Reflective Material Guide By Application
XW Reflective is a leading reflective material manufacturer from China, specialized in enclosed glass beaded type reflective sheeting and reflective fabrics. The reflective materials of XW Reflective are mainly applied in kinds of roadway safety, such as city roads’ reflective traffic signage, high reflection highway reminder signs, reflective barricade, license plate, reflective construction warning signage & reflective traffic cones; or used as reflective commercial signs for emergency reflective exit signs, number letters, graphics signs, etc.
Reflective fabrics products are mainly used for personal safety, the representative reflective fabric product is a safety vest. But now, high visibility clothing begins to be popular in the normal cloth fashion, in order to protect people from the accident in public areas.
If you are looking forward to a reflective fabric manufacturer, please feel free to contact us for more detail about reflective material.
♦ Applications of Reflective Material & Luminescent Film
Reflective material is divided into reflective sheeting and reflective fabric according to the different backing material making, and their application is different, the reflective fabric is mainly used for clothing, shoes, helmets such personal products in daily life, but reflective sheeting is mainly used for road safety and some traffic tools, transport tools such as car, bike, truck, trailer engineering vehicle, etc.
Reflective material is divided into reflective sheeting and reflective fabric according to the different backing material making.
The reflective fabric is softer than reflective sheeting, can be used for reflective clothing fashion, and can be cut as reflective tape to decorate the fashion clothing or made as sportswear, safety raincoat, safety vest, safety jacket directly. In addition, the reflective fabric can be made as iridescent fabric or holographic fabric, which is popular in reflective fashion clothing and reflective rainbow bag.
The reflective sheeting vinyl can be made as a suitable reflective vinyl according to the real application. Some reflective acrylic sheeting has features of screen printing, plotter cutting, die-cutting, can be used for reflective road signs, engineer grade reflective film, temporary traffic signing, construction zone signage; and some others reflective sheets apply in highway high intensity warning traffic signs, embossed license plate, and street signs according to their reflectivity or digital printing feature.
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Reflective Tapes FAQ Guide
Reflective tape is one of the unsung heroes of safety through its brilliant characteristics of reflecting light.
It’s used to mark off areas and items by reflecting light to its source using its impeccable characteristic of casting light back to its source.
From police clothing to external garments, fire servicemen clothing, vehicles, and helmets, reflective tape uses are virtually endless.
At a glance, the reflective tape uses glass beds to reflect light to the source and keep the users safe – whether during morning hours, noon or night. At the same time, it sticks to a wide range of surfaces – ranging from steel to Aluminum and surfaces with paint.
In this article, we’ll dig through the commonly asked questions about the reflective tape and its myriad of functionalities.
You can click to know more about the processing method of reflective fabric.
At a glance, the tape uses either glass beads or minute and microscopic prisms that reflect light to the source.
When light is shined down the surface, thousands upon thousands of micro glass beads or prisms gather the light rays and bounce them back along the same path.
Whether it’s in the morning, noon or evening, the glass beds or prisms reflect light to the source and enhance the user’s visibility.
The reflective tape is one of the unsung heroes of safety, and it has a virtually endless myriad of functionalities.
Keep in mind that the reflective tape has incredible resistance to weather and temperature changes and can resist adverse weather conditions, including moisture and heat.
The most common ones include the following:
- Walkways
- Ledges
- Clothing
- Bicycles and motorcycles
- Helmets
- Safety vests
- Safety jackets
- Casual clothing
- Outdoor wear
- Life vests
- Bags and shoes
The reflective tape is durable and will stick to even rugged surfaces. Its design is geared to make it withstand temperature changes, and it won’t fade in the sun.
At the same time, the reflective tape won’t peel in heavy rain, so you should not be worried about using it in areas prone to having lots of downpours.
Remember that different reflective tapes have varied angular reflection levels since some have higher reflectivity, while others have low values. For this reason, the reflective tapes are given different warranties – ranging from five years, seven years and ten years – due to the difference in durability.
Nonetheless, the tape that tops the durability list is the flame retardant suitable for operation in high-temperature areas. It is composed of a durable aramid fabric backing that can withstand incredibly high temperatures, hence ideal for firefighting.
Correct application is crucial to ensure that the reflective tape adheres to the surface appropriately. This also helps ensure that the warranty stays valid.
The preliminary step is having the right tools such as scissors or a sharp knife for cutting the tape and a roller to apply some pressure across the ⅛surface of the tape.
Before preparing the surface, ensure that the temperature is between 10°- 38°C to avoid pre-adhesion. The optimum value of temperature should be 50°C.
Surface preparation entails washing the surface to remove any dust and dirt using clean water and detergent, then drying using a clean towel. The most crucial step here is ensuring that the surface is completely dry before you start the application process.
Once you’ve cleaned and dried the surface, remove the tape liner and position the tape on the application surface. Tack it down gently and use your hands to press the tape onto the application surface.
If there are any uneven surfaces such as hinges or protruding parts, cut down the tape to about ⅛” to prevent buckling.
Often, when it comes to traffic regulation and safety, reflective tapes are top of the items used to increase vehicles’ visibility at night.
Different countries impose various regulations on using reflective tapes on motorists and trucks to ensure that motorists do not miss them. What’s more important is that these reflective tapes don’t have to look unpresentable on the objects; they can be applied decoratively and fashionably to enhance the visual appeal.
When a ray of light hits a reflective tape, the light bounces back along the same path and lets people know that a vehicle or bike is ahead of them.
Its greatest perk is that the reflective tape can be used in many ways and are durable; hence it can still function even when scratched accidentally.
At a glance, the reflective tapes are placed on vehicles to increase their visibility at night and bikes, and motorcycles use it to enhance riders’ visibility. Additionally, they’re used on helmets and affixed with reflectors to improve visibility in the dark.
