Sign vinyl was my brilliant solution to poor paint results. The problem is, that although I applied it quite slowly and rubbed as I went along (my side panel interior to start with), I ended up with a bubbly horrible mess. Hair dryer, plastic and wood over it did nothing.

This is the sticky backed stuff. Does anybody have any ideas before I toss another grand idea (and $100 worth of vinyl) in the bin with all the others - like building a car.

I might not be talking about the same stuff , But when we apply sticky vinly at work we use a 2% mix of washing up liquid and water in a spray bottle and wet the surface first , apply the vinyl and squgie out the soapy water and the bubbles and let to dry. the good thing about it is you can move the vinly around to get it in the right position befor you squgie out the water mix.

Cheers

Vaughan

rubbing the bubbles didn't do anything, except to move them around. I didn't try the wet application though. I'll try a smaller area and do it wet tomorrow. Thanks!

I think you might have trouble getting it around compound curves also.It dont stretch to well.

did you buy regular vinyl?, or the stuff designed fro wrapping vehicles

as said 1-2% washing up liquid in water helps, how good/smooth is the surface you are fitting it to?

you can remove some bubbles by pricking them with a pin in the middles to allow the air to escape

some vides on Here have a look at the VWS ones, you may pick up some tips

hth
Ray

[Edited on 24/4/08 by rayward]

I'm afraid you have to be skilled to put vinyl on dry (i.e. every day).
As the other guy said, spray water with a tiny bit of soap or meths in the mix.
Use a soft squeegee not hard (to prevent scratches) any bubbles left will be filled with water will evaporate within a day or two.
If your planning to go round curves, a cast vinyl should be used (applied dry)...
this is were u ask your local sign/graphics person for some help!

pour some hot water (cup off tea hot not boiling) over it and pop the bubbles with a new pin.

The heat will make the bubbles expand, soften the plastic and when it cools the remaining air will shrink. Takes a bit of practice to apply that stuff but it's easy really.

As above Rich, it's best to apply with a water/small amount of soap mix and then squeegee out the larger bubbles. You just "work" it out to the nearest edge gently. Even doing it this way takes a little practise before you get perfect at it, but you can get pretty good results if you are patient!

Trying to move the bubbles around when applied dry, as you did, will have absolutely no effect...

HTH
Steve

Here's a pic of a car that I've put vinyl on:




[Edited on 24/4/08 by worX]

that's your graphics?? ^^^^ , bit pants isn’t it, looks more like some duct tape

What skippad failed to say is that he is that skilled man. Worth trying his advice - based on a little bit of experience.

Also oioi has a good vinyl wrap on his car. Been on a while too so must have been a quality job. Worth asking him.

No it's the vinyl "MESH LOOK" hundreds of individually applied stickers to look like expanded mesh
Steve

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr Whippy
that's your graphics?? ^^^^ , bit pants isn’t it, looks more like some duct tape

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