rusty

I have a customer that wants red reflective vinyl for his car window. Has anybody used this before? I see that Oracal has a reflective series (5000), and was thinking of using this. Any reviews or suggestions?

Thanks,
Rusty

 

Reply With Quote

jberte

i've used a ton of reflective over the years! it cuts better with a 60-degree blade, but can be accomplished with a standard 45 with some extra pressure and slowing your speed. do test cuts til you get a good result! weed carefully - it tears easily and because of the reflective 'sandwich' you'll always see any little 'oops'

it's sometimes not fond of pulling off the backing...if that happens pull the backing away from the vinyl and tape instead of the vinyl off the backing. a higher tack tape works a little better, but if what you have is med tack, it can still be done.

the biggest tip i can give anybody dealing with reflective is.........don't put it directly on the surface! it's a nightmare to ever get it off cleanly! cut a shadow image of regular vinyl - probably black since it's going on his vehicle window - and lay it down first then the reflective over it. you won't really see the regular vinyl (unless of course the customer wants a visible outline, then use the color of their choice...) and you'll save yourself and/or your customer a ton of time and frustration when it's time to remove it!

good luck!

oh! oracal reflective is fine for the use you're intending. the only one i would absolutely, positively NOT recommend to anybody for any use whatsoever is avery.

 

Reply With Quote

g1ant

Quote: Originally Posted by jberte the biggest tip i can give anybody dealing with reflective is.........don't put it directly on the surface! it's a nightmare to ever get it off cleanly! cut a shadow image of regular vinyl - probably black since it's going on his vehicle window - and lay it down first then the reflective over it. you won't really see the regular vinyl (unless of course the customer wants a visible outline, then use the color of their choice...) and you'll save yourself and/or your customer a ton of time and frustration when it's time to remove it!

Excellent bit of advice. Thanks for that.

 

Reply With Quote

rusty

Thanks for the comments. What about pricing this type of vinyl. I have my pricing down for regular vinyl, but this is a lot more expensive. My regular vinyl is about $2 a yard. This stuff is about $15 a yard. How do you take into account the price of the vinyl?

 

Reply With Quote

jberte

i just use a pricing formula per square foot (or square inch if it's decal-sized stuff) of material consumed, based on the cost of the material - and then start adding if it's a PITA layout that will take longer than average to cut/weed/apply and design time, if any, is always added too.

 

Reply With Quote