decal not sticking on the wall!!!????

[noosh 5]

A question for anyone out there that could help. I sell wall decals online ...that means that I have to rely on the customer to apply them to their wall following my instruction sheet that I send with the order. I have just had a customer...very nicely I must add..tell me that when she had applied the decal to the wall and when she was peeling the application tape off, the letters were coming off as well. She told me that it took a lot of rubbing to get them to adhere to the wall. ..and then to top it off the letters were starting to fall off the wall within 24hrs of application!! She said she never used any cleaning product on the wall before hand just a cloth to clean any dust etc and the wall had only been painted 5 weeks ago .Only last week I applied a worded decal in my daughters room and had no problem!!Sold many of these decals and have not had any problems reported back. I did offer a replacement decal but she said she didnt like the way they are applied  and said 'I was going to do more 'words' on her other wall, but I think I will stick to regular vinyl wall stickers.' Does anyone know what they are?

I use Avery 700series vinyl and transferite application tape.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem may have been. Just worried it was something I have done wrong!!

Thanks in advance!!

[ForestGreen 0]

I'm guessing it was a heavily textured wall. I've had trouble applying decals in the past to walls of that type.

[helpinghand 1]

Textured walls are a bugger but can be done as I have done them here in my office. Suggest they use a tennis ball for textured walls. Also, if the paint is the real glossy paint there may be an issue.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

also from Avery:

Common Applications:

Trucks

Trailers

Cars & Vans

Banners

Architectural Signage

Directional Signage

Trains & light rail

Buses

Outdoor advertising

try using a vinyl like Oracal 631 that is made for wall application

[noosh 5]

thanks for your replies.....I live in australia ...does anyone have any idea who supplies Oracal 631?

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

Not sure in austrailia but in the US almost all vinyl suppliers like signwarehouse have it

[knucklehead 530]

Some newer paints have silicon/teflon in them to combat mildew, and to make them more washable. Since she just painted the walls, it sounds like may be the case. It's tough to get anything to stick to this type of paint, other than another coat of paint. Paintmask, and a small brush maybe?

[MacGrafix 5]

Also, any type of solvent base in the paint would come to the surface during curing.

She really needed to wash the area down.

Had this happen once.  After that, i would wash the area down with a mild detergent, rinse TWICE, dry, then apply.

Worked fine.

It's disheartening when you can't be there with the customer to fix the problem.

That's what scares me about starting a store on Ebay.  I can't be there to help the customer if something goes wrong.

[tlzimmerman 11]

First of all I disagree with the glossy walls comment.....for me the duller the finish the harder they are to stick....full on gloss paints work best.  Sometimes flat can be a pain for me.

Yes...more expensive modern paints have teflon and or silicon in them, I have a nice ralph lauren paint in my living room, with a sand texture in it as well.....its impossible.  I worked for an hour putting up a wall word one day.......biggest pain in the butt, then wake up the next morning and all the letters are on the ground.  Great paint and you ccan scrub it and stuf comes right off, but all words won't work.  I even tried putting 651 and 751 on it for shits and giggles....it did the same thing after 2 days...on the ground.

I always put a disclaimer before people order about flat paints, textured walls, and modern scrubbable or textured paints.  If requested, I send a sample for $1 that I cut out of scraps so customers can test on their own, I just put the word "test" in 1" letters so they can try on their own.  I just mail these in a regular envelope so the $1 covers my expenses.

[MacGrafix 5]

TZ, that is a great idea.

Never thought of that....

[noosh 5]

tlzimmerman, that is a great idea and I will do that my now on...it is disheartening when something I have sold isn't doing its job..ie sticking to the wall!! It is my first problem I have had but still I'd prefer all my customers to be happy!But I just dont have the control of what surface they are putting it on. But I will start offering a sample to customers that are not sure if their surface will hold the decal!

Thanks everyone for taking the time to answer my question!!

[Team Satan 1]

where in Aust noosh?

[noosh 5]

Nsw central coast...gosford area