Vinyl

The graphic, lettering or striping that ends up on your vehicle is vinyl. Some types of vinyl have a longer life expectancy. Most of the vinyls we use are the “high performance” films and have an outdoor life expectancy of 5-7 years. Some other specialty films, such as mirror chrome, have a 2 year life expectancy and is a mylar based film.
 

 Backing

The vinyl is adhered to the backing material until it is ready to be installed. The usually white colored backing is often a clay coated paper with a smooth waxy surface. The adhesive bond from the masking to the vinyl is stronger than the bond between the vinyl and the backing allowing the masking to pull the vinyl from the backing for installation.
 

 Masking

The masking is sometimes referred to as the carrier sheet, transfer tape or mask. It is used to aid in the transfer of the vinyl graphics to their intended surface of installation. The masking is either a semi transparent paper based material or a clear vinyl based material. The clear masking is used when graphics are designed to be peeled up and aligned by sight rather than pre-measured and applied using a tape hinge.

 Substrate

When we mention substrate, we’re talking about the surface to which the vinyl is to be applied. This could be your vehicle, a window, or a sign. It’s also known as the background.
 

 Masking Tape Hinge

The tape hinge is a method of applying larger graphics that cannot be (or should not be) applied by simply peeling the backing off and aligning the graphic by eye and squeegeeing it down. Once the vinyl piece has been measured and is in place - exactly where you want it be, a piece of masking tape is run halfway onto the graphic and halfway onto the substrate at the top. This acts as a hinge and makes installation much easier. See more in section Installation 103 for more on the top hinge method and the center hinge method.
 

 Continue on to 102 - Tools - their names and what they do.