Most stickers hold on a job site if the surface is clean: standard vinyl on a clean hard hat, and High-Tack Stickers on powder-coated or textured equipment. Sun is what shortens the print's life, so place and design the sticker with that in mind. A site gives a sticker every problem at once: sun all day, dust everywhere, and equipment finished in the surfaces adhesive likes least.
Hard hats
Hard hats live in the sun, so expect the shorter end of the 3 to 5 years outdoors we quote. A hard hat shell is usually smooth enough for standard vinyl once it's truly clean, and hard hats are rarely clean. If a hat's plastic has rejected stickers before, High-Tack is made for low-energy plastics like that.
Wipe the spot with isopropyl alcohol and let it dry. Otherwise the adhesive bonds to dust and site grime instead of the shell.
Curved shells need smaller stickers. A large flat sticker on a tight curve lifts at the edges however well it went on. See stickers on curved surfaces.
Heavy equipment and scaffolding
Standard vinyl struggles on powder-coated and textured equipment, and most heavy equipment is one or the other. High-Tack is the same print with a much stronger adhesive, made for those surfaces.
If stickers have curled at a corner on a particular machine, the finish is the likely reason, and High-Tack is the usual fix. Pressing harder won't help.
Sun, and how to slow fading
Ultraviolet light fades print more than weather does. Two choices that cost nothing make a sticker last longer:
- Put it on the shaded side where you have a choice.
- Use dark on light instead of the reverse, because reds and bright colors fade first.
Cold and wet application
Adhesive has to flow to bond, and it doesn't flow well in the cold. On a winter site, press firmly and leave the sticker a day or two before anything stresses it. Wait 24 hours before it gets wet, and 48 hours before anything scrubs it. A sticker applied in the morning and pressure-washed that afternoon hasn't had a chance.
Pressure washing
A jet aimed at an edge will lift any sticker. Place stickers where a pressure washer's wand won't catch a corner.
How to apply a sticker so it stays on covers the steps.