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Wall Wraps- Shrinking, Curling

Cody Cruea

Cody Cruea

New Member
I have been using Arlon wall wrap material with an oragaurd 210 matt lam for my indoor wall wrap installations.

I used the same material for my own indoor, and I am seeing that with all of my wall wraps there is a thin line of adhesive between each of my overlaps from the vinyl shrinking in to place. It happens with all of my wraps.

I have let my prints curate overnight and let them dry from anywhere between 24 hrs and 3 days. All of my prints do the same shrinkage and most are curling at the top.

I am aware that I haven't been cleaning the walls properly, so that answers the curling. The shrinkage tho I can't seem to figure out. I do my prints on a quality setting (prints slower with a proper drying rate for it). And possibly using a different lam could be the case.

I've been playing with other brands of wall wrap materials, and arlon is my favorite so far. But this shrinkage is causing a problem for my already existing wraps.

Any advice?
 
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Dan360

New Member
All calendared materials will shrink a bit. I think phototex, being fabric based, is not subject to this. We mainly use Avery 2611 and 3M 40c.
 
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signman315

Signmaker
I’m not familiar with Arlon but it should definitely be paired with the corresponding Arlon laminate instead of Oraguard. But I’m very familiar with Oraguard 210 and that does shrink quite a bit...educate yourself on calendared vs cast vinyl, 210 is calendared and will shrink. If the adhesion of the vinyl isn’t aggressive/adhered enough to hold it in place when it shrinks then you will get curling.
 
Cody Cruea

Cody Cruea

New Member
signman315 said:
I’m not familiar with Arlon but it should definitely be paired with the corresponding Arlon laminate instead of Oraguard. But I’m very familiar with Oraguard 210 and that does shrink quite a bit...educate yourself on calendared vs cast vinyl, 210 is calendared and will shrink. If the adhesion of the vinyl isn’t aggressive/adhered enough to hold it in place when it shrinks then you will get curling.
Click to expand...


I am aware of the calendar and the cast material.
Calendar is like rolled out piece of dough that has been stretched out and will eventually shrink in to place.
Cast is more like a poured pancake that is a liquid form that retains it's shape.

If the lam is calendar, and it shrinks, wouldn't it separate from the print material?
 
Cody Cruea

Cody Cruea

New Member
Dan360 said:
All calendared materials will shrink a bit. I think phototex, being fabric based, is not subject to this. We mainly use Avery 2611 and 3M 40c.
Click to expand...

I've been playing with other wall wrap materials, The phototex is my next best for this reason. Are those two you suggested fabric? What lam would you suggest with it?
 
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Dan360

New Member
Cody Cruea said:
If the lam is calendar, and it shrinks, wouldn't it separate from the print material?
Click to expand...

It's possible for them to separate but not likely on a wall graphic. The bond between the lam and print vinyl is much greater than the bond between the vinyl and the wall, so if they shrink at different rates then you'll get the curling at the edges.

Those 2 aren't fabric, I do like phototex when I've installed supplied graphics, we don't use it ourselves. When in doubt we use IJ180.

3M 8510 laminate is what we use for the 3M and Avery.
 
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signman315

Signmaker
Cody Cruea said:
I am aware of the calendar and the cast material.
Calendar is like rolled out piece of dough that has been stretched out and will eventually shrink in to place.
Cast is more like a poured pancake that is a liquid form that retains it's shape.

If the lam is calendar, and it shrinks, wouldn't it separate from the print material?
Click to expand...
As Dan mentioned the lam is bonded to the substrate and it will just curl it off the wall when it shrinks...answer is use adhesive fabric with no lam, cast/cast vinyl lam combo, OR high tack vinyl with calendar lam...high tack is only an option if it’s permanent, it damages the wall upon removal...
 
petepaz

petepaz

New Member
base vinyl and the lam are shrinking at different rate so you can get edge curling or the lam will just shrink and leave a gap at the edge of the graphic/vinyl which dirt will stick to.
(anywhere from 1/16 to 1/8 gap maybe more depending on the material)
 
BigfishDM

BigfishDM

Merchant Member
Using traditional wallpaper and paste will do the job in almost all situations also. Me personally, I love the materials like what was mentioned above, just my own brand though lol. Adhesive fabrics are so easy to install its amazing!
 
d fleming

d fleming

Premium Subscriber
BigfishDM said:
Using traditional wallpaper and paste will do the job in almost all situations also. Me personally, I love the materials like what was mentioned above, just my own brand though lol. Adhesive fabrics are so easy to install its amazing!
Click to expand...
Not all murals are forever. Wallpaper is good for permanent.
 
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Skye

New Member
We are wrapping counters at auto dealerships with phototex goes on great however is wearing and scuffs easily I am printing uv inks . Any suggestions for liquid lamiantion?
 
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