Author: Evan

Big decals are scary because the adhesive grabs the moment it touches. Wet application fixes that: a thin layer of soapy water lets you slide the decal into position, then you squeegee the water out and it sticks. It’s how most people put lettering on glass.

When to use it (and when not to)

• Good for: decals on glass, smooth painted walls you’ve tested, and smooth metal or plastic, especially pieces bigger than about 30 cm (12 in).
• Not for window perf: water gets trapped in the holes. Apply perf dry.
• Not for air-release vinyl (the kind with tiny channels in the adhesive). It’s designed to go on dry.
• Not below about 10°C (50°F): the water takes forever to escape and the adhesive won’t bond properly.

Mix the solution

Fill a spray bottle with water and add two or three drops of dish soap or baby shampoo per litre. That’s it. Too much soap and the decal will slide around for days.

Step by step

1. Clean the surface with rubbing alcohol and let it dry.
2. Mark your position with a couple of bits of painter’s tape.
3. Mist the surface lightly. You want it wet, not dripping.
4. Peel the backing off the decal and mist the sticky side too.
5. Lay the decal on. It will slide. Nudge it into position.
6. Squeegee from the centre out with firm, overlapping strokes to push the water out the sides. Wipe the water away as it comes out.
7. If your decal has a top transfer tape (cut lettering usually does), wait until the decal holds, usually 20 minutes to an hour, then peel the tape back slowly, flat against the surface, at a sharp angle. If a letter lifts, lay the tape back down, press again and wait a bit longer.

Afterwards

The decal will look a little cloudy at first. That’s trapped moisture, and it disappears as it dries over a few days. Don’t wash it or scrub it for at least 48 hours.

A sticker is only as good as the surface it’s on. Most surfaces are easy. A few are sneaky. Here’s the cheat sheet.

Easy: stick away

• Glass and mirrors. The best surface there is.
• Bare and painted metal, including most toolboxes, bottles, coolers and car bodies with fully cured paint.
• Smooth hard plastics like ABS and polycarbonate: most laptops, phone cases and helmets.
• Sealed wood and smooth, glossy painted surfaces.

Tricky: test first

• “Low surface energy” plastics: polyethylene and polypropylene. Think plastic storage bins, some kayaks, cutting boards and many car bumpers. Adhesive struggles to grip them. Clean well, press hard and test a small piece first.
• Textured and powder-coated finishes. The sticker only touches the high points. Some smooth powder coats are fine; rough or matte textures often aren’t.
• Fresh paint. New paint keeps releasing solvents as it cures, which can push a sticker off or bubble it. Give house paint and automotive paint a few weeks to cure before applying.
• Flat or matte wall paint. It holds, but taking the sticker off later can take paint with it.

Don’t bother

• Silicone and anything coated with it.
• Fabric, unless it’s a product made for it.
• Raw concrete, brick and unsealed wood. Too porous and dusty.
• Anything greasy, waxed or freshly treated with a protectant (car interiors, dashboards).

Prep that makes the difference

1. Wash off dirt with soapy water and dry it.
2. Wipe with rubbing alcohol to remove wax, oil and fingerprints.
3. Apply when the surface is above about 10°C (50°F).
4. Press hard, especially the edges, and leave it for 24 hours before it gets wet.

Not sure about your surface? Order a few extra and test one. Stickers are cheaper than regret.

The glue on the back of a sticker is doing more work than you think. Pick the wrong one and your sticker either won’t stay or won’t leave. Here’s what the words on the spec sheets mean.

How sticker adhesive works

Almost every sticker uses a pressure-sensitive adhesive: it bonds when you press it, no water or heat needed. It doesn’t reach full strength right away. It flows into the tiny bumps in the surface over the first day or three, which is why a sticker that peels off easily after five minutes may be stuck for good by Friday.

The main types

• Permanent. Built to stay for years outdoors. It can still be removed, usually with heat, but may leave residue. This is what most outdoor stickers and vehicle decals use.
• Removable. Holds well but is designed to come off cleanly for a period of time, usually measured in months or a couple of years. Good for windows, walls and short promotions.
• Repositionable. Lets you lift and move it during installation before it sets. Handy for big graphics.
• High-tack. Extra-aggressive adhesive for tough surfaces like textured plastics and powder coat.
• Static cling. No adhesive at all. The film holds to glass by static. Easy on and off, indoors only.

