Do stickers need to be laminated?

[bernina]

Do decals need to be laminated?

Hello,

Do stickers (promotional) need to be laminated using ecosolvent inks?

Edited title:

we only do decals, stickers are for kids...

 

[omgsideburns]

Only if you want them to last longer?

If they are for a customer, I'd say yeah.. People tend to expect stickers to last forever and a day.

 

[CanuckSigns]

technically no, the inks will hold up for a few years without lamination, but it's a good practice to laminate, if only to make them thicker and easier to apply

 

[edgette]

Depends. Most of that type of print I don't laminate. The main reason being is to keep the cost down for the customer. Price seems to be the more important factor with promo goods.

 

[tsgstl]

What he said ^^

We lam certain decals, mostly ones that will get rubbed against, hard hat decals whatnot. Or decals that will go through heavy washing or see chemicals

 

[ucmj22]

...stickers? Is this Edna?

 

[rjssigns]

Only lam when requested after explaining options to client. Promotional items are just that and lam makes them too expensive in most situations.

 

[VinylCutter]

We are making decals , print-cut stickers for about a year now and one day i register on signs101 and suddenly come to know about lamination.

We use eco-solvent inks. Do these also need lamination?

And if i am only cutting a design, white colored, on a 3164, how long should it last widout lamination? Outdoor. Rain/35-40 degree celsius.

 

[TresL]

I lam 99% of all our decals. Cost a few cents more, but MUCH happier customers in the long run.

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

Stickers no - Decals yes

 

[TresL]

we only do decals, stickers are for kids...

 

[rydods]

We laminate just about everything. For decals or stickers, if youre going to put transfer tape over them laminate instead. It makes the prints look better in most cases, non laminated prints scratch easier and the obvious...they last longer and are easier to apply. Here's a challenge, do a 24" x 24" full bleed print and try to apply it to a substrate without lam. Even with transfer tape it sucks!

 

[bernina]

Sorry for the confusion using "sticker" instead of "decal". That happens when someone knows a basic english.

Thank you all for the replies, I will lam then. The question is:

- Hot or cold lamination?
- Monomeric or polymeric vinyl?

 

[rydods]

Hot will avoid "silvering" small hardly noticable air pockets but Cold is just fine. Cheaper machine than a hot. The air goes away anyway.

 

[S'N'S]

we only do decals, stickers are for kids...

Stickers here, decals is an American thing. OP's from Spain so maybe they use the term sticker too.

 

[Cale Frederick]

Here's a challenge, do a 24" x 24" full bleed print and try to apply it to a substrate without lam. Even with transfer tape it sucks!

It's not bad unless you are trying to mount it straight off the printer. We make all of our foam core and corrugated products this way. Just let them dry about an hour. This past week we did two 4x8 full bleed prints on ultra board with no lam.

To the topic though... Some decals we laminate and others we do not. The best thing to do is educate the customer and charge accordingly. I found an awesome vinyl for unlaminated decals to! It is from lexjet. Simple adhesive 5mil semi-matte vinyl. It rocks for decals, but not much else... The thickness makes it easy to apply even without lam. I still see some from about 2years ago that look about the same as the day we made them.

 

[TresL]

stickers vs. decals is just a saying I have here to help customers understand cost differences.