how to prevent fading with solvent on polyester cloth (neschen versa)?

[stevenjowens]

We're printing streetlight banners for a local municipality, 36" wide by 42" high with pole pockets (sleeves) at the top and bottom.

We're using a mimaki jv3-160sp solvent printer.

The plan is to print on Neschen Pure Color Versa treated poylester (7.1oz), printing each side on a separate layer and sewing them together.

The municipality board seems really nervous about sun fading. I guess the previous banners (also on cloth, I don't know what kind) faded quickly.

The vinyl prints we've done have resisted fading pretty well, but we don't have a lot of experience with cloth, other than fine art prints, which clearly don't hang out in the sun and weather year-round.

With vinyl and related products (wall and vehicle wraps) the manufacturer strongly recommends laminating to resist fading. Clearly we can't do that with cloth. Are there any other ways to reduce sun fading? Some of the art customers talk about using some sort of spray-on coating.

 

[P Wagner]

Light fastness is primarily the responsibility of the ink, specifically the colorant used. Solvent inks almost always use pigment based colorants, and they tend to resist breakdown caused by UV exposure for some number of years in most cases. Dye sublimation on the other hand, uses dyes which break down relatively quickly when hit with a lot of UV light.

A bigger problem may be the fact that the fabric that you are using is coated, to allow the solvent ink to adhere to the polyester fabric. This type of coating can be prone to abrasion in finishing (trimming and sewing) and while being handled and installed. The other issue is that the color gamut that you are likely to be able to achieve on fabric using solvent ink will likely be a bit limited when compared to SAV and PVC banner medias.

 

[ShinySignage]

We're printing streetlight banners for a local municipality, 36" wide by 42" high with pole pockets (sleeves) at the top and bottom.

We're using a mimaki jv3-160sp solvent printer.

The plan is to print on Neschen Pure Color Versa treated poylester (7.1oz), printing each side on a separate layer and sewing them together.

The municipality board seems really nervous about sun fading. I guess the previous banners (also on cloth, I don't know what kind) faded quickly.

The vinyl prints we've done have resisted fading pretty well, but we don't have a lot of experience with cloth, other than fine art prints, which clearly don't hang out in the sun and weather year-round.

With vinyl and related products (wall and vehicle wraps) the manufacturer strongly recommends laminating to resist fading. Clearly we can't do that with cloth. Are there any other ways to reduce sun fading? Some of the art customers talk about using some sort of spray-on coating.

Have no idea. Maybe try the laminating way.

 

[stevenjowens]

Just an update on this.

We ended up going with Sunbrella Vivitex for the material, based on some threads here and some suggestions from people.

We gave the prints a good solid 24-48 hour curing time before taking them to the canvas shop to be sewn. There has been zero problems with abrasion.

The colors look a tad less bright than on regular vinyl, but still look fantastic.

Despite all that, I'm still a little paranoid about lack of protection.

Recently a client with an unlaminated (by his choice) window perf job that's 2 years old contacted me to say that when he washed the windows with water and dawn dish soap, they faded significantly.

Also, spots that had bird crap on them were affected even worse. Then again, I suspect those spots had been on the windows for a very long time.

One vendor I spoke to suggested taking a test print and spraying it with Krylon Clear.

 

[2B]

What sort of life span are you looking for from these pole banners?

we use 18oz block out banner material with a UV ink imprint and get many compliments for the color vibrancy years after installation.

 

[stevenjowens]

I'm hoping for several years, at least 3 and hopefully more.

I don't expect them to take a ton of abuse, they're about 15' up in the air on the streetlights. Still...

 

[bob]

Whatever media you end up using, give it a coat of Clear Shield. It's every bit as much UV protection as vinyl laminate, deepens colors, flexible such that you really have no idea that it's there, and mildly abrasion resistant. Every banner that leaves this shop is coated with Clear Shield Original Formula. Some of these banners have been up for years and still look just fine.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Whatever media you end up using, give it a coat of Clear Shield. It's every bit as much UV protection as vinyl laminate, deepens colors, flexible such that you really have no idea that it's there, and mildly abrasion resistant. Every banner that leaves this shop is coated with Clear Shield Original Formula. Some of these banners have been up for years and still look just fine.

+1 for a spray on UV. With a fabric banner you won't even notice there is a shield over it.

 

[stevenjowens]

Whatever media you end up using, give it a coat of Clear Shield. It's every bit as much UV protection as vinyl laminate, deepens colors, flexible such that you really have no idea that it's there, and mildly abrasion resistant. Every banner that leaves this shop is coated with Clear Shield Original Formula. Some of these banners have been up for years and still look just fine.

Thanks. Am I correct in assuming you're talking about Marabu Clear Shield?

How do you recommend applying, brush, roller, spray?

 

[stevenjowens]

Thanks. Am I correct in assuming you're talking about Marabu Clear Shield?

How do you recommend applying, brush, roller, spray?

Do, now I see you mentioned spray. Thanks.

 

[bob]

Thanks. Am I correct in assuming you're talking about Marabu Clear Shield?

How do you recommend applying, brush, roller, spray?

Marabu Clear Shield? The stuff I'm talking about is, or at least was, made by an outfit called 'Clear Star'. Perhaps they changed their name. At any rate, Clear Shield is a water soluble liquid laminate available at sign supply houses everywhere.

After thinning it until it's the consistency of whole milk, I just mop it on with a foam brush. I've applied it other ways, spraying , rolling, etc. but the foam brush works orders of magnitude better for me than any other method. Your mileage may vary.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Krylon has UV Clear Shield thats what we use normally, if we need a spray on UV

 

[BigfishDM]

I wouldn't recommend that fabric for that application, you should use a heavy banner like 15-18oz. Banner is going to give you a better image compared to fabric with that printer.