Acrylic vs rubber

Most quality vinyl uses an acrylic adhesive. It handles UV, heat and cold well and gets stronger over time, which is why it’s the standard for outdoor work. Rubber-based adhesives grab hard and fast and stick better to some difficult plastics, but they break down faster in sun and heat. Cheap paper stickers often use rubber adhesive, which is why they go gummy on a hot dashboard.

Picking the right one

• Laptops, bottles, toolboxes, bumpers: permanent. Our standard stickers.
• Store windows and temporary promotions: removable, or window perf, which is made to come off cleanly.
• Walls you’ll repaint one day: removable, and expect some risk on flat paint.
• Rough or low-energy plastics: ask us. We’ll suggest a high-tack option.

Cold weather matters

Adhesive gets stiff in the cold and can’t flow into the surface. Most need the surface above about 10°C (50°F) when you apply them. Once applied and set, a good sticker handles a prairie winter just fine. It’s applying it in January that’s the problem.

Perforated window film goes on the outside of the glass. It’s forgiving to install if you take your time. Here’s how.

Before you start

• Install when the glass and air are above about 5–10°C (40–50°F), out of direct hot sun if you can.
• Clean the glass thoroughly: soapy water, then a razor scraper for paint specks and old glue, then rubbing alcohol. Dry completely.
• Have painter’s tape, a soft squeegee and a sharp utility knife ready.

Apply it dry

Don’t use the soapy-water method on perf. Water gets trapped in the tiny holes and leaves cloudy spots.

1. Tape the panel in position along the top edge with the backing still on. Step back and check it’s level and centred inside the gasket.
2. Flip the panel up, peel back the top 15 cm (6 in) of backing and fold it over.
3. Lay the exposed top edge down and squeegee it across.
4. Pull the backing down a little at a time from underneath with one hand while you squeegee with the other, working top to bottom in overlapping horizontal strokes.
5. Don’t stretch the film. Stretched perf shrinks back and opens gaps at the edges.
6. For panelled windows, overlap panels as marked on your proof.

Laminated or not?

Clear laminate seals the holes so rain and dirt can’t collect in them, keeps the view from inside clearer, and protects the print. For anything outside long-term, laminate is worth it.

Keeping it clean

• Wash with mild soap and water and a soft cloth or sponge.
• Don’t use ice scrapers, razor blades or abrasive pads on the film.
• Keep pressure washers away from the edges.
• On vehicles, don’t run the rear wiper over the perf.

Taking it down

When the promotion’s over, warm the film with a hair dryer, lift a corner and peel slowly at a low angle. Clean any leftover adhesive with rubbing alcohol. Our perf films are designed to remove cleanly within their rated life; leaving them up much longer makes removal harder.

Every sticker comes off eventually. The trick is getting it off without taking paint, leaving a ghost of glue, or scratching the thing it was stuck to.

1. Warm it up

Heat softens the adhesive and makes the vinyl flexible again. Use a hair dryer on medium, held a few inches away, for 30 to 60 seconds. On a car or a big decal, a heat gun on low works faster; keep it moving and never hold it in one spot on paint or plastic. The sticker should feel warm, not hot.

2. Peel low and slow

Lift a corner with a fingernail or a plastic razor blade (never metal on paint or plastic). Then pull the sticker back over itself, almost flat against the surface, slowly. Pulling straight up is how vinyl tears into a hundred tiny pieces. If it starts to tear or leave glue behind, stop and warm it again.

3. Clean up the residue

Pick your solvent based on the surface, and test it somewhere hidden first:

• Glass and metal: rubbing alcohol works on most residue. A plastic razor blade on glass helps with the stubborn bits.
• Car paint: a citrus-based adhesive remover or a product made for automotive paint. Wash and wax the spot afterwards.
• Laptops and plastics: rubbing alcohol on a cloth, or a little cooking oil to loosen the glue, then wash with soapy water.
• Painted walls: warm soapy water and patience. Solvents can lift wall paint.

Avoid acetone and nail polish remover on plastics and paint: they can melt or dull the finish.

