Looking for a good laminate suggestion.

[303DC]

Hi All! I do most of my printed graphics on IJ35C, and I used to use 3M 8508 overlam, but that is leaving very bad silvering issues. My vendor agreed to take the roll back from me, but nothing has compared to the clarity of my cast overlaminates such as Avery 1360.

That said, Avery 1360 is crystal clear, but obviously twice as expensive. My vendor mentioned Arlon 3420 to me which is much more affordable for products like stickers, but I want something that is going to look like glass laid over the graphic. Am I basically stuck with something like the Avery wrap overlam if I want it that clear?

FWIW, I have a non-heat assist laminator, but I laminate in a room with good heat control around 70 degrees consistently.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ThatGuy]

We had the same issue with 8508 but the silver will disappear quickly once in the sun for a short time. Or you can use a heat gun to eliminate it before the customer sees it.

We switched to mostly using 8509 which is the same but with a luster finish instead of gloss. No issues and the colors even look better

 

[ProColorGraphics]

Switch to the 2755 vinyl and 3150 gloss laminate from Substance Media!! I was using IJ35C as well. The Substance is so much better and lasts longer!! And cheaper!! I believe they will send you out a sample roll to try it out. Call them up and ask for Matt.

 

[303DC]

We had the same issue with 8508 but the silver will disappear quickly once in the sun for a short time. Or you can use a heat gun to eliminate it before the customer sees it.

We switched to mostly using 8509 which is the same but with a luster finish instead of gloss. No issues and the colors even look better

Right on, thanks. I actually did try heat, and it didn't help. Very possible I just had a bad roll. It did go away a little bit after 48 hours, but it's still very noticeable. I'll give a luster finish a shot. Thanks!

Switch to the 2755 vinyl and 3150 gloss laminate from Substance Media!! I was using IJ35C as well. The Substance is so much better and lasts longer!! And cheaper!! I believe they will send you out a sample roll to try it out. Call them up and ask for Matt.

I just sent them an email. Thanks!

 

[303DC]

Oraguard 210 gloss is our go-to here, has worked well for us.

We've tried Avery DOL 2060 as well and it's similar, but mostly stick to 210.

Thank you! How does that stuff look when applied on a cold laminator?

 

[303DC]

We use heat assist on ours, but it's definitely not terrible without heat. I've seen the crap you're talking about on 3M laminates and it's usually surface flaws that make it look lousy. We run into to it with every other roll of 8519 and have had 2 separate 3M guys look at it. One pretended he had never heard of it and another said "oh yeah it's just due to the manufacturing process and the rolls get tensioned too tightly and leave surface impressions". Mmmmhmm.

With all other manufacturers, you will usually get a bit of silvering between the laminate and the media (unlike 3M where it's usually "mottled" on the top of the laminate) but it does go away over time. If you're ever in a pinch and NEED to get rid of it, some careful heat from a torch will do the trick. Just don't get carried away (there is a fine line between clearing up the silvering and melting the lam) and it will go away.

For sure. I'm very familiar with the torch thanks to wrapping, but I've only tried the heat gun to help with the silvering (which didn't help at all on this roll). Thanks for the feedback, I do appreciate it. I'll give the Oraguard a shot!