Inkjet waterslide help

[Ale_jellybelly]

Last week I printed my first inkjet waterslides on Hayes clear inkjet waterslide paper.
It looked good, so I applied two light coats of acrylic spray and let it dry overnight.
Yesterday I finally had time to try and apply it to enclosures.
As soon as I drop the paper in water, I notice how the ink starts to wrinkle.
I applied it anyway and here's the result

So, wrinkles in the middle and cracks on the sides.

Second attempt went a bit better:

No "cracks" in the finish but a lot of wrinkles.

What am I doing wrong? Or, what has gone wrong?

 

[drgonzo1969]

Your water may have been too warm when you submerged the decal. I had that happen to me as well. I use room temp water or even cool to touch because warmer water can wrinkle larger decals like that.

 

[Ale_jellybelly]

Your water may have been too warm when you submerged the decal. I had that happen to me as well. I use room temp water or even cool to touch because warmer water can wrinkle larger decals like that.

I did have warm-ish water, I read on the paper's instructions to use 25-30°C water so that's what I tried to do
I'll give it another shot with colder water, this time
To the sandpaper!

 

[Diynot]

I typically spray a light mist of water on the enclosure to give myself a little more working/adjustment time so I can work out the wrinkles, usually with a damp paper towel or lint free cloth. On the ones I have done that I got cracking it was from stretching the film to far where it physically breaks the ink layer. It takes a quick but gentle hand.

 

[Ale_jellybelly]

I typically spray a light mist of water on the enclosure to give myself a little more working/adjustment time so I can work out the wrinkles, usually with a damp paper towel or lint free cloth. On the ones I have done that I got cracking it was from stretching the film to far where it physically breaks the ink layer. It takes a quick but gentle hand.

I did wet the enclosure with my finger before applying but it wrinkled anyway, especially the second one I took extra care in trying not to stretch it

 

[darwin999]

I noticed this thread, perhaps it might be of interest here (I haven't tried it):

Thread 'Sunnyscopa Inkjet Waterslide wrinkles when it dries :-/'

Feb 23, 2023

I've been using Papilio Inkjet waterslide decal paper for years but decided to try the Sunnyscopa paper because it's easier to find and slightly cheaper. I did the same process I had been doing for the Papilio paper. When I apply the decal there's often a little area around the drill holes where there's some drill flashing that causes the decal to not lay totally flat. Usually not a big deal with the Papilio paper because it pulls itself flat when it dries. The Sunnyscopa paper seems thinner and there were definitely places around the drill holes that were not laying flat, and when the...

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• Replies: 2
• Forum: General Questions

 

[Ale_jellybelly]

Second attemp went a little better

A lot less cracks, but still they appear as soon as I drop the paper in water. I used cool water this time.
Could it be too much clear coat? I sprayed it lightly, twice, in both directions, then again after an hour.

But if it is too much clear coat, then why the black ink has started to fade into a reddish colour here:


I waited more than 24 hours before applying clear coat so the ink should have been more than dry

 

[swelchy]

the cracks are your " Acrylic" coating not having any flexibility..... Watco clear lacquer is much better for this... and literally just one wet coat to seal the ink and it stays flexible... sunnyscopia for inkjet is what I use... after it dries a few topcoats of lacquer make it turn out nice!

 

[Ale_jellybelly]

the cracks are your " Acrylic" coating not having any flexibility..... Watco clear lacquer is much better for this... and literally just one wet coat to seal the ink and it stays flexible... sunnyscopia for inkjet is what I use... after it dries a few topcoats of lacquer make it turn out nice!

Being in Italy, all of the brands I've been recommended (rustoleum, watco, etc) aren't available, so I'm using a standard hardware store acrylic spray
Cracks aren't really that bad honestly, it's the ink fading and smearing that's bothering me

 

[swelchy]

Being in Italy, all of the brands I've been recommended (rustoleum, watco, etc) aren't available, so I'm using a standard hardware store acrylic spray
Cracks aren't really that bad honestly, it's the ink fading and smearing that's bothering me

Ah.. makes sense. Maybe they have a nitrocellulose lacquer type material in aerosol is available over there.. I know some of the best coatings in the world are made in Italy..