COOL WALL STICKERS

Top 5 Wall Sticker Questions we are frequently asked

We hope this collection of the top 5 questions regularly asked will be of use to you.  If you require more comprehensive question and answers visit our FAQ page on the Cool Art Vinyl shop website.

Will wall stickers damage my wall?
Wall stickers are made of self adhesive vinyl.   This means they have an adhesive on the back of the vinyl.  There is always some chance that when you remove the wall stickers some paint may come away, and anyone who tells you otherwise is not being truthful.  Even repositionable vinyl can stick more solidly after years of not being moved.

The reason the answer is not very specific, is that we don’t know the condition of your wall, or anything about the surface.  So if you have a paintjob on the walls where you can see any visible signs of bubbles existing between your paint and the wall- or if the paint appears old and damaged already, then it is more likely the paint may come away. 

If you have a freshly painted wall, that is two coats and has been primed and sanded between coats- the likelihood is that the paint is well attached to your wall.  In this case, you should be more confident that you won’t have a problem.

Ask your supplier of wall vinyl to provide a test piece, and use this test piece on the wall surface.  Or if you use a piece of masking tape and stick it to your wall, then remove it a day later, this can also be an indicator of the quality of the paint.

What sort of surfaces can we stick wall stickers to?
Different wall sticker suppliers all use different vinyls.  So be sure to consider this answer only in reference to the wall stickers that are provided by us at Cool Art Vinyl.

Our wall stickers are made of the highest quality vinyl that can conform well to many surfaces.  Ideally the surface is a flat smooth surface.  However the vinyl can conform over tiles in a bathroom, into grooves, around corners and over gaps.

The trick is the surface must be non porous.  So a well painted and sealed brick may be okay for wall stickers, but one which is not sealed will not be suitable for the vinyl.

Plasterboard is good.  But again, it needs to be properly painted and sealed.  Office cabinets made of melamine work well for using the decals to customise that space.  Doors, painted on steel.  Mirrors and glass.

Can you do custom wall sticker designs for us?
We have a commercial design division called Cool Art Design and they do many commercial custom projects.  The starting price is approx. $200 and up.  These custom projects include full wall graphics, customised wall papers, door art skins, vinyl lettering and some creative signage.

If you want to customise a design for a residential space- we do offer a CREATE YOUR OWN service online for your own wall quotes, or you can choose from many catalogue items and select different fonts or colours.  If you really want something exclusive, that custom design does start at $200.

Can we install the wall stickers on canvas?
Wall stickers need to adhere to a non porous, non flexible surface.  Some customers have managed to lacquer a canvas surface, install the vinyl on top then lacquer again.

In our opinion that is a waste of money.  You are paying for the properties of vinyl when really you are doing a decoupage and paper would be fine.

We don’t recommend it.  If you really want a product you can move, you  can consider getting a printed canvas from us where we print the design directly onto the canvas and stretch it on a frame for you.   Or you could buy yourself a glass or acrylic frame and install the vinyl on top of that.

Please note as well, that even though you may have some success initially with vinyl sticking to canvas, this is very short term.  As the canvas breathes and air passes through it, the adhesive on the vinyl will lessen and eventually start falling off.

How hard is it to install the wall stickers?
Some people find it harder than others, and some designs are more intricate that others.  So in general, we can confidently say that we do not sell any items online that we don’t believe you can self-install. This is one of the reasons you will not find over-sized graphics on our website.

The larger the item, and the more intricate it is, the more complex it will be to install.

We have been the experts in vinyl lettering for a long time now, and we believe this is the most challenging thing to install.  You need to ensure you get your sentences nice and straight.  Then follow the process provided to install.

95% of the time when a customer has rung us having problems installing, they have not read our comprehensive instructions, or they only read them afterwards.

Even if you have bought wall stickers from other companies, we know that our installation methods are different.  We encourage a very patient and slow installation to ensure that you get your product right.  Test pieces in every kit are designed to be practised with, and we provide installation tools like squeegees and double A3 instructions with photos and step and by step text.

