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Getting Out Wrinkles in Cear Vinyl?

Posted by shinyskintight on: Oct 22nd 2015 9:29:54 pm

Hello everyone :)

Could anyone share some advice on how to get wrinkles in clear vinyl?

I had a quick run in with the material today. Needed to get rid of the wrinkles real quick and only had an industrial steamer (Jiffy 4000) at hand. It's way to hot to put right on it. Keeping it few inches away helped, but it wasn't great.
So, the question came to mind, what would be the best way to remove wrinkles out of clear vinyl without damaging it?

Any advice would be good to have for future reference. Especially if MJTrends starts selling it ;)

Cheers,

Shiny




5

Response by: JP, November 4th 2015 11:36:48 pm

I've de-wrinkled clear vinyl boat windows using a hot water hand shower, around 140 F if I remember right, but it's been a long time.  Water transfers a lot of heat quickly without getting too-high peak temperatures.  Could probably do it in a bathtub for smaller items, just hold them under water for a while to warm.  Worth a try anyway.

Response by: mythicalgriffons@hotmail.com, November 13th 2015 8:38:51 am

The only methods i know of are the following:

Option 1

Lay it out flat outside on a warm sunny day for awhile, most of the wrinkles will smooth out.

Option 2

Place the vinyl in the dryer on low with a damp towle or two and dry a few minutes just until the inside of the dryer starts to heat up, then take it out and see if the wrinkles seems pliable, if they do lay it out flat some where and let it cool.

Option 3

Use a hairdryer on a low setting to warm up the vinyl then use your hands to smooth it flat, lay it flat to cool.

Option 4

Use an iron on low setting with a damp towel/cloth between the iron and the vinyl, in this case pressure is more important the heat so make sure you press firmly.

 

Remember vinyl melts easily so be careful using any of these methods and try test swatches to see what works best for you.

kat

Response by: shinyskintight, November 24th 2015 12:55:43 pm

Thanks for the suggestion JP. I did not have a tub or a shower available in the location. The steamer I was using heats the steam to about 150 degrees. It's a heavy-duty commercial steamer. So we're pretty much on the same page there. Thanks again, I do appreaite your input :)

Response by: shinyskintight, November 24th 2015 1:21:59 pm

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions, Kat! :)

I might try the hair-dryer method next time. I already have one that has multiple settings and speeds so I could start on a low setting and move up if needed. This seems like something that could be done quick and easy and hair dryers are really portable too.

The project I was working on was a product/marketing photo shoot for a company. We had never seen or touched the product before that day. We were at a photo studio so materials and time were very limited. We were able to take out some of the wrinkles in post production, which isn't ideal and I would prefer to spend less time with that and giving the photo to client as close to real-life and untouched as possible.

Again, I really appreciate all the suggestions from everyone. If I work with clear vinyl again I hope I'll have some time to actually try out all these methods.

However, if I'm limited on time and in the same situation as before, I'm going to try the hairdryer method and see how that works. Also want to try using my steamer again but put a towel or thick cloth between the steamer and the clear vinyl to act as a buffer of the heat. This could help diffuse the heat and not be so direct but still hot enough to smooth out the vinyl.

If I have any updates, I'll keep you all posted ;)

Thanks again all :)

Cheers,

Shiny


Response by: mythicalgriffons@hotmail.com, November 24th 2015 1:48:46 pm

Always happy to try to help!!