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[dbchan]

I'm not a particularly gifted artist so I decided to print out some stickers for a logo on my shoulder armor. The armor is made of EVA foam and the stickers are printed on papillio inkjet-printable waterproof vinyl sticker paper.

The problem is that the stickers keep pulling upon one side. The armor is rounded but not so much that the stickers should be having trouble sticking. I'm thinking about giving it a clear coat to see if it helps hold it down but I'm a little hesitant, as I'm not sure how the stickers might react to a spray paint.

Do you guys think it will be okay to spray paint? Will it even help, or will it still pull up after? Should I use a glue on them on top of the existing adhesive?

[animenerd93]

mod podge it. spray wont help

[Midnight Dawn]

There are generally ever two reasons why any adhesion doesn't work.

Either A, it's a lack of friction or B, not smooth enough area which makes it difficult to stick.

Now pray paint is a really bad idea due to it's liquid nature as it'll just peel the sticker away.

So yes, I'd too agree with the mod podge or somehow increase the friction coefficient of your armor to allow it to stick better. But if this doesn't work, you can just try to glue it on.

Well I hope this helped.

[verdatum]

As far as helping it to stick, scuffing the armor with a scouring pad, wiping it clean with tack-cloth helps. If it isn't conforming around curves, vinyl stickers should be able to be heat shrunk into place a bit (haven't tried this, no promises).

professionally printed vinyl decals are often protected with a clearcoat. It also helps unify the appearance by leveling the surface. However, it's tough to say if your inkjet decals would survive. You can do a test, starting with a very light mist coat. This sometimes helps prevent paints from running.

Depending on your printer ink, Mod Podge could give you the same troubles. I'd test that too.