We have videos, photo essays and articles online on our blog and websites to assist as well.

Brand new Cool Art Door Skins are here to decorate your door!

Got a door? Well then you have a natural frame for an artwork. Use the space to feature your brand, or customise your style with a door art skin.

Cool Art Design has launched a high tech range of repositionable vinyl artworks that can be applied to interior or exterior flat doors. The artworks, nicknamed DOOR SKINS by the team, are versatile and immediately transform virtually any surface.

They are peel and stick and are truly the easiest thing to install yourself.

That is not the best part! The biggest benefit is that the high tech adhesive is repositionable over and over again, enabling you to move the panel to another door or surface . You are buying one artwork that can be used over and over again.

This adhesive technology has been tested by us over a 6 month period and unlike other manufacturers in Australia, we are one of the only ones using this European brand. Durable, high quality.

Show your style, customize your space, brand your environment by dressing up your doors.

Most premises, whether they be a café, shop, office, bar, home or school all have doors that serve as the perfect frame for an artwork skin. Store rooms, toilets, kitchens, staff only areas, server rooms and many other types of rooms have internal doors leading into them.

Use this space to extend your brand, to motivate staff, to entice customers or to simply add some unique WOW to your space.

Perfect for renters, or for temporary use such as an event, or exhibition.

To celebrate this latest invention from the team at Cool Art Design, we have 30designs available for launch. Many of these can be customised in colour, further empowering you in your decorating projects.

Designs include:

Coffee Bean Door Skin

Wine Barrel   Door Skin

Golden Gate Door Skin

Wood Panel Door Skin

And many many more designs being added in the next few days.

Wall stickers are not made to stick to canvas

Wall stickers are made of a floppy plastic called vinyl.  Vinyl is a material that has a self adhesive quality, and it is this adhesive that helps it stick to a surface.

It needs to stick to a hard flat surface. Plasterboard walls, smooth wood, melamine surfaces, enamel surfaces are the sorts of surfaces that are suitable for wall stickers.  The thing that these all have in common is that they are rigid surfaces with a smooth texture.

We do not recommend or advise that vinyl be stuck to canvas for decorating purposes.  Canvas is not rigid and and it is pourous so the more the air moves behind the canvas it will lessen the effect of the vinyl and eventually the wall stickers will fall off.

WHY DO YOU WANT TO STICK VINYL TO CANVAS?

If your answer is because you don't want to stick it to your wall.  Well, unfortunately you need to consider other decorating options.

WHAT ARE OTHER OPTIONS OF DECORATING?

1. If you want a design on canvas then you will need to either paint it yourself, or order a design of a custom canvas artwork. 
2. If you want the design to movable but you don't really mind what it is stuck to then there are a few options.  For example, you could buy a frame from IKEA and apply the vinyl to the glass so that you can have the design and move it.  Or you could buy a piece of MDF boards from Bunnings and apply the design to that.

Some people have contacted to say that they have stuck their vinyl onto canvas and it worked fine. Possibly in the first instance it will stick, but within a short period of time it will lift and fall off because of the flex in the canvas and the pourous nature of the weave.

We hope that you will be creative and think of other ways to decorate rather than to waste your money on trying to install vinyl onto canvas.

 

 

 

High quality vinyl wall lettering contours to surface

The lettering that we use in the manufacture of our vinyl wall lettering is special for these reasons:

1. Ultra thin means it contours to the surface it is being stuck to
2. High quality means the vinyl is durable and will last on the wall until you are ready to remove it.

We often have customers complain about other brands of wall stickers and that they start to curl on the corners, or fall off after a short period.  This cheaper quality vinyl is more like plastic- looks like a sticker on the wall- not hand painted- and will not have the durable qualities of our vinyl.

Here are some photos which show the close up nature of the vinyl we use.

This is a matt finish vinyl on a matt wall.  Looks absolutely hand painted.

This is a gloss finish vinyl on a matt wall.  You can see the texture of the wall beneath.

