DIY Vinyl or Waterslide Decal

[atr62]

Hi Everyone,

I would like to know the pros and cons between DIY vinyl and waterslide decals. What vinyl film and printers members are using.

Thank you,

Angelo

 

[jhein]

Angelo:
I use this: https://papilio.com/white_waterproof_glossy_adhesive_vinyl.html with my inkjet printer. I am quite happy with the results so long as you are ok that vinyl is thicker than decal

The company also does sample packs. I highly recommend those.

have fun!
Jim

 

[FatBoy]

For vinyl I use either Greenstar or Oracle outdoor vinyl that I cut on a Cameo Silhouette.

For waterslide I print on clear or white (depending on the design) waterslide decal paper on an Epson inkjet then spray light coats of UV Resistant Klylon clear before I dip them in water.

 

[Funkworks]

... For waterslide I print on clear or white (depending on the design) waterslide decal paper on an Epson inkjet ...

I tried that but I had streaks in the result. What decal paper do you use and what printer?

 

[FatBoy]

I tried that but I had streaks in the result. What decal paper do you use and what printer?

I have used decal paper from beldecal.com, from decalpaper.com and from Amazon. My printer is just a cheapy Epson inkjet. Did you seal the paper with a clear coat after you printed before it got wet?

 

[Funkworks]

I got decal paper from eBay and also used a cheap Epson printer. When printing 0.25" wide red, blue and white stripes, there were streaks in the colors, so I never even bothered to apply them on a rocket. Project on standby ever since.

 

[Bill Heath]

I got decal paper from eBay and also used a cheap Epson printer. When printing 0.25" wide red, blue and white stripes, there were streaks in the colors, so I never even bothered to apply them on a rocket. Project on standby ever since.

Have you tried changing your print quality settings? That fixed the issue for me. I use a cheap HP and paper from Amazon.

 

[Back_at_it]

I scan all of the waterslide decals then put them in a folder for future reference then recreate everything in vinyl. I prefer 651 Vinyl from Oracal. The benefits are that you have complete freedom over colors, sizing and design. Lets face it, a lot of manufactures out there don't put a ton of thought into their decals designs. If you want to reproduce a specific multi color graphic, you will first need to print it then cut it. For this I have a Canon TR8520 printer and a Cricut Maker cutter.

 

[neil_w]

I scan all of the waterslide decals then put them in a folder for future reference then recreate everything in vinyl. I prefer 651 Vinyl from Oracal. The benefits are that you have complete freedom over colors, sizing and design. Lets face it, a lot of manufactures out there don't put a ton of thought into their decals designs. If you want to reproduce a specific multi color graphic, you will first need to print it then cut it. For this I have a Canon TR8520 printer and a Cricut Maker cutter.

Are you able to get very accurate alignment between the printed image and the cutter?

 

[Back_at_it]

As long as the decal has a hard line yes. Decals that fade out sometimes don't cut correctly.