Sunnyscopa Inkjet Waterslide wrinkles when it dries :-/

[G.G.]

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 decal dried these areas became large and unsightly wrinkles. Anybody who has experience with their inkjet waterslide paper have tips they can share? I put decals on 4 enclosures and they all wrinkled except one. Right after placing the decal on that one I noticed it was off center. I put the enclosure back in the water bath to remoisten the decal, which caused the decal to come completely off the enclosure. So I carefully pulled it out of the water and re-applied it. Seemed like the edges were starting to peel up so I thought I accidentally washed all the adhesive off, but ironically that was the only one of the 4 that dried perfectly flat.

 

[Cybercow]

Until I went with a laser jet printer, I was using inkjet and inkjet waterslides - always Sunnyscopa. In the beginning, they wrinkled horribly as they began to dry - but always went perfectly flat when completely dry. Baffling.

Then I learned about Micro Scale wetting agents/surficants. A surficant is a standard adhesion enhancer for waterslides. I like the MicroScale products - Micro-Set & Micro-Sol. Micro-Set is the start solution and Micro-Sol is for irregular surfaces. The trick is use warm (not hot) water when soaking the decals. Just before soaking the decal, use a small clean paint brush and apply the solution to the surface of the enclosure. After ~30 seconds of decal soaking, apply the decal to the wetted enclosure surface.

The Micro-Sol is really good on the rough/sandy textured enclosures.

 

[G.G.]

I think I have some Micro Sol somewhere, I'll see if I can find it and give it a shot. Thanks!