pyrophire

Printing on vinyl with inkjet printer

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So there has been a few discussions on here about printing on vinyl and there have been mixed answers, yes/no/sometimes/if you stand on one leg and rub your head and belly. So here is my post on the subject, hopefully this will clear up some of the questions out there.

I ordered my Epson Workforce 1100 CIS with Pigment Ink a couple days ago, got it in, set it up. Mactac's representative was nice enough to send me a small roll of their JT1958 Printable Vinyl with Permanent Adhesive. Sihl was also nice enough to send over a couple of 8x10's of their Synthetic Polypro Film with EasyTack - 13 mil - matte 3539 and Tornado Outdoor Self Adhesive Vinyl - 12 mil - matte 3175.

Mactac:

Their product came in a nice tight roll, which was impressive but not the best thing for trying to print on the Epson 1100. I had to roll it backwards to try to straighten it and feed it into the printer properly after cutting them into 13x36" strips. It printed cleanly and was dry within seconds of exiting the printer. Being that it was a matte finish, I coated the vinyl with some FrogSpit that I ordered from the SignWarehouse last week. It dried to a satin to semigloss finish, what I was looking for. The vinyl is thick enough to not tear easily and light enough to see the design through with some back lighting.

Sihl:

Now Sihl didnt send a big roll over to test, just a couple of sheets which is good enough to get a feel for their product. First the 3175, this product is similar to mactac's where the face is a matte coating for the inkjet. It printed cleanly and dried quickly but decided to not use FrogSpit on these just because they were tests. I assume the same results the mactac had would be present here. The 3539 vinyl on the other hand is clear and has a pattern to the face, seeing as how it didnt have a matte coating as the 3175 the ink printed oddly and did not dry quickly. Overnight the ink was still not dry and still smears, leading to not being able to use this product for any sticker/banner work without some type of drying system.

Images of products and results are linked within the text.

[uPDATE]

I have been using the Sihl 3988 since running out of the mactac sample material and have been satisfied with it more so than mactac's product. The material is thicker, making it sit flatter and easier to load into this picky printer. The backing is blank so I an stamp my own logo/contact info on each sticker for future business. I was also able to find the Sihl locally and not the mactac, this is the main reason to switch over to this brand, but after trying it, I will definitely be sticking with Sihl 3988.

(Also would like to thank Reece Supply for being able to get me these products the same day or next day for wholesale prices)

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Great post!

Anyone know a distributor for the mactac?

Thank you thank you

Thomas

Laird Plastics - 214-350-3990

Fellers - 888-863-8383

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Great post!

Anyone know a distributor for the mactac?

Thank you thank you

Thomas

Laird Plastics - 214-350-3990

Fellers - 888-863-8383

Huh....not finding it in the fellers catalog......I'll have to call em bout it.

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Great post!

Anyone know a distributor for the mactac?

Thank you thank you

Thomas

Laird Plastics - 214-350-3990

Fellers - 888-863-8383

Huh....not finding it in the fellers catalog......I'll have to call em bout it.

That info is directly from Mactac's Rep, she gave me the numbers

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I wonder if there is any difference between the SIHL 3175 and the SIHL 3988?  They are both Matte so you would think that they would both work the same?  I hope they do, just orderd a roll of the 3988 will post results when i get the printer and vinyl.  If anyone has any insight on either one ot these please let us know.

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Great post.  I was just looking at my Grimco catalog and wondering why I had never seen the Sihl inkjet banner material before.  I'm going to call them and try to get a sample of the 3900 8 mil polypropylene banner material.  3502 and 3960 are two others that are interesting, however, not cheap at all;  $1.22ft2 for 12 mil poly banner (3502).

My catalog doesnt seem to have the 3539.  If it didnt dry overnight, I almost suspect it isn't inkjet friendly.  That shit looks like medical tape, lol.

:thumbsup:

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The mactac was too hard to get my hands on, so now im using the thicker Sihl 3988, easier to load up and not as "curly" off the roll and I can get it locally, tax free :thumbsup:

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Are you using your MH for contour cutting? I want to start doing printed stuff for my race kart but dont want to spend $1000+ on another cutter just to contour cut.

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Guest debogus

There seems to be no shortage of vinyl to print on thanks for all the different manufactures.

Is there a inkjet receptive dacron ? Like insignia cloth ?

Ive been making these as window decals

But then I spotted that scrap of insignia cloth , worked OK for first print

Hair spray serves as the emulsion and standing on one foot seems to have no effect

Dryed in oven until it didnt smudge ,real light coat of krylon after.

4556818740_e6f1ae694e.jpg

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Guest debogus

Made sure it wasn't a fluke  . Half doz of these today 1 1/4 x2 3/4.

Need to put one on the test lab to check weatherabilty,for the intended application that should be minimal.

4559261614_71afaabc76.jpg

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I was talking to the sihl distributor up here and he sold me a roll of 3635 that he claims he sells to all the guys using waterbased inkjets like HP's and Epsons, I havent tried it out yet as my epson 2200 is still on its way but I'll update everyone tomorrow how it turns out.

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Got my printer & the contour cutting issues solved, printed & cut some decals last night & they were completely dry the moment they came out of the printer. no smudging no bleed. The only issue im having is the app tape seems to pull some of the black outlining off the print when removing it.  The guy I got the printer from said he was running matte black cartridges in it (photographer), im wondering if that has anything to do with it??

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Guest debogus

Didn't laminate or protect print?

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Nope, no laminate going to pick some up today, and I dont know what a protect print is lol!

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Try sealing your printouts with a laminate, spray or cold-lam would work good before cutting.

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I picked up a roll of laminate today, gonna play around with it after the baby goes to bed, thanks for the advice Eli

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So Solvent based Sihl vinyl will accept the pigment ink from the epson without smudging?

Paco

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The 3635 Sihl vinyl I got does not smudge and comes out completely dry from the printer, but like I said the app tape pulled some of the black off, and I sprayed some water on it and rubbed it with a sponge and it started to mess up the decal. As the others have said the laminate over it solves all these problems.

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I found out the sihl is for pigment and dye ink.

For my applications 280 um is to thick.

paco

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Booper, what kind of laminate did you go with?

I'm up in the air between an aerosol (FrogJuice, ClearJet) or a roll of laminate material.  Aerosol is cheaper up front, but you obviously don't get as much coverage as you would out of a roll.

Thanks

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I got a 38" roll of 3 mil gloss UV laminate 50 yards long for about 150 bucks Canadian at the same place with the hot secretary  :D

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