You can call them whatever - vinyls, decals, stickers, it does not matter. What matters is the quality of the product, and whether it will remain vibrant and intact through abrasive and high speed riding, and under sunshine and rain. High quality stickers are not hard to find, you just need to know what makes a good sticker. So here are 9 tips to help you identify good stickers.
First of all, a sticker needs to stick properly onto a smooth surface. If it doesn't, it’s not going to last a week on your motorcycle. You need something with a strong adhesive that will not peel easily especially around the edges. However, you don’t want something with cheap adhesive that leaves residue when peeled. Stickers aren’t going to last forever, so you will eventually need to remove or replace them, and nobody needs the extra work of cleaning up sticky residue..
Surely everyone is familiar with bubbles appearing from wrongly applying stickers. What an eyesore. But thank goodness for technology. High quality stickers today incorporate bubble-free technology, so you don’t have to worry about bubbles. Aside from that, the sticker needs to be easily applicable, so a slightly stretchable sticker is good, especially for uneven or curved surfaces.
Like all printed material, stickers have a variety of printing quality too. Naturally, the better the quality of print, the more vibrant the colors will look. Good quality printing also ensures that the colors last a long time before they start fading over time.
Oh, how annoying and frustrating it can be when your stickers just refuse to peel off the backing paper. Whether your stickers are die-cut or kiss-cut, they should come off the backing paper with little effort, regardless of the strength of the adhesive. When using stickers with good adhesive, you will need good quality backing paper as well, which brings us to our next point.
High quality backing paper is crucial to safeguard and boost the overall strength of any unpeeled sticker. With high quality backing paper, there will be no creases, and the stickers will be well protected from any damage during storage. Also, to ride on point number 4, good quality backing paper helps with the peeling process especially if the stickers come with high quality and strong adhesive.
Sticker odor does not bother everyone. In fact, some even like the smell of new stickers. But for those like me who don’t particularly enjoy the smell, high quality stickers will help with that. The odor normally comes from two things - the adhesive, and the printing. If you are not a fan of the new sticker odor, opt for stickers with odorless printing. Odorless printing normally costs a little bit more.
The bare minimum requirement for a sticker to be rated as high quality is that it shouldn’t fade or crack, right? It’s impossible to find stickers that will last forever, so what Stickman Vinyls accepts as the minimum lifespan of a sticker is 1 year. Any good quality sticker should last without fading or cracking for at least a year, even through the rough riding and unpredictable weather.
These are two properties that are important in protecting the sticker from weather damage.A UV-Protection Laminate works even better because the laminate layer also protects the sticker from light scratches and tearing. Coupled with water proofing, you can park your bike outside with nothing to worry about.
If the sticker looks and feels cheap, it’s likely a low quality product. Just by looking and touching stickers, you should be able to tell the difference between the premium and low quality ones. So look out for a premium feel and look. If you are ordering online, maybe check out the reviews or get in touch with the seller. At Stickman Vinyls, we sell nothing less than premium.