it cleans very well as claimed.

Maybe that's an old wives tale, but I have stuck with it.
 

Stacey K

I like making signs
Mine is almost the same as Abraxas. Bullet points and photos are always best, people don't have long attention spans. Also, a video on your website with a QR code would be perfect...I always planned to do that LOL
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
send them a link to the hundreds of vinyl application videos on youtube. customers understand a video much better and there are lots of good videos available
Oh yeah, that'll go over just great. Ya know, anytime someone here is told to look something up, they get fed up and irritated instantly and then read the poster the riot act. Yep, that's the ticket. :banghead:
 

BigNate

New Member
Victor, good idea! and you can always include a link or two about the perils of vaccinating your kids too!
 
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Gino

Premium Subscriber
If you were shipping hundreds of orders per day, I tend to think you'd be a little tired to be on here with your other nonsense, let alone doing anything, unless you have a few dozen people working there.
 

victor bogdanov

Active Member
If you were shipping hundreds of orders per day, I tend to think you'd be a little tired to be on here with your other nonsense, let alone doing anything, unless you have a few dozen people working there.
A lot of the orders are under $50 decals sold on Amazon, Etsy etc. 5 people, 4 printers, 4 cutters and now a flatbed are keeping up. Summer is slower so I can get all the printing/cutting done in 4-5 hours now. Rest of the time spent online and adding new designs.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
You design, rip, print, cut, weed, laminate, package, label and invoice 100's of little decals a day with 4 people ?? I could see 100 or maybe even 200....... but 100's ?? Do you have any dialog with the end user ??
 

victor bogdanov

Active Member
You design, rip, print, cut, weed, laminate, package, label and invoice 100's of little decals a day with 4 people ?? I could see 100 or maybe even 200....... but 100's ?? Do you have any dialog with the end user ??

Most of the products are predesigned, people go on Amazon and purchase them, some we ship directly, some are fulfilled by Amazon, some are through Amazon vendor account where the item shows "sold by Amazon" . I have about 500 designs now and top sellers are made in batches. Most orders do not require any interaction with the customer. Maybe 30 emails per day with questions, customizations etc.

12 years in business slowly adding volume so the workload is manageable and everyone knows their task very well.

If you google "tree decal" "wall decal" etc you'll see a couple of my products in the top search results
 
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