Specialty Vinyl Help Sheet

Some of the specialty vinyl (Diamond Plate, Chrome, Glow in the dark, Reflective, Chalkboard, Camouflage, Neon, Glitter, Ultra Metallic's, etc) has a tendency to "tunnel". Tunneling is where the vinyl edges will bubble up, or there will be what looks like pockets of air in between the vinyl and the backing.

This happens in all brands and all makes of specialty vinyl. It happens in regular gloss and matte vinyl too but it is very rare.

When the vinyl is wrapped around a certain object or rolled in general the vinyl will expand and contract. Then when the vinyl is unrolled it will contract but usually at a different rate than the backing, this causes it to "tunnel" or create air pockets. So, depending on your climate and how you store the specialty vinyl you may see signs of air pockets or tunneling.

This doesn't happen very often, but if you see tunneling or air pockets/bubbles slowly lift the vinyl away from the backing to release the air, then lay the vinyl back down on the backing. Be careful not to crease the vinyl if you use a squeegee when trying to remove the air.