Woodgrain Wrap

[WYLDGFI]

Arlon is a really good material...very printer friendly on our latex machines. We have used certain makes of it for a number of projects. As a wholesaler, clients aren't very friendly to Arlon unless it's for certain things. 3M & Avery have the name recognition that our clients want. Getting back to this boat transom, I would trust either of the 2 for the job. Woodgrain is fun for a boat wrap especially the transom....there are so many things that can make it look more interesting and even little tweaks just to have some fun.

 

[Patentagosse]

I hate when customer comes in and ask for 3M like if 3M was the only premium material they'll never get in their entire life. Sure it's good stuff (most of the time...) but they are not alone on top shelf. Most of the time they just have been brainwashed by someone else. In my shop I use the most appropriate film for the job I have to do so I have some rolls of most major manufacturers and it's not really based on prices... but it matters somewhere at the end. I don't pay for the name.

 

[rjssigns]

You never have to convince a customer that 3M is a quality product.

Ask those clients requesting 3M why they believe it's a superior material. Every last one will tell you because they heard it was better. Umm...okay.
3M is good material just not worth the price in my opinion.

 

[Patentagosse]

I'll give you an example, not to bash against 3M nor anyone who love 'em
I do few stainless tankers every years for a client so I decided to try their SLS which claim to be especially made for this surface. Got a 10yds and printed 2 sets of decals (with 8518 gloss laminate). 5 years later when I compare the regular 180 with the SLS, and also those I made with Oracal 3951GRA/290G or Avery 1105EZ/1060Z, it's all identical. Few nicks due to high pressure washing, lost of like 15-20% of gloss, printed colors remain the same but variations from tank to tank is more a profiling issue (I'm probably the only one to notice it, client never complain 'bout it). The one I'll be doing next week will be printed on Oracal 3751GPS/290G and I'm confident it will stand the test of time as other did. I use few 3M products for specific reasons or simply because this roll doesn't cost more than competition's (i.e. IJ39 HiTack). I've tried Arlon equivalent after the salesrep pushed me to use it claiming it was the same as IJ39... NOT. 3M's is more dimensionnaly stable. Arlon's shrinked badly (more than 1/16" on edge) and the adhesive is all over the heated plate on plotter. Real mess to clean and manipulate. Price-wise they were pretty pretty close so no way I'm gonna buy this shit again.
For some colors in plotter vinyls, the 3M is the choice even if it cost more but my inventory is mostly Oracal's 751 serie (8 years cast), few KPMF, few Avery.

I do a lot of semis, never had comebacks (so rarely and anyway mostly due to abuse at weekly cleaning with 3000psi hot water...).