If you drive about on the various highways and city streets throughout the United States, one thing that you'll observe is that virtually every vehicle has die-cut stickers or decals stuck to it promoting nearly anything, no matter whether it's custom die-cut stickers proclaiming the occupant's political views, or perhaps a booster die-cut sticker promoting that extremely superior university or college the driver went to.
And of course we've all seen those family custom die-cut stickers showing how many wives, children, household pets, and other tax custom stickers write-offs that at one time or another happened to be in the car owner's home!
If You're In The Market For Custom Die-cut Stickers, You'll Want To Read The Following Facts Regarding Die-Cut Stickers That Have Adhesives Versus Those That Don't
If you were to call me about custom stickers, I would first educate you on materials. But since you are too busy to talk to me, you can read the specific descriptive guide right here, which will make it easier to define what kind of printing and die-cutting you'll prefer if you're planning to actually choose which type of custom-made decals or advertising stickers to use for your campaign, promotion or organization.
The standard vinyl or clear polyester stickers use "semi-permanent" adhesives. These custom die-cut stickers can be either screen-printed or printed digitally. There are also non-adhesive options that we'll start with just below.
NON-ADHESIVE DIE-CUT CUSTOM STICKERS AND LABELS
1. Magnetic Vehicle Die-Cut Stickers
Magnetic products are fantastic for automobile product promotion die-cut decals that you need to take off your car daily. A good example of this would be virtually any pizza delivery driver or some contractors who need vehicle identification while on a job site, but nonetheless wouldn't necessarily want to be identified weaving in and out of traffic during rush hour, especially if he or she is an aggressively competitive vehicle driver!
Negatives: In a case where custom die-cut magnetic stickers could be stuck on a vehicle for a long time and not removed, water may get trapped between the magnet and the paint, and it can and will leach through the micro-pores of the paint and cause rust. Rust, of course, can potentially expand under your vehicle's paint coating and cause the paint to begin to peel.
The other negative, particularly with cheaper magnetic materials, is that it can blow off fast-moving vehicles. You can avoid either of these issues by removing your magnetic daily and laying them in a flat location, and by NOT purchasing thin, cheap magnets from some "low price leader" website.
2. Static Window Cling Custom Die-cut Stickers
Static window cling vinyl is actually PVC flexible sheet product that includes extra plasticizers to make it especially pliable and sticky, but without any adhesive glue. This very popular custom sticker product sticks great to glass and other super-smooth surfaces, and is also pulled back off quite easily (nonetheless, you'll need to make sure your glass is definitely squeaky clean).
A large number of vehicle owners exclusively allow ONLY this kind of die-cut label or decal to be place on their vehicle, and you will want to remember this fact when you're trying to figure out what kind of die-cut labels to order for your project.
Negatives: Static cling labels and stickers absolutely cannot be applied to the outer surface of a motor vehicle, because they will most likely blow right off the vehicle as soon as you reach any speed over 15 mph.
ADHESIVE DIE CUT STICKERS AND LABELS
1. Semi-Permanent Adhesive Custom Die-cut Stickers
If you're looking for a decal that is going to go the distance, this excellent adhesive is superior in that it won't permit your decal fall off of any item that you stick it on. The only caveat to that is if there is excessive continuous heat near these die-cut stickers and decals, or if there is an issue of rust or other contaminants underneath the original surface these decals were applied to.
Negatives: These advertising decals and stickers can become quite difficult to remove, especially after a year or so. However, you can persuade semi-permanent glue to let go by using a heat gun or a blow dryer to help in stripping from whatever surface the sticker is attached to.
You may also need to go to the hardware store and pick up a solvent glue remover made with orange peel oil to remove glue residue. In case of the stickers being applied to windows, one may possibly peel the sticker off by means of a razor blade scraper.
2. Easy-Peel Die-Cut Advertising Labels, Stickers, And Decals
Easy-peel adhesive decals and stickers usually are, typically, as their name suggests, easy to remove. Regardless, in the event the adhesive is subjected to the elements for more than a year, the acrylic adhesive becomes solid and thus gets more and more difficult to take off, but as with the previous semi-permanent adhesive stickers, heat from a heat gun or hair dryer will help.
Disadvantage: Easy-peel adhesives lose their elasticity over time.
Target Market Factors To Consider When Considering Which Type Of Previously Mentioned Die Cut Stickers And Decals To Purchase
When considering purchasing any particular custom die-cut stickers within the earlier genres mentioned, you must take the prospective target audience under consideration. Does your prospective client drive a pickup truck or an Aston-Martin? Blue collar males may be significantly less worried about the removal of particularly aggressive adhesive stickers, because they can just take them off.
These guys probably worked with their Dads or their buddies on lots of projects, and figuring out how to get a stubborn sticker off a car or pickup just isn't problem. It's not that the Aston-Martin guy can't get the sticker off (he'd prefer to pay one of the blue-collar guys to do it if it ever needed to be done), he just probably wouldn't ever purchase or allow that kind of sticker to be put on his baby.
LAST UPDATED ON: December 8, 2017
Barry Brown has been in the Sign, Banner, Decal and Display Business for over 20 years. It isn't what he thought he'd do with his life, but he says he knows too much now to do anything else!
He has been marketing these products online since 1998, and the company he was general manager of in 1998 was the first sign company to be listed on Yahoo!
Barry is a great resource for information regarding Signs, Banners, Decals, and Displays, and is also an outstanding source of information on how to shop online without getting ripped off.