Vehicle Wrap Care and Maintenance (Commercial Fleets)

Vehicle Wrap Care and Maintenance (Commercial Fleets)

Wrapping your commercial vehicle is one of the most effective forms of outdoor advertising. To protect that investment and maintain a strong brand impression, follow the care and storage guidelines below.

Cleaning and Care

Hand-washing is the preferred method for wrapped vehicles. Use a soft cloth or sponge with a nonabrasive cleaner to avoid scratching the vinyl or lifting edges. Rinse thoroughly after each wash to remove all soap residue.

If pressure washing is necessary due to vehicle size, use the lowest effective setting (generally 800 psi). Hold the nozzle 14 inches from the surface, keep the spray at a 45-degree angle, and use a steady sweeping motion. Do not pressure wash over loose edges, seams, or any areas that appear to be lifting.

With proper care, a vinyl wrap typically lasts 5-7 years on a lightly used vehicle. Because the wrap represents your business around the clock and helps protect the vehicles original paint, routine cleaning and prompt attention to minor issues can significantly extend its appearance and service life.

Storage

UV exposure can shorten the life of a vehicle wrap. Whenever possible, park in shaded areas or under covered parking to protect the graphics from sun and weather. Prolonged exposure can cause fading, cracking, or edge lift and may reduce the wraps lifespan by 3-4 years.

https://www.indyautographics.com/2023/02/10/3-types-of-wrap-damage-to-watch-for/

When to Contact Your Installer

If you notice imperfections such as lifting edges, bubbles, or peeling on a newly wrapped vehicle, contact your installer as soon as possible. Many issues can be corrected when addressed early; waiting may allow dirt and moisture to spread under the film, increasing the likelihood of permanent damage and more extensive repairs.

How is Offset Ink Manufactured?

How is Offset Ink Manufactured?

Ever been curious about the steps that go into making offset printing inks? Here we will go over the multitude of steps needed to make the vibrant colorful ink we use here during the printing process:

Step 1: A carrier oil, usually an ecofriendly soy bean based oil, is heated up to reduce viscosity and help thin the oil for processing. Refined pigments are then added and blended together to help disperse the pigments throughout evenly.

powdered ultramarine pigment

Step 2: This warm mixture is next diverted and runs through a bead mill. This is a process whereby small metal balls and the oil are tumbled inside a cylinder. This helps reduce the size of the pigments further and ensure that all the pigments are incorporated. While the pigments are ground even finer than before, this is still considered a rough grind at this point.

Step 3: The ink is now transferred to a 3-roller mill. This machine consists of several large steel rollers that run in opposite directions against one another at extremely tight tolerances. This further reduces the pigment particles down to their final and smallest size to help provide the best and most even coverage. It also helps ensure total and complete mixing.

Step 4: After the 3-roller process the ink now undergoes several quality checks. These are designed to verify that the pigments have all been ground down sufficiently and are evenly dispersed. If they are not the ink is put back into the 3-roller mill and further processed until testing confirms it meets quality standards needed.

Step 5: Once quality control agrees the semi-processed ink meets quality standards it moves back to the mixers. Here it gets various binders and modifiers that transform it from a simple pigment and oil mix into a proper ink suitable for offset use.

Step 6: Additional quality control checks occur again. Now that all the ingredients have been added testing must be done to confirm various physical traits show the proper values. Here they would be testing things like the ink tack value or opacity of the inks against expected performance values.

Step 7: The ink is routed back into the 3-roller mill. This ensures sufficient mixing and helps remove any trapped air from the mixing process that might affect final performance.

Step 8: The completed ink is now packaged and sent out for use on your printed pieces. These can range from smaller 5lb tins commonly used in printshops or pumped into 55-gallon drums for larger printing runs at large shops.

As you can see there are a multitude of steps required to manufacture a high quality ink for use in printing. Here at Cascade Print Media we use only the best inks matched to the needs of your jobs to ensure a quality piece we can be proud of.