Question What Reflective Vinyls have you used other than High Intensity Prismatic?

[Barry Jenicek]

I posted a topic entitled “Cutting 3M – 3939 High Intensity Prismatic Reflective” and received some really good feedback from those who answered my question. Thank you for your input and expertise.

I have spoken with my 3M Rep and when I told him I was going to be using a font with thick and thin stroke widths, he said I would more than likely have trouble with the Thin Strokes. He is going to me sending me a few samples of the High Intensity Prismatic so I can run a few tests.

So, while I am waiting for that to happen, I have another question...

For those of you who have used some type of Reflective Vinyl other than HIP...

What product did you use and how satisfied were you with the Reflectivity?

What say you?

 

[ikarasu]

For cutting easily... Use 3m 3290. It's thin like regular vinyl. Not as bright as 3930... But it all depends on your application. Real estate signs and stuff we print on 3290 and have zero problems.


3430 - 3290 - 3930 - 4080. All are white 3M vinyla in terms of pricing / reflectivity. We use and cut all of them. Again... Depends on what your using it for. If your cutting a sign for a company... 3290 is easiest and will work. More expensive than 3430... But cheaper than 3930.


If you want really bright.... 4090 is great. But really hard to cut.

If your using thin stroked text... Your only option is likely 3290. Oracal, Avery, and nikalite have equivllants That's work also.

 

[jfiscus]

I hate that stuff. Anywhere you cut it you have to edge seal it and it is a pain to cut. Even if you do seal it it still seems to go bad after a couple years. I really really like the Oracal V98 reflective sheeting. Much easier to cut and install. My 3M rep told me that they have a new product about to debut (he is trying to get me a sample currently) that will help them compete with the V98.

 

[ProColorGraphics]

I get the printable stuff form Nikkalite and it has worked awesome!! They also just came out with an air egress version and it was like half the cost of everyone else.

 

[Kaitlin Boisvert]

I use Oralite 5600 Fleet Engineering Grade Reflective for printing and 5300 Commercial Grade for my regular cutting. They both plot and weed great and have good reflection.

 

[ikarasu]

I hate that stuff. Anywhere you cut it you have to edge seal it and it is a pain to cut. Even if you do seal it it still seems to go bad after a couple years. I really really like the Oracal V98 reflective sheeting. Much easier to cut and install. My 3M rep told me that they have a new product about to debut (he is trying to get me a sample currently) that will help them compete with the V98.

You don't need to edge seal it... There are reflective beads in it, and cutting into them causes you to lose some refectivity on the edges unless you cut it with a hot knife that'll seal the beads in, but when using a drag knife there is no need. We have 3M come in every year and watch / test us on applying substrates, cutting the letters, screen printing / etc to make sure we do things according to their guidelines.


We've done thousands upon thousands of highway signs, 3M gives a 12 year warranty on it... The only time we've had to replace a sign was when their 7930 deglued from.the sign - 3M had issues with the glue and recalled the whole product line.


But we have some 3430 (street blades) that have been up 10-15 years and still look good. We have a bunch of HI signs we cut for the gas company that have been up for 10 years too. Aside from looking pretty dirty, they all last quite a long time. 3Ms traffic substrates are built like a tank. They should last upwards of 20+ years.

 

[ikarasu]

I get the printable stuff form Nikkalite and it has worked awesome!! They also just came out with an air egress version and it was like half the cost of everyone else.

Have you tried their air egress version? I'll be ordering a roll soon. I love nikalite... The one caveat with them is none of their products seem to be removable. It's so thin that it rips anytime we try to lift it to reposition it.. I can't imagine trying to remove a whole vehicle wrapped in it. I'm hoping the bubble free stuff is a bit better in them regards.

 

[MikePro]

i used to use oralite 5600 a LOT, great price point and lights up like you'd expect a reflective sign to. HIP/diamondgrade/etc. stuff is nice, and brighter...yes, but I believe it is overkill how everyone demands it for spec. even though it is not a highway sign.
however, oralite sent me a series of extremely yellowed rolls and I lost my interest. I'm back to using 3M 5100 for my general reflective vinyl.