Anyone who’s been 'adulting' for a while knows life is full of tradeoffs. We give up some things we want to get things we need. If you pay less for your cars and phones, you get fewer features. If you live on a strict beer and pizza diet, you may be happy but you won’t be healthy. Adulting is chock full of tradeoffs. In the sign industry, we have tradeoffs involving wall graphics. You can install graphics that are easy to remove and reposition, but they typically don’t hold up well on some surfaces. You get edge curl and sometimes total adhesion failure. This is an even bigger problem with low-VOC and stain resistant paints on interior walls. You could use something with a permanent adhesive and get better adhesion, but you lose the ability to peel and reposition at will. And it probably won’t remove cleanly without damaging the paint.
You can have great adhesion and layflat performance, or you can have easy repositioning and clean removability. That’s been the tradeoff for years. Until Now. Now with our new PrismJET HTR wall vinyl, you get the best of both worlds. You get great adhesion, great layflat performance, the convenience of repositionability, and clean removability. How did that happen?
PrismJET HTR Overview
PrismJET media is a complete line of digital print media optimized for use in solvent and eco-solvent printers. Our line of PrismJET printable vinyl is extensive and includes premium films for vehicle wraps, 6-mil vinyls for outdoor commercial signage, floor vinyl, high-tack glossy vinyl and everything in between, including wall vinyl.
The appeal of wall vinyl goes all the way back to the turn of the century and the introduction of Fatheads graphics. People went crazy for large decals of sports heroes and super heroes that could be peeled, stuck and re-stuck – or repositioned – on some other patch of wall. It’s a great concept that works for residential and commercial customers alike, but it requires two essential ingredients: a vinyl with a thicker-than-normal face film, and a low-tack, removable adhesive.
The thicker face film is required so that end users can easily grab and peel the decal when you want to remove or reposition it. The low-tack adhesive allows you to do this without damaging painted surfaces like bedroom or office walls. The challenge is that a low-tack adhesive typically struggles to keep a large thick vinyl graphic securely mounted. Edge curl and complete adhesion failure are common hurdles in this market space.
These challenges are complicated by the current trend toward low-VOC and stain resistant paints. They’re great for quality of life and upkeep, but terrible for wall vinyl graphics. Standard removable adhesives used for wall décor don’t bond well with these paints. This makes an already tricky proposition even trickier.
This is where the tradeoffs come in. You can use a thinner vinyl that doesn’t overwhelm the removable adhesive, but then you can’t reposition it. You can use a six-mil vinyl with a permanent adhesive but then you risk damaging the paint. Or you can opt for a self-adhesive wall fabric that’s more flexible…but that’s more expensive. Tradeoffs and more tradeoffs. Not anymore. Now you can get yourself some PrismJET HTR and kiss those tradeoffs goodbye.
The PrismJET HTR Advantage
The new PrismJET HTR vinyls have an advanced high-tack removable adhesive. The high-tack removable adhesive gives you the best of both worlds: You get better adhesion on painted interior surfaces with less edge curl. But you still enjoy easy repositioning and clean removability. And you get better performance on walls painted with low-VOC paints. HTR wall media even works well on challenging low energy surfaces like polypropylene and brushed metals.
The secret sauce is the upgraded solvent acrylate adhesive. The solvent-based adhesive formula has 20% higher peel strength and better resistance to solvent fumes. With PrismJET HTR high-tack removable wall vinyl, you can sell and install wall graphics with fewer worries about edge curl and adhesive failure. We offer this nifty new media in two versions: PrismJET 226HTR and 229HTR.
PrismJET HTR Application Tips
There are still a few design and installation tips you need to follow for best results with PrismJET HTR wall media.
Unprinted Borders: Full-bleed contour-cut decals are not recommended with eco-solvent inkjet printers. The outgasing process can degrade adhesive strength near the edge of the vinyl and cause edge curl. Design your graphics with an unprinted border of ¼ inch or more.
Keep it Smooth: Flat surfaces are the target application for PrismJET HTR vinyl. Knockdown textured walls will be a challenge because of the reduction in available surface area to form a secure adhesive bond. For decorating textured wall surfaces, we recommend PrismJET 234 WallTex.
ICC Profiles: To prevent oversaturating the media with ink, use an appropriate ICC profile. Custom ICC profiles for use with PrismJET VJ54 and 54Gen2 printers can be found here. If you have a different printer or don’t have access to a custom HTR profile, try one for PrismJET 222, which is also a six-mil matte digital vinyl.
PrismJET 226 HTR
PrismJET 226HTR is the High-Tack Removable version of PrismJET 226. It’s a six-mil, matte white calendared printable wall vinyl. Where PrismJET 226 has an emulsion acrylic adhesive, PrismJET 226HTR has the new solvent acrylate adhesive. It’s a clear adhesive on a 90# PE-Coated Kraft release liner with excellent layflat performance. The matte white face film supports vibrant, high-resolution, digital graphics. PrismJET 226HTR comes in 54” x 100-foot rolls and removes cleanly from indoor surfaces up to one year after installation.
PrismJET 226HTR is designed for application on smooth painted walls, drywall, glass, and low energy surfaces like plastics. It’s ideal for residential and commercial wall décor, POP signage, window graphics, and general indoor and outdoor signage. Click here for the full product data sheet.
The other great thing about 226HTR is the price. While super-adhesive wall fabric commands prices well over $400/roll, PrismJET 226HTR costs about half as much at just 55¢/square foot. Online ordering starts here.
PrismJET 229 HTR
PrismJET 229HTR is the High-Tack Removable variant of our printable wall canvas vinyl. PrismJET 229HTR is a matte, six-mil, calendared PVC vinyl with an embossed face film that looks and feels like artist canvas. As such, it gives a more upscale look to digitally printed images and is great for application on smooth painted walls, drywall, glass, and low energy surfaces. Click here for the full product data sheet.
You might expect this embossed premium looking vinyl to cost a little more and you’d be right. But not much more. PrismJET 229HTR wall canvas vinyl is only 68¢/sq foot. You can order some here.
Our new PrismJET 226HTR and 229HTR wall vinyls offer the best of both worlds - superior layflat and adhesion performance, plus convenient repositioning, and clean removability. And you get it all for much less than the price of fabric-based wall media. That’s one set of tradeoffs you can cross off your list. Adulting just got a little easier. Now if somebody could do something about that beer & pizza diet…
