Wholesale Black Out Fabric Printable Material
What are your options when it comes to black back fabrics? And what are the similarities and differences between those options? Find the answers here.
Banners have a real love/hate relationship with light. Too little and you can’t see them. Too much and you either risk glare (when the light source is at the front of the banner) or bleed, where light at the rear of the banner shines through tiny holes in the banner material.
When light bleeds through a banner, all the investment, creativity and effort that has gone into creating a powerful image is lost. Black out fabric (which you’ll increasingly see called block out (or blockout) fabric which is a rather better descriptor of what it does) is how you protect it.
How does blockout fabric work?
Black out fabrics achieve their light-limiting tasks through a combination of fabric layers, coatings and backings. The fabric is usually polyester. The coating will be resin or permanent adhesive.
The image is printed onto the polyester. The backing ensures opacity. And the coating adds protection (if required).
What are the similarities in block out fabrics?
First, and most importantly, they all block out light. Some do it well. Some do it exceptionally well.
Also, all our blockout fabrics are available in large format widths of up to 5m.
What are the differences between black back fabrics?
1. Density
Put simply, the greater the density, the less chance there is of light permeating the image. Whether you choose the highest density material or a slightly less dense banner is really a question of the impact you want to achieve.
For a product launch or similar, where you want the banner to deliver real punch, we’d suggest our highest density, highest opacity fabrics. Our Nightstar Onyx has a fabric weight of 260 g/sq.m. Our Nightstar Knitted Coated Fabric comes in at 280 g/sq.m.
2. Anti-yellowing
If your banner needs protection from the elements (or from exhibition delegates), a coating will do the job, but beware. Most transparent plastics gradually turn yellow when exposed to light (UV is the guilty party).
So when choosing coated black back fabrics, always look for high levels of anti-yellowing (levels 4 or 5).
3. Ink printability
The nature of some printable blockout woven textile fabrics is that some are suitable for a wide range of print processes, and some aren’t.
Nightstar Onyx, for example, has been designed for UV printing only. It’s the combination of UV inks and the blackout fabric that delivers the brilliant colours and high impact.
Our Black Backed textile, in contrast, is suitable for UV, eco-solvent and latex inks, while Nightstar Knitted Coated Fabric is printable using direct dyes, UV and latex.
Talk to Soyang, the backlit fabric specialists
Explore our wholesale blockout textile range. Then, for expert advice about the best choice for your application, talk to Soyang.
