Acrylic Decals and Adhesive

[Scott Weinstein]

Hello All!

I have a customer that wants a decent quantity of 1/8" thick acrylic decals to stick to cars. The decals are about 3" x 3".

The catch is that they want them with the adhesive backing so they can just peel and stick. My question is if anyone has any ideas/source/methods for the correct adhesive?

I called 3M and they recommended a product that only comes in 2"x12" strips. Im thinking it will be a little time consuming and expensive to cover 4 4'x8' sheets with these strips!

If anyone has any ideas im all ears! I don't want to sell them the wrong adhesive that could either fall off easily, or damage the car if removed.

Thanks in advance!

Scott

[Martin Boekers]

Hello All!

If anyone has any ideas im all ears! I don't want to sell them the wrong adhesive that could either fall off easily, or damage the car if removed.

Thanks in advance!

Scott


They are asking for pretty much to make sure it's durable and will not damage the vehicle when removed.

If you take on this project I highly recommend that you have them sign off on your responsabilty for any
damage. The last thing you need is those coming back years later demanding a new paint job.

You said these are .125" thick and come in 4x8 foot sheets. How are you doing this? That's pretty big
material to handle. Are you cutting it down first? I'm sort of confused on the decal portion. Are you applying
decals to the sheets, having them screen printed or some other process? If so they can probably order a
double sided adhesive and laminate it to the acrylic first. The place where you by acrylic from may also do
that for you.

Liability issues would worry me though.

Good luck with this!

[Scott Weinstein]

Basically think of it like a "Jesus fish" design. Those decals are all over. I would basically be making something similar.

Laminating the entire sheet is what I had in mind, it is the adhesive I need to figure out. The plan is to laminate, vector cut out the design, then you are left with a vector cut decal with an adhesive backing leaving the customer to just peal and stick.

We run a 6'x10' bed so full sheets are not the problem!

[Martin Boekers]

We run a 6'x10' bed so full sheets are not the problem!

That's bigger than the bed I sleep in! :eek:

A couple other companies that make "laminating adhesives" are MacTac & Coda. You
may call them to see if they have something that will work, and if they do, they
probably can recommend a local graphics house that could handle that portion for you.

Rolls that size aren't cheap that's why I suggest you get a service shop to laminate
just what you need.

You may find a good contact with a graphic house that can use your services also.

I worked in Trade Show Graphics industry for over 25 years we used all sorts of
laminating films through the years.

Hope this helps a bit.

Marty

[Conrad Fiore]

Find out the product number from 3M and contact a converter to see if it's available in logs. It may be that it is only available to the general consumer in those small strips.

[Larry Bratton]

This is just a suggestion so take it or leave it. There is a product that I have used in the past for vehicle signs. It is called Phototex. What makes it work well for this purpose is that it has a removable/replaceable adhesive. It holds up good outside. It is a fabric type material and it can he adhered to your acrylic with a spray on adhesive like 3m Super 77. It comes in rolls up to 60" wide x 100' and costs .89 per sq ft. It's a neat product and I use it for all kinds of things. You can buy it from Lexjet http://www.lexjet.com/p-3009-Photo-Tex-PSA-Fabric-Aqueous-Printers.aspx

[Dan Hintz]

You're just finding all kinds of uses for that PhotoTex, aren't you, Larry ;)

[Mike Null]

Johnson Plastics will apply the adhesive to full sheets for you.

[Glenn Corser]

I have made a number of Texas, UT related car emblems and use this stuff to stick them on http://www.dickblick.com/products/grafix-double-tack-mounting-film/ . I have one mounted on my truck that has been there for 5 years. It will not hurt the paint and you can pop one off if you need to. Just make sure the mounting area is completely clean.

[Larry Bratton]

You're just finding all kinds of uses for that PhotoTex, aren't you, Larry ;)
Hey, the stuff is a great product. If I didn't like it I wouldn't recommend it. I have good success with it.