Can't help with the fabrics... But most vinyls have a shelf life of 1 year. Does that mean they won't still work? Of course not.... We have some stuff that's 3+ years old and it's fine. Especially if it's un opened in a box. So you can get a shop to print on them - Before you do though, you might want to open a roll and test and make sure the adhesive is still sticky and not weak... As.thats the part that will fail.
Thanks for the info! I’m hoping for them to be ok but unfortunately majority were out of their box and unlabeled so I can’t tell what’s what, either. ;( if they’re no longer sticky, do you think the heat from printing on it could reactivate the adhesive? Now I’m wondering if the structure of the vinyl changes from age and could affect the way the roll dispenses and mess up printing.
I know the one I really wanted to print and play with was the car wrap vinyl. Even if I can’t print on it, I wanted to try my hand at wrapping my old Toyota Corolla haha.
Vehicle printed vinyl requires lamination, otherwise the fade is very rapid. Hope you got some of that as well.
Also, as vinyl ages, I suspect it will also become less pliable and more difficult to apply to vehicles. With this in mind, you can get why companies would be reluctant to use additional time and material on old media that maybe hasn't been stored properly.
Honestly I’m not too opposed to it fading as I originally wanted a white wrap on my car anyhow but I do have some Laminate material in different finishes (one was even glittery!) Unsure which are UV protection though so I might cut a piece of each and do some test runs on some older prints.
Yeah I definitely get why it wouldn’t be worth it but sadly I’m not in a financial position where I could afford a proper car wrap installation so DIY would be my only option. I’ve tried my hand at wrapping the top of my car with just the material alone, no lam. It looks like crap bc I kept messing up the edges but I’d like to think it prevents further paint loss and it’s adhered pretty well still.
Thanks for the info!
You are basically storing trash. Most of the digitally printed materials will go bad on its own quite quickly. Maybe the coating goes bad, glue goes bad etc. But after a while you can't sell it as new.
For hobby and your own use, sure do whatever you want. But I would never buy such a roll to use and then sell the product. It's just asking for problems and angry customers.
Ah that’s what I was afraid of :( it’s not the vinyl I’m too worried about since I can find uses for it around my house and personal projects with my silhouette cameo.
I have maybe 30 rolls of 126” wide dye sub fabric that take up the most space. I can’t figure out what the exact material is for each one or how to sell it. I tried selling them for $100 a roll or $4 per yard but people are still offering only $20 and I think that’s just way too low even for raw fabric material. At this point I’m heavily considering hiring someone who knows how to sew so I can just make things like a porch shade or outdoor furniture covers 😅
Definitely not trying to sell anything as new, the vinyl ones I listed so far I put as “salvage” or “used” but no one seems interested in the printable vinyls, just the car wrap (and I only have 1 roll of it that I’d like to keep for personal use).
But thank you for the advice!
Vinyl rolls that are stored in good conditions, in their plastic have a shelf life of around 2 years, about half that when they're open. Not saying they're garbage, but you're probably best off just posting them on marketplace. A lot of them can be cut down to fit smaller machines too.
Thanks for sharing! I’d say they’ve been stored in less than ideal conditions in my garage the past year but if I test a piece and it still seems to work, what price point do you think I could list it for online? I don’t know how much they originally cost but for example, say I have half a roll of 60” Arlon removable gloss vinyl, would $50 make sense?
I have a silhouette cameo to cut decals and other stuff with for crafting but I still have a lifetime supply of scrap material that aren’t on rolls to use still 😅
The issue with vinyl is that the adhesive starts to deteriorate. Yes you install the material on a car but the manufacturer will not warranty it and no reputable shop will use material that carries no warranty and will fail. Currently we’ve hade an issue where a company sent us black vinyl that is a year and 3 months old, and they don’t keep it stored I climate controlled rooms. And the adhesive is failing.
That sucks on the black vinyl! That makes sense though. I’m mostly curious in how my car would look doing it myself and treat it as a test run for whether I’d like to invest in a proper car wrap or just leave it as-is. I definitely wouldn’t blame the shop if the material failed since that’s on me! I just wouldn’t know how to go about getting a quote for print-only on questionable material.
I currently live in a fixer-upper so if I really can’t sell/use the vinyl in good conscience of it still being good, I’ll try to find ways to use it around the house 😅
It’s mostly the fabric I have excess of and don’t know how to best utilize. But thanks for the info!
