High Traffic Floor Graphics

[DesireeM]

Does anyone have tips or recommendations for industrial strength floor graphics?

A client came to us and complained about another company that supplied and installed floor decals for them and that they only lasted a couple of days at the mall where they were installed. Roughly 3ft circular decals. They were apparently printed but not laminated and broke down immediately.

We had a solution for them. We do a lot of floor graphics and have slowly fine tuned our options depending on what the customer needs. Surfaces, traffic, location and the length of time the decals need to last will factor into our plan. We've done hospitals, airports, garages etc...some with tile floors and grout, some with anti-slip needs...

For this customer we printed on a wrap-grade vinyl, contour cut it, then finished with a 5mil polycarbonate pebbled overlaminate. We cut the lam 1/2 an inch past the print to seal the print in. Installed it on a smooth glossy floor area and then we finished the edge with edge sealer on the floor. (sometimes we use a thin strip of 1.3mil lam to do the same thing)

The graphic lasted less than a month. This is Canada in January so there's a lot of dirt and tons of salt on the floors. They are cleaned often and over night I'm told they use one of those large rotary floor cleaning machines.

The customer wants us to replace the decal which is fine but I need something that can withstand all the abuse and still last 6mnth- 1yr.

 

[rjssigns]

If it's a permanent message then make stencils for epoxy floor paint.

Another option would be to forget the floor graphics and get some printed floor mats.

Best option may be a ceiling mounted pico projector with film on the floor. As long as the film is semi-clean you're golden.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

We have had good luck with asphalt art. One sample is on concrete at the entrance to the print room. Been there about 3 months now and still looks pretty good. It is the sport walk version rated for 1 week outdoor. The asphalt art one is rated for 3-12 months. It's not a smooth surface though it has a foil backer and glass beads embedded. It works really well though. Almost positive you can't cut it on a plotter though. They do have a liquid laminate that they recommend for everything.

 

[DesireeM]

We have had good luck with asphalt art. One sample is on concrete at the entrance to the print room. Been there about 3 months now and still looks pretty good. It is the sport walk version rated for 1 week outdoor. The asphalt art one is rated for 3-12 months. It's not a smooth surface though it has a foil backer and glass beads embedded. It works really well though. Almost positive you can't cut it on a plotter though. They do have a liquid laminate that they recommend for everything.

I looked it up and it says that it's not meant for smooth indoor floors. Only if the floor happens to be concrete, brick or stone. I think I'll get a sample though and try it out. You never know.

 

[graphicwarning]

Have you checked on Alumigraphics Grip?

 

[PRS Bryan]

Have you checked on Alumigraphics Grip?

I am currently dealing with a problem with Alumigraphics Grip. The manufacturer and my supplier both said that it was eco-solvent printable, which technically is true. It is printable with eco-solvent ink. They also say that no laminate is required. Unfortunately the Roland eco-solvent inks do not hold up to foot traffic well. Six hours after install the graphic is scratched and faded. The manufacturer sent me a sample that they printed which is holding up significantly better. I suspect they used a different printing method to create their sample, perhaps latex or solvent.

I do not doubt that the material will hold up for the time they quoted, but remember it is not laminated and the inks need to hold up to foot traffic. I will have to farm this one out and hope I break even.

 

[SightLine]

For the long term indoor. 3M IJ40 with 3M 3645. We have had this combo down in some hallways in a school on an Army base going on 4 years. Granted pretty much everyone there is in rubber soled shoes but those hallways floors are also cleaned with a machine floor washer (drive on type) weekly.

Outdoors - the Alumagraphics grip for solvent works great but you need to liquid laminate it. We also have a good bit of that down at the same Army base outdoors around some museum exhibits as well as a bunch of it at major nuclear fuel facility. We always roll (or spray) coat it with a clear coat. Frog Juice works great! The samples they provide are UV printed by the way....

Take solvent print on any material you have and stick it on a floor unprotected and see how well it holds up. Its not going to... you have to protect it in some way. Frog Juice has worked great for us.

 

[fozzie]

We've had good success using mactac pf6315 over lexjet floor vinyl. Have had 4 each 4' x 6' down in a factory corridor for almost 2 years. Approx 3000-4000 employee trips per day on those.

 

[DesireeM]

For the long term indoor. 3M IJ40 with 3M 3645. We have had this combo down in some hallways in a school on an Army base going on 4 years. Granted pretty much everyone there is in rubber soled shoes but those hallways floors are also cleaned with a machine floor washer (drive on type) weekly.

Outdoors - the Alumagraphics grip for solvent works great but you need to liquid laminate it. We also have a good bit of that down at the same Army base outdoors around some museum exhibits as well as a bunch of it at major nuclear fuel facility. We always roll (or spray) coat it with a clear coat. Frog Juice works great! The samples they provide are UV printed by the way....

Take solvent print on any material you have and stick it on a floor unprotected and see how well it holds up. Its not going to... you have to protect it in some way. Frog Juice has worked great for us.

Have you used the Frog Juice indoors? Do you know if it's slippery or not?

 

[SightLine]

Have you used the Frog Juice indoors? Do you know if it's slippery or not?

Not really sure about on a smooth surface. The only floor graphics I've used it on is the alumagraphics grip which has grit embedded into it. The embedded grit in the alumagraphics grip makes it slips resistant and as far as I can tell coating it with the Frog Juice does not negatively impact the slip resistance on that material.

 

[Turnergraphics]

embedded mesh floor graphics

My customer brought in a printed mesh sign sample that he embeds under a clear floor coating. Can anyone suggest a mesh material for embedding floor graphics. I would need to print it UV digital. Would wind banner work?

Turner