Quote:
Originally Posted by muscle_collector
they look nice, my question is, it always seems like reproduction decals seem to fade out alot quicker than the originals. why is this and did you take whatever steps it would be to prevent it??? (if this has already been covered in the thread i apologize as i didnt read the whole thing)
very nice looking display.
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I'm sorry to say but to be honest I don't have a lot of experience on how these hold up since this is a new product and I can't speak for the other products since I don't know how the other products were made. I've been running an early proof nose bird on the back window of my truck since January (pic attached, though not a very good one
). It's been through car washes and the truck is parked outdoors daily and still looks perfect, but I realize 9 months is not a long time and it's mounted vertical and not horizontal which makes a big difference to UV ray capture.
I wonder if they are fading out strictly from sunlight, or from having chemicals put on them during waxing/cleaning/buffing? The reason I ask, is I sold a nose bird to a fellow at the TA Nat's last weekend who said he was cleaning road grime off the front nose with chemicals right before judging and swiped his rag across his bird and wiped the ink right off. He had already pulled the bird off by the time I came over to install the new bird for him so I wasn't able to tell who's product it was.
I can however answer what I did producing these to prevent fading:
- The stripes are screen printed vs. digital printing. This is how they were made originally and is superior to digital printing.
- The inks used are the highest quality outdoor extreme conditions ink. As with most products there are average quality and high quality inks, and I can verify the high quality inks are more expensive as well
- The graphics are clear coated with UV resisting clear after screening.
- The substrate is the highest quality available on the market. The 3M cast clear vinyl is the same product that was used on the originals. There are other less expensive vinyls that are 'calendered' which are not extreme use quality.
- The manufacturer is a high quality shop, ISO 9001:2008 certified. They made these stripes the same way they make graphics for OTR trailers with customers such as Walmart and Forward Air. I think a shop that maintains quality standards, including temperature and humidity and handling requirements will inherently yield a better product.
- Finally, in the application instructions I recommend using only mild detergents for cleaning and avoid ammonia, soap, wax, synthetics and buffing. I'm sure original stripes got some of these products on them over the years which again doesn't explain why the new stripes are different than originals, but at least this care should give the owner the best chance of a long healthy stripe life
I hope this information is helpful.