To discuss any of the technical aspects of our wall vinyl, give us a call on 1300 281 044 or email us at art@coolartdesign.com.au

Will vinyl stick to canvases?

If we had a dollar for every time during a conversation a customer says, " oh I was just going to stick your vinyl lettering to canvas", we'd be very rich. And then in reverse, us saying, "noooooo".

Vinyl is supposed to stick to a flat hard surface such as painted gyprock, wood, glass, mirror and the likes.  Canvas is too pourous, and floppy for it and even if you do defy the initial odds against it, the vinyl won't stay stuck for a long time.

If you want a movable canvas, then you need to buy a canvas artwork with the design already on it.

If you really want to move your artwork, and you want to use vinyl, then you are better off applying it to a mirror, or a picture frame or some other hard surface.

Our sister website Cool Art Canvas helps customers who want designs on canvas, and you can always ask us to do a custom design for you but produced on canvas.

Avoid wasting your money by purchasing vinyl lettering if your intention is to stick it to canvas.

Some of our canvases include:

Custom travel canvases

Word art

Keep Calm Canvases

 

 

Velvet vinyl wall stickers test

With the increasing popularity of wall stickers- we have started testing other products on the market to see if we truly have the coolest product happening.

So we were super excited to see these velvet wall stickers from one supplier.  In the packet they looked great, the picture looked ok on the box and then we went to test the velvet wall stickers on a wall.

Sad face :(

Below are the pictures we took of the test pieces just one day after applying them.  We put a test piece on a smooth brick wall, onto a very smooth painted wood and onto a plaster wall.  All three samples were peeling off.

If anyone knows where we can buy some velvet wall stickers that actually stick please let us know because the velvet surface is funky as.

 

But if they don't stick then the product is not suitable as a quality wall decorating product.

Wall Stickers- a few home truths!

Over the past five years of running this business creating beautiful wall stickers for homes and offices, there are definitely some insights into wall stickers that we feel every customer should know.

Top 5 truths about wall stickers for the home or office

• Wall quotes are fiddly to apply.  No two ways about it, at some point you have to get that spirit level out and you need to line up those sentences.  High risk option for installing wall quotes would be to NOT use a spirit level and just guess that it is straight.
• Removable does not mean reusable.  We have bought wall stickers from many different wall sticker companies that say their wall stickers are repositionable and can be reused.  Yes, the wall stickers come off the wall- but honestly- if you repoisition a wall sticker, then don't count on that wall sticker being up for too long the second, third, fourth reposition.  Our top tip- think of your wall stickers as single use and it is a total bonus if you can move it successfully and have it stick well additional times.
• Bigger is not better.  The bigger the wall sticker, the harder it will be to apply.  The longer the sentences, the larger the single piece wall sticker, the bigger the kit- BIGGER IS HARDER to install. If you are a wall sticker novice think carefully before buying big.
• TEST TEST TEST.  Seriously, folks, test.  Use a sample.  Ask for a free sample.  We offer them for sure, and any legitimate business selling wall stickers will offer free test swatches.  It is free and it will give you peace of mind that you are spending money on a worthwhile product for your home or office decorating.
• Not all wall stickers are the same. The variety of wall stickers on the market is amazing and growing every day.  Please do not think that buying wall stickers from one business is the same as buying from another.  Cheaper wall stickers are made of paper or a thick vinyl and they don't stick for long.  Better quality wall stickers are a dream to have in your home and look absolutely gorgeous.  If you have had a disapointing experience with wall stickers, don't give up, simply try another company and get a free test swatch first.

We hope this helps you decorate your home or office with wall stickers.

Coming Soon- Two types of wall sticker vinyl

For the past 6 years we have supplied through our website Cool Art Vinyl, the highest quality interior decorating vinyl available.  This vinyl is perfect for commercial wall graphic installations and also for the residential wall sticker market.

This vinyl is ultra thin, it is a cast vinyl, which means it has the most pliable, flexible and conformable properties of any of the vinyls.  After testing all of our competitors products, we are the only ones offering this vinyl. 

