Today's blog post is going to be one that should be quite simple to all the sign makers in the world; finishing banners. We will be looking at tackling banner tape, the very popular form of sewing, and the new form known as heat welding or sealing.

Banner tape is reinforced double-sided tape that can cost up to about $20.00 per roll. This product can actually be found on the MN Designs website for about $12.00 per roll. This method may prove to be a cheap way to finish your banners, but it can definitely be a nightmare. Most banner tapes are designed to bond banner material together, and although most perform quite well, there can always still be problems. In regards to being outdoors, banner tape just doesn't compare to sewing or heat sealing. You can also run the risk of dealing with puckering. This happens when you take two pieces of banner and attach them to each other with something that does not actually bond them together, like tape, and you roll the two surfaces up together, one of the surfaces puckers. This happens because the inside part of the rolled surface becomes compacted as you roll. Rolling the banner on a core (preferably 6") can help with this problem, but who has 6" cores!? Not to mention the fact that this adds to the shipping expense and the overall expense of the banner.

Sewing and stitching has been the accepted way of finishing banners since forever. The reasons for this are: a double-needle sewing machine has a low cost of entry, most people can run a sewing machine with a little bit of practice, and you can stitch just about anything. Sign makers can either buy their banners pre-stitched and pre-grommeted, or they can get their banners stitched and grommeted by an outside company. We here at MN Designs provide both services! Sewing provides a very strong and durable reinforcement for banners, and the outdoor lifetime is extraordinarily longer than banner tape.

Heat welding is considered by many to be the latest and greatest way to weld vinyl banners together. The process uses hot air (around 700 degrees) and with a small, flat pipe the system fires hot air between the two pieces of vinyl causing the top coat of the banner to melt. A roller follows, applying pressure to the two heated surfaces, forcing them to bond. The speed is great, and the finish is clean and very solid.

All three of the mentioned finishing banner techniques are offered through MN Designs!