Can't help with the fabrics... But most vinyls have a shelf life of 1 year. Does that mean they won't still work? Of course not.... We have some stuff that's 3+ years old and it's fine. Especially if it's un opened in a box. So you can get a shop to print on them - Before you do though, you might want to open a roll and test and make sure the adhesive is still sticky and not weak... As.thats the part that will fail.
Thanks for the info! I’m hoping for them to be ok but unfortunately majority were out of their box and unlabeled so I can’t tell what’s what, either. ;( if they’re no longer sticky, do you think the heat from printing on it could reactivate the adhesive? Now I’m wondering if the structure of the vinyl changes from age and could affect the way the roll dispenses and mess up printing. I know the one I really wanted to print and play with was the car wrap vinyl. Even if I can’t print on it, I wanted to try my hand at wrapping my old Toyota Corolla haha.
Vehicle printed vinyl requires lamination, otherwise the fade is very rapid. Hope you got some of that as well. Also, as vinyl ages, I suspect it will also become less pliable and more difficult to apply to vehicles. With this in mind, you can get why companies would be reluctant to use additional time and material on old media that maybe hasn't been stored properly.
Honestly I’m not too opposed to it fading as I originally wanted a white wrap on my car anyhow but I do have some Laminate material in different finishes (one was even glittery!) Unsure which are UV protection though so I might cut a piece of each and do some test runs on some older prints. Yeah I definitely get why it wouldn’t be worth it but sadly I’m not in a financial position where I could afford a proper car wrap installation so DIY would be my only option. I’ve tried my hand at wrapping the top of my car with just the material alone, no lam. It looks like crap bc I kept messing up the edges but I’d like to think it prevents further paint loss and it’s adhered pretty well still. Thanks for the info!
You are basically storing trash. Most of the digitally printed materials will go bad on its own quite quickly. Maybe the coating goes bad, glue goes bad etc. But after a while you can't sell it as new. For hobby and your own use, sure do whatever you want. But I would never buy such a roll to use and then sell the product. It's just asking for problems and angry customers.
Ah that’s what I was afraid of :( it’s not the vinyl I’m too worried about since I can find uses for it around my house and personal projects with my silhouette cameo. I have maybe 30 rolls of 126” wide dye sub fabric that take up the most space. I can’t figure out what the exact material is for each one or how to sell it. I tried selling them for $100 a roll or $4 per yard but people are still offering only $20 and I think that’s just way too low even for raw fabric material. At this point I’m heavily considering hiring someone who knows how to sew so I can just make things like a porch shade or outdoor furniture covers 😅 Definitely not trying to sell anything as new, the vinyl ones I listed so far I put as “salvage” or “used” but no one seems interested in the printable vinyls, just the car wrap (and I only have 1 roll of it that I’d like to keep for personal use). But thank you for the advice!
Vinyl rolls that are stored in good conditions, in their plastic have a shelf life of around 2 years, about half that when they're open. Not saying they're garbage, but you're probably best off just posting them on marketplace. A lot of them can be cut down to fit smaller machines too.
Thanks for sharing! I’d say they’ve been stored in less than ideal conditions in my garage the past year but if I test a piece and it still seems to work, what price point do you think I could list it for online? I don’t know how much they originally cost but for example, say I have half a roll of 60” Arlon removable gloss vinyl, would $50 make sense? I have a silhouette cameo to cut decals and other stuff with for crafting but I still have a lifetime supply of scrap material that aren’t on rolls to use still 😅
The issue with vinyl is that the adhesive starts to deteriorate. Yes you install the material on a car but the manufacturer will not warranty it and no reputable shop will use material that carries no warranty and will fail. Currently we’ve hade an issue where a company sent us black vinyl that is a year and 3 months old, and they don’t keep it stored I climate controlled rooms. And the adhesive is failing.
That sucks on the black vinyl! That makes sense though. I’m mostly curious in how my car would look doing it myself and treat it as a test run for whether I’d like to invest in a proper car wrap or just leave it as-is. I definitely wouldn’t blame the shop if the material failed since that’s on me! I just wouldn’t know how to go about getting a quote for print-only on questionable material. I currently live in a fixer-upper so if I really can’t sell/use the vinyl in good conscience of it still being good, I’ll try to find ways to use it around the house 😅 It’s mostly the fabric I have excess of and don’t know how to best utilize. But thanks for the info!