Vinyl

Vinyl

Postby pamhaney » November 18th, 2015, 4:02 pm

What type of vinyl would be best to use on rain boots? Also, where is the best place to get it and transfer tape. Are there different kinds/ better brands that I should look for?
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Re: Vinyl

Postby MeFlick » November 18th, 2015, 5:30 pm

Hi Pam and Welcome. While I have cut and used a lot of different types of vinyl on different applications, I have not tried to put any on rain boots. I have seen one discussion on using vinyl on rain boots. There was a user who had put it on some for her grandchildren and it was not sticking. There were different things discussed. First, the general consensus was you need to clean the rain boots with rubbing alcohol or white vinegar or something to remove any oils/residues that might be on the boots and keep the vinyl from sticking. Second, you will want to use a high quality outdoor rated vinyl. Do not use regular indoor "wall" vinyl. You probably will not be able to use HTV vinyl (heat transfer vinyl) as the "rubber" of the rain boot will most likely melt while trying to adhere it to the boot. Most of the Cricut and Silhouette vinyl is going to be "indoor" or "wall vinyl". This is typically an Oracal 631 It will probably not work very well. You want an "outdoor" rated vinyl. One reason being is that the "flex" of the boot will cause more "give" and the wall type vinyl does not have much adhesion to it so that it can be easily removed. Oracal 651 or 751 or 951 are highly rated outdoor vinyl. The numbers are for different periods of time that they are rated for being used outdoors plus they are more "uv" resistant. The adhesive used on them are different then what is used for "indoor" or "wall" vinyl. Also note that most outdoor vinyl tends to be sold as a "gloss" color versus a "matte" color. There are other brands similar to Oracal that some sites sell. I cannot recommend any of those as I have not used anything but Oracal myself. Oracl vinyl is a brand of Orafol. you can find out more information about each one on their home site here: http://www.orafol.com/gp/americas/en/pr ... l-products - there you can see its ratings for outdoor longevity, etc.

"Where" is the best place to buy it will get you lots of answers. It really depends on several things. First, many places sell it in "quantity" based on a roll versus a "sheet" of it. If you are only wanting a "sheet" then you may need to try different sources. I usually buy my vinyl more in "bulk" and have used USCutters, H&H Sign Supply, Sign Warehouse, and more. The cost at those sites as well as shipping can vary - some offer free shipping but require a pretty hefty purchase. I just checked and Amazon also has some that can be bought in smaller quantities/sheets. Couple of which are Amazon Prime so if you have that you would not have to pay shipping.

As far as transfer tape - most places that sell the vinyl will also sell transfer tape. See this guide to transfer tape from Sign Warehouse's website:https://www.signwarehouse.com/blog/beginners-guide-to-application-tape-for-103012/. Some people prefer the "paper" style tape, others prefer the "clear" kind. It really depends upon what you are transferring - the bigger the transfer, the easier with the clear transfer tape in my opinion. So, transferring to rain boots would really not be a "huge" transfer and either should work as long as it works with the vinyl that you are using.

I have done a google search more than once on applying vinyl to rain boots and there really isn't much available information out there that I have found. Some have recommended cutting a stencil out of vinyl and using a Krylon paint for outdoor/plastic use rather than vinyl its self. None of the sites that I found where people talked about putting them on their rain boots tell what type of vinyl they are using and never come back and update how well they are staying on their boots unfortunately! Well I did find one that said they used "premium vinyl" rated for outdoor use but didn't say more then that. Hope that helps you in some way.
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