Your Wall Art Australia: Installation Suggestions

CHOOSE ALMOST ANY SPOT TO SHOW YOUR PROMOTIONS!

Pick a smooth, dry and clean surface –The most traditional places include any wall, door, window or vehicle (do not block windshield). When placing your Photo Tex on a standard painted wall, make sure the wall has been previously primed prior to painting (otherwise the paint or adhesive may come off). Concerning newly painted surfaces, make sure you allow 30 days for out gassing preventing bubbling. If you place your Photo Tex on a pebbly, textured surface that has used eggshell paint or a very porous surface (i.e. brick, cement walls, stucco), you may receive poor results, although it has worked in most cases. So you may want to test first for a couple of days. Avoid placement above fireplaces. Outdoors use various on inks, especially any solvent or latex inks, so we recommend using a liquid lamination or clear coat for longevity (see below). You can overlap the material up to 1” or butt (as the material does not shrink or curl).

CLEAN IT BEFORE YOU STICK IT

Use a warm, damp cloth or sponge to clean the wall surface or window and allow it to completely dry. Make sure all previous cleaning solutions are completely gone. Outdoors we suggest you use a pump spray to save time. You can remove and replace the Photo Tex multiple times; however, once the adhesive collects too much dust, dirt or fibres it will become less effective and Photo Tex may not stick as well to your surface.

PEEL AND STICK IT

Depending on the size of your Photo Tex, it may be helpful to have two people install it. Try not to let the adhesive come together, or let Photo Tex fold up against itself. It’s okay if it does, you can separate it by carefully pulling it apart and you may want two people to do this on larger images. Start at the top of your Photo Tex Image and pull down approximately 4-6” of the backer and crease the back of the backer. Simply apply the 4-6” of exposed adhesive area to your chosen location. It can be repositioned many times. Once your square then continue to slowly pull the backer downward in 4-6” increments, smoothing the Photo Tex as you go. Depending on the size, it may be helpful if one person pulls down the backer, while the other smooth’s the image on the surface. You can use a plastic dry wall knife (like 6”-8”) to smooth out. If there are any bubbles or wrinkles, you can lightly press or smooth them out, or just peel back that area and re-apply. Please Note: Pressing too hard will not damage the Photo Tex; however, it may cause your hands to gather ink (due to the natural oils on your hands), and could transfer from your hands onto another surface.

SUGGESTIONS

If a bubble re-appears over the next day or two, pressing and lightly rubbing can remove it. This can happen occasionally if oil, dirt, or dust is on your surface. Use a sewing pin to pop the bubble, and then smooth it out with your fingers in a circular motion. In the very rare instance that bubbles keep re-appearing, you may want to move your Photo Tex to another area as there is something preventing the adhesive to stick. Most causes of bubbles are because the wall was painted within the last 30 days or cleaning chemicals where used prior.

OUTDOORS

With our US patented adhesive, you can place your Photo Tex on any outdoor, flat surface; however, it may fade after several months of strong sun exposure or rain. In the past water base/pigment ink has lasted up to 18 months before fading but the Latex and Solvent inks break-down a lot quicker. We strongly suggest you liquid laminate solvent and latex inks for outdoor use. The material will stay in place on a vehicle for a long time, but repeated car washes will eventually wear it out. To ensure your Photo Tex stays on a moving surface, it is very important to avoid air gaps during application. Simply use the back of a spoon to smooth it tightly into cracks and around bends. For your safety do not place Photo Tex on CAR windows.