Old, sun-baked stickers

A sticker that’s spent years in the sun goes brittle and comes off in flakes. Heat it well, scrape gently with a plastic blade, and expect to do it in pieces. An adhesive remover left on for a few minutes softens what’s left.

Window perf and big decals

Perforated window film is made to come off cleanly. Warm it, start at a corner and peel it back slowly at a low angle. Clean any adhesive left on the glass with rubbing alcohol and a plastic blade.

The ghost outline

After removing a sticker that was on a car for years, you may see its outline. That’s not glue: the paint around it faded in the sun while the paint under the sticker didn’t. A polish usually blends it in.

Sunlight is the number one enemy of a sticker. The ultraviolet part of sunlight breaks down ink pigments and the vinyl itself. Every outdoor sticker fades eventually. The question is how fast.

What makes stickers fade faster

• Horizontal surfaces. A sticker on a hood, roof or boat deck faces the sun all day. The same sticker on a door or a wall gets far less. Flat and facing up is the toughest spot there is.
• South-facing windows and walls in the northern hemisphere get the most direct sun.
• Heat. Dark surfaces get hot, and heat speeds everything up.
• Some colours. Bright reds, yellows and fluorescent colours tend to fade before blacks and blues.
• No laminate. An unprotected print fades much faster.

Laminate: sunscreen for stickers

Every Mr. Stickers sticker gets a clear laminate over the print. It blocks a big share of UV, protects the ink from scratches, rain and car washes, and keeps colours rich for longer. It’s the single biggest thing that separates a sticker that lasts years from one that looks tired by fall.

So how long will mine last?

It depends on where it lives:

• Indoors (laptops, notebooks, walls): many years.
• Outdoors on vertical or partly shaded surfaces (water bottles, toolboxes, car doors): a few years before you notice much fading.
• Outdoors, flat, in full sun all day: the toughest case. Expect noticeable fading sooner, roughly in the range our vinyl is rated for, which is about two years of harsh exposure.

Those are rough guides, not promises. A summer in the desert and a summer in Edmonton are very different things.

Helping them last

• Apply to a clean surface so edges don’t lift and let dirt in.
• Wash with mild soap and water; avoid pressure washers aimed at the edges.
• Skip harsh solvents and abrasive polishes over the sticker.
• For anything that has to look great for years in full sun, talk to us about upgraded materials.

Putting on a sticker looks easy until you’re staring at a crooked logo with a bubble in the middle. Here’s the method sign installers use. It takes five minutes and works on laptops, bottles, toolboxes and trucks.

What you need

• Rubbing alcohol (isopropyl, 70% or higher) and a lint-free cloth or paper towel
• Painter’s tape or masking tape (for anything bigger than your hand)
• A squeegee, or a credit card wrapped in a soft cloth

1. Clean the surface

This is the step everyone skips and the reason most stickers peel. Wipe the spot with rubbing alcohol to remove grease, fingerprints, wax and dust, then let it dry completely (a minute is plenty). Skip window cleaners and household sprays: many leave a film the adhesive can’t grab.

2. Check the temperature

Adhesive likes it warm. Apply stickers when the surface and air are above about 10°C (50°F). In a Canadian winter, do it indoors or warm the surface first. Too hot is a problem too: on a surface baking in the summer sun, the adhesive grabs instantly and you lose the chance to reposition.

3. Line it up with the hinge method

For small stickers, peel and place. For anything bigger than your palm:

1. With the backing still on, position the sticker exactly where you want it.
2. Run a strip of tape across the middle, half on the sticker and half on the surface. That’s your hinge.
3. Flip one half up over the hinge, peel the backing off that half, and cut the loose backing away.
4. Squeegee that half down from the hinge outward.
5. Remove the tape, flip up the other half, peel off the rest of the backing and squeegee from the middle out.

4. Press from the middle out

Use firm, overlapping strokes, working from the centre toward the edges. That pushes air out instead of trapping it. Go over the edges twice: edges are where peeling starts.

5. Got a bubble?

Small bubbles often disappear on their own within a few days as the vinyl relaxes. For a stubborn one, prick it with a pin at the edge of the bubble and press the air out toward the hole.