This is because we specialise in office and commercial decorating spaces and we know what works and what doesn’t for long term, high use decorating spaces.

It is an awesome product that looks hand painted when applied and is truly stunning as an interior decorating vinyl.  We have always specialised in decorating for offices and living areas of homes using the cast vinyl products.

The next type of vinyl, is a thicker vinyl that is more plastic-like and appears more like a sticker- it does not look hand painted. It is not as conformable or pliable as the ultra thin high quality vinyl and it does not suit brick or painted plaster on brick walls.  We don’t recommend using the thicker vinyl for decorating the interiors of your home unless it is a kids room.  Any professional sign writer will tell you the same thing.  It is only the smaller businesses who have started selling wall stickers but don't understand the product who sell designs for decorating that are made of the thicker inferior vinyl.

Most of our competitors specialise in kids rooms and this is because they use the thicker cheaper vinyl.  This vinyl only works with plasterboard and we highly discourage using it for decorating general living areas other than kids rooms.

In the next few weeks we will be launching a new range of products in the thicker vinyl. The products we are designing will be temporary, single use, retail and commercial designs.  They suit special events such as weddings, promotions in shops, glass applications and expos.  You can use these in decorating kids rooms as they don’t need to be high quality for kids rooms- but we don’t recommend using the thicker style wall stickers if you want a classy stylish look in your general living areas.

Watch this space for the new range and if you want to talk to an expert about different vinyl types then call us on 1300 281 044.

Cool Art Vinyl is one of Australia's leading suppliers of wall stickers and interior graphics.

Wall quotes need the best quality vinyl to stick

We reckon we are pretty correct to say, we SPECIALISE in wall quotes.  We have made hundreds, installed hundreds and dream of hundreds of new ones all the time.

If there is one thing that ruins a good wall quote it is poor quality vinyl.

If you have bought wall lettering made of bad vinyl these are some of the symptoms:

• won't stick
• soon starts to peel up at the edges
• falls off

At Cool Art Vinyl we use the highest quality wall vinyl.  It is ultra thin and the lettering contours to the surface of the wall, sticking well and lasting for a long time- indoors they will last up to 10 years.

Okay, it is not a word, but check out this great example of a close up shot of our ultra thin vinyl.  See how it contours to the surface.

So if you have lettering made out of this, it sinks into the depths and peaks of the paint surface enabling MAXIMUM surface contact.  This is essential for long lasting high quality wall quote stickers.

The next image below is a sample snowflake we put up in about November- we made this is temporary removable vinyl which is thicker.

You can see the edges are just starting to lift up with all the changes in weather etc, and not having the maximum surface contact of the thinner vinyls the edges will lift.

Have you had any experience with your wall vinyl lifting off?   We would love to hear from you!

Removable versus Re-usable Wall Stickers

Another little post to help educate and explain some of the terminology you hear about wall stickers and wall decals.

A common misconception is about wall sticker products that are removable and those which are re-usable.

Basically ALL wall stickers are removable. 

Not all wall stickers are re-usable. 

If you want to take a wall sticker off the wall, keep it or reposition it, think about the technicalities of it.  The sticker will need to be strong and thick so that it won't stretch or break when you remove it.  It will need to have good adhesive so that it can come off and be used again.

If you are looking for wall stickers that look hand painted, and DON'T look like a wall sticker, then you have to look for proper wall decals that are made of thin vinyl that appears hand painted.

Proper wall decals are made from thin vinyl that when removed will stretch or will tear as you peel it off because it is not thick and chunky like the other wall stickers.

You need to choose.  Do you want a thick sticker that can be re-used?  OR do you want the hand painted effect.

Lettering and quotes should be made of the thin vinyl and cannot be repositioned.

If the product you are looking at says it is PEEL & STICK then it is made from thicker chunky vinyl that will hold its form when peeling and sticking and is normally repositionable.  But this vinyl normally looks like a sticker, not the classy hand painted look.

If the product says it come it comes with an application transfer tape this normally means it is proper wall vinyl.

If you have any questions on different vinyls feel to contact us.