Products / Guide
Vinyl decals & stickers: a plain guide
Four questions we get asked constantly, answered properly. If you are trying to decide what to order, start here — it will save you a reprint.
How long do vinyl decals last outdoors?
It depends on the film, and the difference is large. Calendered vinyl — Oracal 651, the shop standard for cut decals — is rated up to six years outdoors. Cast vinyl lasts longer and shrinks less: Oracal 751 is rated up to eight years and 951 up to ten. Full-colour printed stickers are a different case again: the ink is the weak point, so a laminated printed sticker typically holds its colour for two to four years outdoors before it starts to fade, and much longer indoors. Sun exposure is what decides it — a decal on a south-facing window ages faster than the same decal on a shaded door.
What is the difference between a sticker and a decal?
In everyday use people swap the words, but in a sign shop they mean two different processes. A printed sticker has your artwork printed onto white or clear vinyl in full colour and is then cut around the outside — so it can carry photographs, gradients and as many colours as you like. A cut decal has no printing at all: it is cut out of a single colour of vinyl on a plotter, weeded by hand, and applied with transfer tape, so there is no background and the surface behind shows through. If your design is one colour of text or a simple logo, cut vinyl usually looks sharper and lasts longer. If it has more than one colour, print it.
How do I apply a decal without bubbles?
Clean the surface first with isopropyl alcohol rather than a household cleaner — wax and detergent residue is the usual reason a decal lifts later. For small decals use the dry method: peel the backing away, leave the transfer tape on, position it, squeegee firmly from the middle outwards, then peel the tape back on itself at a shallow angle. For anything large or intricate, use the wet method: mix a couple of drops of dish soap into a spray bottle of water, wet both the surface and the adhesive side, and lay the decal down. It will float for a minute, which lets you slide it into position and push the water and air out with a squeegee. Leave it 30 to 45 minutes before removing the transfer tape. Apply above about 10°C — vinyl does not stick well in the cold.
Are they waterproof, and can I get one off again?
Vinyl is waterproof, and a UV laminate over a printed sticker seals the ink against water, sunlight and scuffing — rain and car washes are not a problem. Waterproof is not the same as dishwasher-safe, though: repeated high heat, steam and detergent will eventually lift the edges of most stickers, so treat a dishwasher as a harsher test than the weather. Removing one is straightforward if you are patient. Warm it with a hair dryer, not a heat gun, moving constantly so you soften the adhesive without cooking the paint. Lift a corner with a fingernail or a plastic scraper — never a blade — and peel back slowly at a low angle. Any adhesive left behind comes off with a surface-safe adhesive remover and a microfiber cloth.
Not sure what size?
Sizing has its own page — what size should your decal be? — with the working rules for car windows, laptops, storefronts and bumpers.
Still not sure?
Configure what you think you want — the price updates as you go, and when you upload your artwork we check it and show you the decal at actual size before you pay. If it will not work we tell you then, not after.
See the products or email info@signs613.com and describe what you are after.
Where these figures come from
Durability ratings are the film manufacturers' own published figures for Oracal 651, 751 and 951. Application and removal methods are standard trade practice. We have not invented a number on this page.