Laminate for single vision

[Ginocol]

What's the best laminate for single vision/contravision vinyl and does anyone recommend a liquid laminate?

 

[MikePro]

not a fan of sheet laminating perforated vinyl, but if you do I highly recommend an optically clear overlaminate.
sheet lam adds foginess to the "view-through" and typically results in imperfect appearance on the image-side, due to the airgap between surface and the clear lam through the perf holes.

ClearShield liquid lam works like a charm, just takes a little extra "table time" having to roll it on with a foam roller and allow to lay&dry, but its worth the effort & ultimately saves time on the final application as perf applies 5x faster than sheet bubble-free.

 

[Geneva Olson]

not a fan of sheet laminating perforated vinyl, but if you do I highly recommend an optically clear overlaminate.
sheet lam adds foginess to the "view-through" and typically results in imperfect appearance on the image-side, due to the airgap between surface and the clear lam through the perf holes.

ClearShield liquid lam works like a charm, just takes a little extra "table time" having to roll it on with a foam roller and allow to lay&dry, but its worth the effort & ultimately saves time on the final application as perf applies 5x faster than sheet bubble-free.

hey, how many coats of liquid lam do you need? i did it for a vape shop and you could see the streaks from the liquid lam. we ended up printing the whole thing over again and not laminating.

 

[MikePro]

its all in the roll. same as painting a wall.
if you just try to breeze-thru and wet everything, you'll see the lines where you rolled
but I will usually try to wet my whole ~4'x8' section with an even roll, and then go back over it all over again with a clean or semi-coated roller to blend the lines before it dries.

you don't want to use a LOT, and risk filling the holes with liquidlam. its really just a damp application, followed by a blending.

....it also helps that i'm 6'4", so I'm able to easily span the whole thing & make sure I'm wearing a clean/dust-free T-shirt while doing it.
I really want to get a liquid laminator someday, but our perf projects are so few&far between that its never really made fiscal sense to invest in the equipment.

 

[Geneva Olson]

its all in the roll. same as painting a wall.
if you just try to breeze-thru and wet everything, you'll see the lines where you rolled
but I will usually try to wet my whole ~4'x8' section with an even roll, and then go back over it all over again with a clean or semi-coated roller to blend the lines before it dries.

you don't want to use a LOT, and risk filling the holes with liquidlam. its really just a damp application, followed by a blending.

....it also helps that i'm 6'4", so I'm able to easily span the whole thing & make sure I'm wearing a clean/dust-free T-shirt while doing it.
I really want to get a liquid laminator someday, but our perf projects are so few&far between that its never really made fiscal sense to invest in the equipment.

i've got a 6'4" installer. he is the one who did the liquid lam but I'm 100% sure we didn't do it right. when they got it up on the window you could see the streaks. so I'll have to practice with my stuff first.

 

[kevhanano]

Depends on the application:
Vehicle window(s) - use manufacturer matching optically clear laminate.
Building or office exterior - spray lam (One shot clear) or manufacturer matching optically clear laminate.
Applying laminated perforated film requires a light squeegee pressure to not force the laminate into the holes and adhere to the glass.
That's what causes the blurriness. You'll know if you pressed too hard it'll be obvious.