Cold weather and applying vinyl don’t mix

We just wanted to remind everyone that spring isn’t quite here yet and when you get your vinyl order that goes on a window or outdoor surface you really shouldn’t install it if that surface is below 60 degrees.  Great examples of this are applying vinyl to a window in the northern part of the US.  You will find that the adhesive never properly binds to the surface in these conditions.  The result will be your lettering could come off prematurely. 

It may be tempting to take a heat gun to glass during the winter time to remove lettering or heat up the surface for application.  **CAUTION** DON’T, just like taking a warm glass and filling it with cold water will cause it to crack the same thing happens with a window!  Odds are you will crack it and make for a bad day.  Our advice, wait for a nice sunny day, even though the outside temperature may be low the surface temperature of the glass will likely be much higher than the ambient temperature, if this is the case you can probably apply your lettering without worry.

How to choose the right grade of vinyl, cast or calendared

A hot topic is what vinyl is best and why is it better than another kind? In this article we’re going to discuss some various types of vinyl what type you should be looking for when purchasing vinyl.

What is it for?

When you are looking for vinyl lettering consider what you’re actually going to use it for.  Mainly things to consider is if the lettering will be exposed outdoors, on a vehicle, inside a window, on drywall, or any other special surface. 

If you’re  planning on placing your lettering on a wall a good candidate is a removable class vinyl such as Oracal 631.  It is important that you don’t damage the paint on the dry wall while removing the lettering down the road.  Although it is removable it is still very durable for indoor use.  Another notable difference is the finish of the vinyl.  631 is a matte finish, just like matte paint or canvas it is very dull and not shiny.  This is mainly because of the glare that can be induced from being stuck indoors.

Another popular place to put lettering is on a window.  Things to consider when placing vinyl lettering on a window is will it be on the inside our outside?  If on the inside make sure you have it reverse cut when produced.  Since lettering on the outside of a window like on a business storefront of glass door or similar will be exposed to the weather it is important to choose a class of vinyl that has an appropriate lifespan.  High end vinyls have an 8-10 year lifespan sustained outdoors while low end vinyl can be 3-5 years.  Now we all know how those numbers are, you could get much more or much less out of this depending on the conditions.  A window can be especially harsh though since the suns UV rays are one of the main contributing factors to vinyl degradation including shrinking, cracking, and peeling.  So moral of the story for windows if you’re looking to only get a few years out of your vinyl you can safely purchase a economy cast grade vinyl.  Warning sales pitch: Here at Custom-Vinyl-Lettering.net all we sell is high grade 8 year Oracal 751 premium vinyl so you don’t have to worry about how long your letters will last on a window.

Vehicle lettering really is one the most effective and cheapest ways you can get your word out.  Time after time we see the results of poor quality vinyl on vehicles.  When you get vehicle lettering make sure you are getting the good stuff.  Vehicles time over again are extremely harsh on lettering.  As the rain water drips and runs down the side of the vehicle chemicals and dirt eat away at the edges attacking the adhesive ultimately leading to failure and degrading.  This is where premium cast vinyl is different from calendared.  Peeling, cracking, and more can result from the wrong type of vinyl for the job.  Another advantage of premium cast vinyl is the exceptional ability to handle things such as rivets and compound curves. 

Finally, for the boat owners you are in a similar boat (no pun intended) to the people looking for vehicle lettering.  Similar elements along with exposure to water and even salt water in some cases.  This is where a cast vinyl is superior.  It will last longer, stay brighter, and not peel, crack or fade on your boat.  Everybody knows that cracked a faded lettering on a boat look terrible.

Cast vs. Calendared

You’ve seen us use the buzz word used in this article several times.  Cast and Calendared vinyl represent two different manufacturing processes of making vinyl by the sheet.  In general cast vinyl is superior to calendared

• Vinyl is unstressed during the manufacturing process meaning it does not have the chemical tendency to shrink back to it’s original size
• Cast is significantly more durable due to the UV resistance
• Cast is produced thinner than calendared making it easier to conform around corners and rivets most notably

As most often with anything cost is the driving factor to most people’s purchase.  If you find someone that is able to drastically cut another ones price consider if they are using cast or calendared vinyl.  Based on the paragraphs above if you see you need cast vinyl and they are selling calendared then you may reconsider the purchase.  The reason for the cost difference is that calendared vinyl is on the area of 1/2 the cost of cast.