Applications
Printed graphics on public transport work in a punishing environment. Passengers touch them, lean on them and sometimes deface them, and cleaning crews wipe them down with strong products on a tight schedule. A liquid coating specified for the real conditions helps keep advertising, wayfinding and interior branding presentable across a network. This page looks at the stresses specific to vehicles, stations and terminals.
Landor lists trains, planes, stations and airports among the environments that benefit most from protective coatings, on surfaces such as handrails, door push plates, tables, pillars, notices, wallcoverings, posters and warning signs. Its ColourShield Safetouch information adds staircases and escalators in airports and trains to the list.
These surfaces share three features: they are touched constantly, they are cleaned often and they are expensive to access for replacement, particularly when a vehicle has to be taken out of service. A coating that extends the useful life of the graphic reduces how often that has to happen. Landor’s guidance on high-traffic areas is that a coated print can typically last around twice as long as an unprotected one in the same environment.
Transport cleaning regimes can be harsher than those in offices or shops. Landor highlights alkaline degreasers used in transport depots as more demanding than ordinary surface cleaners, and notes that alcohol sanitisers, chlorine or quaternary ammonium disinfectants and solvent-containing cleaners can each affect unsuitable coatings differently.
Gloss, satin and matt describe appearance, not chemical resistance. Resistance depends on the coating formulation, coat weight, cure and the ink and substrate beneath. When a graphic will be rolled out across a transport network, Landor recommends a small compatibility test first: the actual print and coating, cured under normal production conditions, then repeated wipe cycles with the cleaners and cloths used on site. The article Which finish resists cleaning chemicals best? sets out what to look for.
Landor has long pointed out that touch transmission is a consideration in public places, from staff in a building to passengers on a bus. ColourShield anti-microbial coatings meet the criteria of ISO 22196 and are available in gloss, satin and matt, so they can be added to printed handrail wraps, door panels or seat-back graphics without changing the design.
They are designed to help inhibit bacterial growth on the coated surface. They do not replace cleaning, and normal cleaning and sterilisation practices should still be followed. Where a surface must not be damaged, Landor Phototex fabric can be supplied coated with Safetouch and removed later without harm to the surface underneath.
Station displays, platform panels and vehicle interiors are common targets for marker pens and spray paint. No coating can stop someone tagging a surface, but an anti-graffiti coating can make removal quicker and less damaging. Landor’s two-part water-based anti-graffiti coating is designed so many solvent-based paints can be cleaned off without harming the protective laminate. In Landor’s spot tests it showed no effect from acetone, toluene, gasoline or 5% ammonia over 10 minutes, and withstood more than 200 double rubs of MEK.
It is supplied in gloss and applied as a single top coat. Remove graffiti as early as possible, with a non-abrasive cloth and an approved cleaner, before paints have time to harden.
Not every transport graphic needs the same treatment. A short-term interior promotion has very different needs from a station wallcovering or a long-term vehicle interior. For a campaign lasting days or weeks in a benign location, leaving out protection can sometimes be justified. For permanent wayfinding, safety notices and branded interiors, protection is usually worth the modest extra cost, because access for replacement is so disruptive. For exterior vehicle graphics, see Landor’s fleet and vehicle graphics page.
Landor describes its ISO 22196 testing in terms of bacteria, not viruses. The coatings should be treated as a supplement to cleaning, not as protection against any particular illness.
Liquid laminates can be applied to installed graphics on a clean, dry surface. For transport interiors, coating before installation usually gives better control and less downtime.
As early as possible, with a non-abrasive cloth and an approved cleaner or Landor’s citrus-based graffiti remover. Avoid scouring pads and untested solvents.
Call +44 1252 624411 or email info@liquid-lamination.co.uk for advice, samples and pricing.
