What are clear coatings and liquid laminates?

Clear coatings, liquid laminates or Giclee varnish are an inexpensive way to protect your prints, digital wall coverings and fine art reproduction. These could be canvas, signs and banners and also soft signage, such as truck sides and awnings.

Liquid laminates are cost effective, easy to apply, and do not require expensive equipment. Some can even be applied by a hand roller.

Liquid laminates feature the most current innovations in ultraviolet light absorbers and light stabilisers that offer protection for many products.

Use liquid laminates for:

• Digital inkjet output

• Printed and airbrushed products

• Truck curtain sides

• Traditional signage and graphic art applications including canvas

• Vehicle graphics (vehicle wraps)

• Digital wall coverings (wallpaper)

• Indoor and Outdoor protection plus anti graffiti protection

  Landor are the UK and European distributors and currently offer, ClearShield® and ClearJet®, premium grade, high-performance products. They have been specially developed to:

• Protect inks from ultraviolet exposure

• Protect inks from abrasion and marring

• Provide resistance to chemicals and water

• Enhance Digital images

• Refresh images

Film lamination adheres to the printed media and comes in two types; Pressure Sensitive adhesive that only needs pressure to stick, or Heat Sensitive type that is only sticky when heat is applied. In some cases the added rigidity of film lamination does not meet the criteria for the applications, for example Digital Wallpaper, Canvas, Truck Curtains and Vehicle Graphics.

The natural bond of liquid laminates, without the use of pressure/heat sensitive adhesives, as with film lamination, plus its greater flexibility when applying onto most surfaces, can make Liquid lamination more suitable than conventional lamination film.

Film lamination is more suitable when rigidity is needed for example with Pop Up displays, however if adhesive bond, de-lamination or compatibility of laminates to the printed substrate is an issue, then Liquid lamination can be a safer option.