Printed magnets are seemingly everywhere these days, from promotional items like calendars and business cards to high end retail display applications. Printed magnetic media has found a home on the sides of refrigerators and file cabinets, as vehicle advertising, and as interchangeable messaging and promotion for in-store displays.

Surprisingly, many printers are still printing to vinyl media and laminating to the flexible magnet. This is a costly and unnecessary step. Today’s flexible magnetic media can be supplied with a high quality, printable vinyl surface that can be safely fed through wide format solvent, eco-solvent, UV, and latex inkjet printers with little to no modification to the printer.

Here are three reasons to consider printing directly to your flexible magnets:

Cost savings

The savings for printing directly to magnet can really add up. Having the manufacturer apply the vinyl to the magnetic sheeting removes an entire process from your production, thereby reducing labor and material costs while assuring you a smooth, bubble free final product. The reduction in labor, material, and potential rework costs will make you more competitive, shorten your lead times, and provide better margins.

Improved quality

By printing directly to the magnet, you’ve removed the laminating step that can frequently lead to problems. Oftentimes, mounting printed vinyl to vinyl coated magnet can lead to bonding issues, resulting in de-lamination of the top layer. Sometimes this appears as frayed edges, but in extreme cases it will result in the printed layer peeling off.

The extra layer of vinyl may also create an opportunity for the finished product to curl. The magnetic sheet and other layers may absorb heat and moisture differently and, if one of the layers expand or contracts differently than the others, this can result in curling. Your best bet is to reduce the risk of mismatched media by printing directly to the magnet.

Rochester Magnet helps make it easy!

We’ll help you get started! Contact us and one of our experts will guide you through the process. With a variety of thicknesses and widths up to 48”, we’ll make sure you get the right product for your equipment and process.