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Sticker Printing
Sorry for the double post wasn't sure were to stick this.. I'm an apparel printer of 8 years and I'm now adding sticker printing to my services. I have the drying the rack, vac press, ink and so forth now all need a supplier for vinyl sticker sheets. If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be rad. Any product recomendations , thickness ect. would help. These will be for bands and stuck all over the place so I'm assuming permenent adheasive backed.
Thanks in advance!
www.endlessinkprinting.com
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good luck man... it's a long road ahead.
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I would say start here. Check it out to see if they have a list of distributors
FLEXcon - WINDOWdeco
-loco
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Under the search on the Flexcon website I typed in "Vinyl Sheets" and all this popped up
Website Search
-loco
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what type of ink are you using?
there are a few types of vinyl that you can get that will take water-based ink perfectly. here is a link to one:
3988 Self-Adhesive WF 280 - 36" x 65ft - Matte - Sign Supplies and Equipment
its meant for ink-jet media printing, but it takes both water-based (speedball, etc), and the ol' housepaint like a champ. no washing out, no scratching off, its pretty great. its a little thicker than normal vinyl and matte finish, so its a bit different, but it sticks like any other vinyl sticker.
another option that i've heard and actually have an order for is this ink:
Gloss Vinyl Ink
apparently it'll apply/adhere to regular sign vinyl (which i happen to have 3 or 4 dozen rolls of). i will know more when it arrives. if it works, though, it'll make your media MUCH cheaper. for example: ORACAL 651 Intermediate Cal Vinyl 15" x 10 Yard Roll (Punched)
you can see that the vinyl itself, with this option, is much cheaper than the ink-jet vinyl option. tons of color options as well.
other than that the best way to do it is to get into solvent based inks, which look and hold up great, but the fumes alone would drive me up the wall.
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freezemink, be careful: you say that solvent-based fumes will drive you up the wall, but you also say that you have gloss vinyl inks on the way. the gloss vinyl stuff is solvent based and it is waaaaaaaaaaaaay crazier than a multi-purpose solvent ink, harsh stuff. i print in a warehouse, and if i run my gloss vinyl stuff friday night, the other renters compain monday morning about the smell.
it's really great for printing on black stock so long as you add 5%+ flattening powder to it.
order a respirator.
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oh damn. i didn't realize that it was solvent based. well shit, there goes that idea. my girlfriend will put a stop to that as soon as i open the container.
i should probably call them back and rip them a new asshole, as the reason i ordered it is because they recommended that because i didn't want to get into all the crazy solvent ink issues.
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that's brutal. the ink has a very strong, kinda rubbery smell. maybe like a crazy asthma puffer?
it should have tipped you off that it needs its own cleaner, not water clean-up, but still, they shouldn't have told you to buy it. if only there was a waterbased ink for pvc and vinyl.
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well i didn't ask outright, which is my fault. i assumed it was more like plastisol which uses more than just water for cleanup. we'll see what happens when it shows up.