6. Give it time

Pressure-sensitive adhesive keeps getting stronger for 24 to 72 hours. Keep it dry and leave it alone for a day before you wash the car, run the bottle under the tap or test it in the rain.

Curved surfaces

On a water bottle or helmet, start in the middle and work out to each side, smoothing as you go. A little warmth from a hair dryer on low helps the vinyl relax around a curve. Don’t stretch it: stretched vinyl wants to shrink back and will lift at the edges.

A good vinyl banner can last for years. Most banners don’t die of old age. They die of wind, bad knots and being folded into a box. Here’s how to avoid all three.

Hanging with grommets

• Use every grommet. Each one spreads the load. A banner hung from two corners will tear at those corners in the first good gust.
• Bungee cords or zip ties? Ball bungees are the best choice outdoors: they flex in the wind instead of yanking the grommet. Zip ties work for short indoor use.
• Tension, not tight. Pull the banner flat enough to read, but leave a little give. A drum-tight banner in the wind is a sail.
• Hang it level. Start with the top corners, then the bottom corners, then the middle.

Pole pockets

Slide a pole or dowel through the pocket so the top edge hangs straight. Add a bottom pocket and a second pole to keep it from flapping. Great for stages, walls and pole stands.

Windy spots

Fences, highways and rooftops get a lot of wind. If your banner will be fighting the weather full-time, consider a mesh banner (the wind passes through it) and make sure it’s tied off at every grommet. Some people cut small half-moon “wind slits”; they help a little, but they also weaken the banner, so we don’t recommend them on a hemmed vinyl banner.

Cleaning

Wipe it down with a soft cloth and mild soapy water, then rinse. Don’t use solvents or a pressure washer, which can lift the ink at the edges.

Storing it

• Make sure it’s completely dry first.
• Roll it, don’t fold it. Folds leave creases that never come out. Roll it loosely with the printed side facing out, around a tube if you have one.
• Store it somewhere cool and dry, standing up or lying flat, away from anything that could crush it.

Every sticker we make gets a laminate: a thin, clear protective layer over the print. You choose the finish. Both protect equally well against scratches, water and UV. The difference is how they look.

Gloss

• Shiny, like a new car.
• Makes colours look deeper and more saturated. Blacks look blacker.
• Reflects light, so it can glare under bright lights or in photos.
• Great for: bold colourful designs, logos, anything that should pop from across a room.

Matte

• Soft, smooth, no shine.
• Colours look a little softer and more muted, and it reads as more premium and understated.
• No glare, so it photographs well and is easy to read in direct light.
• Hides fingerprints and light scuffs better.
• Great for: minimalist designs, packaging labels, product stickers, anything you’ll photograph.

Still can’t decide?

If your design is bright and loud, go gloss. If it’s mostly text, earthy colours or meant to feel high-end, go matte. And if you really can’t choose, order a small batch of each. Mr. Stickers does this with sweater vests.

Why laminate at all?

Without laminate, the ink sits on top of the vinyl with nothing protecting it. It scratches, it fades faster in the sun, and it doesn’t stand up to repeated washing. Laminate is why your sticker can survive a backpack, a dishwasher-free kitchen sink and a few years on a cooler.

Your canvas print is coated to protect it, so it doesn’t need much. A little care in where you hang it keeps the colours rich for a very long time.

Where to hang it

• Out of direct sun. A spot where the sun hits it for hours every day will fade any print over time. Bright rooms are fine; a sunbeam on it all afternoon isn’t.
• Away from moisture. Bathrooms with showers and spots right above a kettle or stove get steamy. Humidity can loosen the canvas on the frame.
• Not right over a heater or fireplace, where heat and soot do their slow work.

Hanging

Your print arrives with hanging hardware attached. For anything larger than about 24 × 36 in, use two hooks or a wall anchor rated for the weight, so it stays level and stays on the wall.

Cleaning

• Dust it gently with a soft, dry cloth or a feather duster.
• Don’t use water, glass cleaner or household sprays on the front.
• For a smudge, a barely damp soft cloth, dabbed (not rubbed), then let it air dry.

If it sags a little

Changes in humidity can make canvas relax over the years. A light mist of water on the back of the canvas (never the front) is often enough to tighten it as it dries. If it needs more than that, get in touch.