DIY Windshield Banner Installation!

Installation instructions for banners! This guide should work for any car or truck.

for starters you will need a few supplies.

• Felt Tipped squeegee ( http://straitupd.bigcartel.com/product/vinyl-application-squeegee)
• Water bottle with a small amount of dish soap 
• Masking tape 
• Razor Blade 

Now that you have your banner and supplies all ready to go you should start by cleaning the surface where the banner will be getting installed. If there is any dust or dirt under the sticker it will show through in the banner itself. So once the window is all clean you can place your banner centered and use a pice of masking tape to align it. I like to have the vinyl go about 1/4 inch above the top - outside edges of the windshield. 

With the banner in place take one side and flip it over to peal the backer off and trim the backer off of that one side. Spray plenty of water on the back side of the sticker and the glass where the banner is to be applied. This will give you some time to move the banner around a little bit and when you squeegee the water out it will take the air bubbles out with it. 

Squeegee some of the water out starting at the center and moving to the outside, now it will not move from the glass. Now repeat these steps for the other side of the window.

Squeegee as much of the water out of the banner as possible, use the felt end of the squeegee only so it does not scratch the banner, when squeegeeing to the edges you will start seeing the line for the window trim, this is where you use your razor blade and hand trim the outside edges, you may notice some extra water there continue to squeegee all of this water out. Now wipe the window down and you should be ready to go! 

Now you have a sweet banner; feel free to take photos and show your friends how cool you are!

Vinyl Installation DIY

I have been doing vinyl for about 10 years now, and I have seen just about every way to prep and install it. I have developed my own way to apply it without having any issues with wrinkles or bubbles, and also keeping correct alignment. Below are a few simple steps to apply vinyl to a flat surface.

When you get your vinyl from Straitup D, either by mail or when you pick it up, it will be on a roll. This helps save space for shipping and prevents damage.

Step 1
Unroll the vinyl and place it face down on a flat surface. Squeegee from the center up and down overlapping each stroke slightly. It is important NOT to get ahead of yourself. This process will get out any of the wrinkles that may have formed from it being rolled up.

Step 2
Now that you have your vinyl ready, place it over where it is going to be applied. Measure it to be sure it is in the right spot. For this application, I am centering it on the back window of a car.

Step 3 

Now that you have the graphic where you want it, place a strip of painters tape across the middle of the graphic (as the photo show below).

Step 4
With the graphic taped on the glass take one side and tear the tape (I started on the right side) and flip it over to the opposite side. Always peal the backer away from the graphic. After you have the backer pulled from half of the graphic, cut the backer as shown below.

Step 5
For the application itself hold the backer at less than a 45 degree angle to the glass, and with your squeegee work your way from the inside to the outside slowly with firm pressure. Work the squeegee up and down slightly overlapping each stroke until you get the the end of the graphic. Use the tape that was ripped as an alignment to be sure that the graphic is going down straight.

Step 6

For the opposite side, follow the same as step 5, rip the tape, flip and peel the backer from the graphic, and slowly and firmly squeegee the graphic into place. 

Step 7

Pealing the pre-mask, start on one of the corners and slowly peel it at a low angle. Be sure that the vinyl is staying down while pealing the pre-mask.

Step 8

Enjoy your new graphics!