Should I apply a clear coat polyurethane over my decals?

From time to time we have customers ask about sealing their decals.  Usually they are applying decals to a board or tile and want to make it last for many years.  Here we have a little info about decal stickers and polurethane.

If you are ordering a wall decal, it should be a matte finish and the adhesive is not super strong (to allow you to take it off without wrecking your painted walls).  Here is a picture of what can happen if you apply a thick coat of polyurethane over a wall decal sticker.

 

Polyurethane can cause the edges of the decal to curl.  Now I am not saying you CANNOT seal your decal sticker.... we have had customers tell us they have done it without any problems.

Here is some things to consider:

If you have a Wall Decal (matte finish and not super-strong adhesive), use a VERY light coat of polyurethane.  Mod Podge is another product that I have heard customers state they have used over their wall decal stickers.  The polyurethane tends to curl the edges of a vinyl sticker and with the lighter adhesive, the strength of the adhesive can break down.... on a Wall Decal Sticker. 

 

Another factor on the above board might have been the seams of the wood - this allowed the polyurethane to seep under the decal sticker just a bit and this reacted adversely with the adhesive on the decal sticker.

When our customer sent us this photo with "Help!" as the subject line, we suggested we get her another decal (we generally offer a mess-up decal replacement at half price).  The second decal sticker would be made with the GLOSSY OUTDOOR grade material, though.  

The glossy was not a factor seeing the polyurethane she added made the decal glossy-looking anyway.  And our outdoor grade material has a MUCH stronger adhesive... once that sticker sticks to a spot, there is very little chance you have to pick it up and move it to a correct spot!  So the stronger adhesive of our Glossy vinyl material was a much better fit for this project.  The strength of the adhesive allowed for a strong application to the wood and therefore wouldn't curl the edges of the decal when a light coat of polyurethane was applied.

Generally a seal is not needed for a decal made with our Glossy outdoor grade material, but if you want to feel safer, go ahead and apply a coat over your decal, but, please, make it a LIGHT coat! The beanbag toss board picture below is an example of using a light sealant coat over top the decal stickers.

Looking for a personalized or customized Wall Decal design?  Visit our website and use the Contact Us form.

Mailbox Mania - Outdoor Decals

Is your mailbox dirty and unreadable from all the winter weather? Or maybe you are sick of the mailman asking if he has the right address? And worse yet, your mail going to the neighbor because someone can't read the house number on your mailbox?
Revitalize your mailbox with mailbox decals by adding one of ours!

We have a variety of mailbox decals to offer. Choose from a simple design to a more detailed floral monogram with address. You can even make a mailbox decal to go on an apartment door!

Add some stick people to symbolize your family! It is a super cute and fun way to personalize your mailbox. 

Putting a mailbox decal on the house door is a great idea too! That way you have your address available in plain sight, or even in two places! And this decal doesn't have a name on it, making it ideal for an apartment or house door.

All of our mailbox decals are made with outdoor vinyl. It has a stronger adhesive than regular vinyl, allowing it to last up to ten years! You can choose from a variety of colors including black, white, pink, yellow, green and
more!

Make it a family project to come up with a new mailbox design! Have fun planning and hope you like your new mailbox decal!
Cassie

Spring Time ~ Personalize your Mailbox with Decal Stickers

Floral Letter Mailbox Decal by Wall Decor Plus More

WallDecorPlusMore.com continues to grow their selection of Mailbox Decals.  And now is the perfect time of year to update YOUR mailbox!

One of the new Mailbox Designs is pictured above - Floral Letter mailbox.  The letter part of the floral letter is open as this is a die-cut decal, so your mailbox color will show through this open area.  You can choose to specify just your last name as shown OR you can also specify to include your initials on the line above the last name.

Wall Decor Plus More uses the glossy outdoor grade vinyl to make all of our Mailbox Decals.  The expected life of a Mailbox Decal can be up to 10+ years.

The Mailbox Decals for a Basic-sized mailbox are only $17.00!  This includes stickers for BOTH sides of the mailbox.  For Decals to fit a jumbo-sized Mailbox, the cost is only $21.00 and also includes stickers for both sides of the mailbox.  Order HERE today!

Mailbox or House Number Decal Sticker

Here's another Maibox Decal recently added to Wall Decor Plus More's Mailbox page. 

 

This Decal Sticker is perfect for those who don't want to advertise their name, as it features your address only.  The Postal Service does ask that you have some marking on your mailbox so the carrier can have verification of the residence.

I can picture this Framed Mailbox Sticker in white (or Beige), applied to a dark vintage type/ distressed board, then hung with chains to be used as your House Number sign. 

The basic size of this Mailbox Decal should work perfect on your house newpaper box as a house number also.

Our Mailbox decals are made with Outdoor Glossy vinyl material designed to withstand the outdoor elements for 10+ years.  This is different material than we use for our Wall Stickers.

View our other Mailbox Decal Stickers here: http://walldecorplusmore.com/mailbox-decals.html

Mailbox Decals - Farm, Airplane...

We have been having fun with Mailbox Decals this summer!  Now is the time to decorate your mailbox with vinyl stickers - before the cold weather arrives.

Check out the custom mailboxes we have done recently.  The airplane mailbox is for a family that loves their Dad pilot!

Next we did a few for a farm family operation.

Keep in mind that all these images can be incorporated into a personalized Mailbox Decal for your home also.

