We've been using it on perf for ~6 years without a complaint (so far), but I absolutely *hate* how hard it is to get it to release from the liner.
What alternate products can you recommend? I'd rather relegate 8518 back to laminating 180C and nothing else.
Optically clear looks way better. You can get away with 8518... But the difference really is night and day. Most of the people who still use 8518 haven't used optically clear before, so they don't realize / know the difference. 8518 is cheaper... So if your customers don't complain, you could keep using it. It's not like it's going to cause a failure, it's just not the best solution.
We try to stick with same brands for media, just for warranty purposes - we have some clients who spec 3m and only ,3m, so we have some 3m optically clear. We don't use it much though, so I'm not 100% sure on the number.
We (our installers) prefer Avery perf and lam, so that's what we use most of the time . We usually use the 1560 I Believe. And on occasion we have had the 4000 series in. I'll double check both when I get into the shop. We don't do too much perf, so I'm not ordering it enough to remember what it is. I usually shoot off an email to our supplier and ask for Avery perf/clear and they know what we want.
And I didn't mean to sound snarky, some people use 8518 and Im sure it's fine. It's all the customer preference... Optically clear costs more, so you obviously charge more for it. It does make a huge difference in see through-ness though, I suggest everyone who hasn't tried optically clear to ask for a sample... Most places will give you a few ft. You can do a 12" patch with, and without perf on a window and take a look through .
We had a client need a window done in a rush, and we ran out of optical. We had to use 8518...we told the client we didn't have the right material, and we'd use it as a temp measure and they could come back anytime and we would replace it free of charge. That's how much we believe optically clear makes a difference.
Plus... Who knows, next time your customer gets into an accident, in this day and age they could sue you for not using optically clear claiming the AC identify was your fault, because they couldn't properly see out of their back window when reversing .
