A post I’d intended to preempt this one would definitely better details our vision for this home. I gotta get on that, I know it would be helpful to get inside our brains and understand the bigger picture. While this is a design philosophy that applies somewhat to the rest of the house and should rightfully be spilled into a design guide/inspiration board of sorts, I had really great plan brewing in my mind for Julia’s bedroom, the first of all the rooms that we’ve made an effort to get finished for her convenience, and her convenience alone. While light-walled, it’s still going to evolve to be a space full of color, with the accents in the room contributing the energy that every kid’s room needs. Thinking about the potential gets me all energized too.
To layer on some personality, I really, totally wanted to buy these large triangle graphic tiles by MUR and cover the wall behind her bed. And, just to be clear, I’d have totally duplicated the same style as shown below, because even though they are marketed as being adaptable and could be installed in any orientation and pattern, I often just don’t see the point in effing around trying to be cooler than what’s already been done. I also have no interest in trying to replicate the design with painter’s tape and a brush and 30 hours of my week. The vinyl and the design is downright rad, and it makes me want to settle in, relax and love being at home:
I’ve never been sold in on the idea of using wall graphics in the home; our last home was plenty busy with detail, and even though I’ve often eyed some of the graphics sold by BLIK, (for a long time I saw them featured on Fab) they never seemed like they would fit in. The ones I liked were too modern, or too bright, or the wrong palette, not to mention that I didn’t really have an ounce of free space to let them stand freely and uninterrupted, which is what I think the cooler graphics really deserve.
I’ve also had my fair share of vendors approach me, asking me to try their adhesive products for no cost, and even then, as nice as it is to test something risk-free, I declined offers because I plain didn’t want any. So, there, that backstory. I have no experience with vinyl graphics, right hand raised, vinyl graphics virgin.
Of course, now I sort of wish now that I had tested one or two out, just to see first-hand what validity this next statement holds:
Vinyl wall graphics from MUR do not adhere well to low- or zero-VOC paints.
Wha-the-what? That’s what I read on MUR’s FAQ page, the last page I curiously poked through on its site before hitting the critical B-U-Y button on a not so inexpensive order. In pink. That Julia picked out happily. And we all did cartwheels over.
Apparently, there’s something to do with how the low- and zero-VOC concoctions are formulated to repel things from the painted surface (and while I can’t find the same memo on BLIK’s website, maybe they have a superior vinyl product, I’ve found reference to issues in plenty of other articles on the internets). Humph, so in an effort to prime and eventually paint in this “green” and health-conscious way, I might have just eliminated the opportunity to actually adhere a design to the surface as a longer term accent feature. I don’t really want to “test” the fact myself with a $140 vinyl order.
So, this is why I’m crowd-sourcing for real life experience from all of you vinyl graphic loving people: Is this really so? Did you try vinyl clings on zero-VOC with a sad result? Did you try them over low-VOC products and have no problem? What about BLIK, is that better? Do you have any alternate products (that are equally as cool!) that are proven to adhere to low- and zero-VOC products? Help a girl out, and thank you in advance.
9 Comments
Vinyl graphics also don’t adhere well/sometimes at all to flat wall paint! Found that one out after some expensive custom vinyl didn’t stick to our freshly painted studio door. I thought the tooth on the surface would work like a champ… le sigh. That’s too bad it’s a cute pattern!
Hmn. I don’t know much about the whole vinyl-VOC paint issue, but Hygge & West has BEAUTIFUL removable wallpaper tiles, without any caveats about type of paint they can be applied to–
http://www.hyggeandwest.com/collections/removable-wallpaper-tiles
Gah! I wish I had seen this earlier. I saw the spot last night – I even paused and “rewound” it when my husband got all confused as to why I was “awwing” at an HGTV commercial, haha. I’ll pause and snap a pic if I catch it again!
Makes my day! :)
I am a professional vinyl graphics installer with 35 years of experience. The best paints for vinyl to adhere to are semi-gloss and gloss, with a good primer coat, smooth as can be and at least 5 days to cure. Having said that, the newer low voc and zero voc paints are rendering vinyl graphics useless. I have two bad experiences lately after several thousand good ones and the difference is the new paints. I am working with 3M and Avery to develop a new adhesive solution for the problem. For the time being I am afraid there may not be a good answer.
Wow. If you end up manufacturing a solution, I would be thrilled to hear about it!
Low to No VOC paints have chemistry in them to go on smooth and repel smudges, fingerprints, dust. The chemistry that does this, also as a byproduct repels the adhesives in most (if not all) wall graphics. I design wall graphics (among other things) for a living. We do large interiors for commercial spaces mainly and No to Low VOC paints are a nightmare. Imagine running multiple floors worth of graphics for a large Corporate Office to have them drape and peel in under a week. Thousands of dollars down the drain and into the land fill. Oracal is also doing research (along with 3M and Avery as Rob states).
For those of you using VOC paints egg shell works as well. As stated before it needs time to outgas. If you put vinyl on a freshly paired wall, as the paint cures it emits gas that gets stuck between the wall and the graphic. This can have 2 results, 1 it will cause the graphic to fail or 2 it will fuse the graphic to the paint so well you will not be able to remove it.
How long do you recommend allowing for outgas? Thanks for the informative comment!
VOC or green paints are a real problem in the industry right now. I am sure the manufacturers will address this with new adhesives as this market is much too large to ignore.
There is one type of vinyl right now that works best with green paint and that is the Graphtex repositionable vinyl. However this vinyl cannot be used on applications that would require a mask/transfer sheet The mask will not adhere to this vinyl making liner release impossible.