We have a wider variety of outdoor vinyl in stock now.  The colors include: Black, White, Beige, Red, Yellow, Silver, Hot Pink, and Lime Green.

New Outdoor Colors Available

Wall Decor Plus More has a few more choices for outdoor vinyl available.  Outdoor vinyl is used as vehicle decals or anything that needs to withstand outdoor elements for an extended time.  The new outdoor vinyl colors are:

Hot Pink
Lime Green
and Beige

The color samples can be viewed on our Colors and Fonts page - the new colors (hot pink, lime, and beige) are the same as the indoor vinyl samples.  The only difference - outdoor vinyl is glossy for a better view whereas indoor vinyl has a matte finish so it looks like paint.

What I had in mind for the new colors:  Hot pink and Lime would make a neat addition to a teen's car.  Say, initials in the back window, dots around the edges of a car window or even personalized with a name and flowers for a "girly" look.  The Beige will work excellent for brown mailbox lettering.  What do you think?  Post any and all comments here or on our Facebook page.

More Mailbox Decals Added

At this wonderful time of summer, jazzing up your mailbox is ideal!  Wall Decor Plus More has just added a nice selection of mailbox decals.  We have a wide variety to suit your tastes plus we are open to any suggestions and custom orders.  We have already designed a couple custom farm mailboxes - one with a hay grinder!

We offer the decals to fit the  basic size mailbox and the jumbo size.  The basic size is made to fit within a 19" by 6" space.  The jumbo mailbox's available space is 22" x 11".  Be sure to measure your own mailbox before ordering as there are more varieties and sizes out there for mailboxes.

Our mailbox decals are a glossy outdoor vinyl designed to withstand a variety of temperatures and weather.  We have 7 colors of outdoor vinyl - the most popular being black, red, and white.  Two new colors just arrived for outdoor - Hot Pink and Lime Green.

Now is the perfect time to redo your mailbox.  The temperature allows the surface to be ideal and we all love outdoor sprucing up during summer!

Tips on Indoor Wall Vinyl Stickers and Decals

This is what I REALLY want you to know... when you read that the decal you are thinking of purchasing is "high quality glossy vinyl and will last for many years", you are quite likely purchasing from a sign company that is using the same vinyl to market to the indoor home decor buyers as they are using to make their outdoor signs. Continue reading for more details:


The word vinyl is used across a wide arena of products.  The vinyl we are talking about is a thin sticker, made of vinyl, that is a similiar thickness to 3 coats of paint.  Vinyl stickers or decals have been used for many years already for outdoor signage and banners along with vehicle lettering.  In the past few years, wall art has become popular as indoor home decor.  Here's the difference:  vinyl used for outdoor retail signs need to have stronger adhesive to withstand the rigors of temperature and precipitation changes.  Most outdoor vinyl is considered almost permanent and can take a large amount of work to remove.

So when we compare that to our indoor home decor...  We DON'T want permanent wall stickers in our homes.  We need to repaint, touch up or add new wall paper every so often.  So the stickers need to be removable without harming the wall, leaving behind pieces or taking a huge effort to remove.

So INDOOR vinyl was designed and made available.  Indoor vinyl has a matte finish so it blends with your walls and looks like paint.  Glossy vinyls are almost always outdoor vinyl as a vinyl used for retail signage needs to be bright and eye-catching. 

Indoor vinyl has an outdoor life of 2-3 years but an indoor life of 6-7 years.  There are dozens of different types of outdoor vinyls but most have a outdoor life of 6+ years.

Indoor wall vinyl has been designed to be removable.  In most cases, you can just pick a corner with your finger nail and peel it off.  A few factors that apply when you are removing the indoor wall stickers -1) the longer it is on the wall, the harder it is to remove.  -2) If the wall sticker was placed on fresh paint, it will take the paint off with removal.  The paint should be allowed to cure for 1-2 weeks at a minimum.  To always be on the safe side, use a hair blow dryer to heat up and release the adhesive when you are removing the wall sticker.

We specialize in INDOOR wall vinyl used in home decor.  You may visit us at Wall Decor Plus More for a wide variety of wall art and stickers for your home!

Outdoor Vinyl - Decorating your mailbox!

I got my new mailbox DONE!  A little background on our mailbox...  I had to get a new, bigger mailbox this past winter to fit all my packages I was mailing out.  Within ONE day, my beautifully newly decorated mailbox was crashed into by the snowplow!  So I had to get ANOTHER one!  The first one had stick people on both sides.  Well, my husband was around as I was working on adding my outdoor vinyl decals to the 2nd mailbox.  He wasn't keen on the idea of more stick people.  So we settled!  He got his farm stuff on one side and I got the stick people on the other side.  I must say, it turned out nicely!  I guess we need to thank the snowplow for that! 

I blurred out the address for security purposes but that is on there as well.  The stick people are easily ordered here ~ order each individual person as you need them.  The stick people are ADORABLE on a family vehicle, too!  After you order your stick people, all you need is some vinyl lettering for your mailbox. 

Outdoor vinyl lettering is excellent for vehicle lettering, also.  The outdoor vinyl that I use has a 6-year outdoor durability.  Some other uses for outdoor vinyl are: US DOT # for farmer's trucks/trailers, vinyl decals to put on planters and flower boxes, personalize your water bottle, lettering for signs, and the list goes on and on.  These outdoor vinyl decals are proven car wash durable so they are an excellent choice when you need to add business lettering/advertising to a vehicle.