No installation should take place until media and paint are deemed compatible.
Wall Preparation
Wall must be smooth, clean and completely dry before painting.
- Painting over wet or damp drywall compound will retard paint drying and cause inconsistent graphic adhesion.
- Painting over dusty drywall will impair primer bond to wall surface.
- Minimum drying time of drywall compound must be 24 hours. If several passes of drywall compound have been applied the drying time may be extended.
Paint
Not all latex paints will be compatible with pressure sensitive adhesive and vinyl film should be tested in an inconspicuous area to assure that an adequate bond develops over 24 hours. No installation should take place until media and paint are deemed compatible. Freshly painted walls must dry for the time specified by each paint manufacturer and/or for a minimum of 1 week. Primer should be allowed to dry for a minimum of 3 days.
There is significant negative impact on compatibility when color matching is done to white base paint. In some cases, one can expect to lose more than 50% of the original bond. Paints which fall into the low bond designation may easily lift away or have significant edge release from the painted wall if the graphic is over 20 square feet (1.9 m2).
Special note for wall graphics on schools and healthcare facilities. School districts and health codes usually require that the paints used in these facilities to be latex and water-based. Most of these paints also come with special ingredients that make them stain resistant, anti-blocking, carefree and easy clean. These same ingredients may hinder the adhesive from working properly.
Installation
A. A final cleaning pass prior to painting with a 50% mix of water and IPA will insure that the paint is dust free and ready for graphic installation. Once the cleaning mix has dried (for about 20 minutes) the application may commence.
B. Graphics are to be applied with plastic squeegee or soft rubber roller, being careful to minimize stretch while maximizing pressure.
- Use overlapping squeegee strokes beginning at the center of the sheet and extending completely over the edge to ensure the margins are well attached.
- Margins are frequent sites of failure due to poor initial attachment.
- For multi-panel graphics, an overlap of 1/2 to 1-inch* is recommended to accommodate for any shrinkage that may occur. Butt seaming paneled graphics is not recommended.
* For DPF 8000 an overlap of at 1 1/2" to 2" is recommended
Application tape removal
Where application paper is used, wait as long as practical to remove application paper as it will give the adhesion bond of the graphic time to build to a sufficient level to remain tightly affixed to the primer while the application tape is being tugged away.
Beginning at one vertical edge, remove as much of the tape as will come away easily.
- If application tape is very tightly bonded to the graphic, a light spray with tap water will significantly reduce the bond and allow the application tape to come away easily.
- If a spray bottle isn’t handy, a water-saturated rag will accomplish the same effect.
- After spraying or wiping the application tape with water, remove it within 2 minutes.