For motorists, judging sharp corners can be a daunting task at night; hence the reflective tape is placed on roads to show sharp turns at night. The fire retardant reflective tape is sewn on firefighters’ clothing for safety purposes when extinguishing fire.
One major perk of the heat transfer vinyl film is made for graphic designs and can be customized. You can transfer the animal patterns, logo and stripe patterns onto the fabric. You can also transfer to shoes, safety vets, reflective shirts and reflective clothing.
Xing Wei is a professional reflective tape supplier that specializes in the research and development of reflective tape.
Since 2010, our designers and engineers have fine-tuned the manufacturing process to help create the finest reflective tape quality.
With various certifications like the ASTM D4956, EN 12899 and ISO 9001, XW Reflective commands a colossal clientele and has expanded the sales channel to over 20 countries globally.
If you have any reflective tape needs, don’t hesitate to contact us for shipping and delivery information.
Removing the tape depends on the surface to which you stuck the reflective tape and is, in most cases, as easy as the application process.
For most surfaces, the tape will be removed by careful peeling. On other surfaces like metal, you use metal to peel the tape’s edge through careful tugging.
First, ensure you have the correct tools such as a scalpel, safety glasses, protective gloves and glasses, any recommended solvent and paper towels.
Using the scalpel, peel off the marking from one edge and start peeling it off in gentle stroked toward the direction of the peel. Pull the loose marking at an angle of approximately 45 degrees while stroking the scalpel back and forth.
Once you’ve peeled off the tape, remove the adhesive by spraying the solvent onto the adhesive residue and allowing it to soak for about 3 to 5 minutes. Use the scalpel to scrape off the adhesive as you wipe the residue off onto the paper towel.
Keep in mind that you should repeat this process about four times to remove all the adhesive and ensure the surface’s uniformity.
The PVC prismatic tape is compatible with outdoor wear, life vests, bags and shoes. It has the advantage of water resistance as it provides high visibility even in wet conditions.
Besides, the acquisition price is lower than that of other PET reflective, and its maintenance reaches up to 60 cycles of washing.
The flame retardant reflective tape is suitable for flame resistance. It’s made of micro-glass beads attached to a durable fabric.
Firefighters can wear it during fire extinguishing activities, and apart from resisting heat and flame, it enhances visibility during daytime and night time.
The fluorescent color improves visibility when applied to reflective clothing and a safety vest.
It meets international standards of aesthetics, light reflectivity and comfort of the fireman.
One of the requirements for having reflective tape used on sportswear is that it should be eye-catching.
Although various colors are used on the reflective tape for clothing, the most common color is the grey one used on the safety vest, sportswear, and police vest. They are made of super-thin spandex and polyester that gives them a wide-angle and soft feature.
In other words, even if the distance from the light source to the object is enormous, there is a significant enhancement for the visibility of the sportsman.
The material is stretchable to make it comfortable for the user to do exercises like jogging along any path with minimal discomfort.
Additionally, it is suitable for traffic policemen workers on road construction and running vests at night time.
One major perk of this reflective fabric is its maintenance as the washing time reaches 25 times for home washing.
Taping the trailer depends on the existential regulations on your state. If the local guidelines are specific, tape the upper rear and lower part of the trailer using 300 mm long strips positioned vertically and horizontally.
If there are no guidelines, tape along the side edges in evenly spaced patterns to enhance visibility while on the road.
As a conspicuity tape, the reflective tape reflects the light of vehicles behind the trailer to know the driver’s driving information.
In the case of reflective vinyl, you can print some information on the reflective vinyl so that others can know the message you want to send to them, like “Heavy truck turning.”
The reflective barricade tape has a wide range of usage in daily road safety, driving safety and construction engineers.
It reminds drivers to keep off passerby walks from a long distance and reminds them of sharp turns that might be difficult to judge, especially at night.
At the same time, the reflective barricade tape has different functionalities when used by side streets of zebra crossing as it shows a strong visual, eye-catching and conspicuous effect.
Besides, it has a wide-angle reflection to enable drivers to read traffic information in real-time. If there is some road construction, the reflective barricade tape can be used on temporary road traffic signs, commercial applications and barriers.
When it comes to taping bikes, one significant advantage is that the reflective tape is available in a wide range of patterns and colors.
Riding a bike at night is, often, a great experience. But when you’re riding in a place full of drivers on your way home during the evening exercise, perhaps the rear-facing red light and front-facing white light won’t be sufficient.
For this reason, it’s essential to tape strips along the spokes, frame and helmet to make you more visible. This approach will enhance your visibility, and you may not need any other special garments to increase your visibility in the dark.
Besides having a pocket-friendly factory price, taping the helmet is especially useful because of its higher reflection coefficient.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your reflective tape shouldn’t be a burden or a waste of space. Its versatility and longevity should make it handy for you to have it at all times.
You might put it in the drawer, roll it in the garage or store it in your vehicle’s trunk. Nonetheless, if you want to reduce the amount of tape you have, put it at work by marking off sections, labeling emergency supplies or adding safety stripes to your clothing.
It is best to wash the garments inside out to avoid damaging the reflective tape.
While the reflective tape might be water and abrasion-resistant, it cannot withstand repeated cycles of washing the fabric using hard scrub.
Therefore, avoid fabric softener and make sure always to wash it inside out.
Typically, the reflective tape is resistant to adverse weather conditions such as extreme temperature and rainfall.
During application, ensure the temperature is between 10°- 38°C to prevent pre-adhesion. Unless the reflective tape is the fire-retardant category, avoid exposing it to too high a temperature.
Yes, the reflective tape has a mechanism that enables water to slide off it. In the event of a heavy downpour, the reflective tape won’t peel in the rain.
