Wall Stencils - all you need to know

What are wall stencils?

Wall Stencils or stencils for large areas are flat sheets in a various materials, where openings in the material have been cut according to certain graphics which allow precise painting on the wall. The removal of the template from the wall at the end of the painting reveals a clean and accurate example of the painted artwork. Preventing the move of the stencil is very important to prevent color spills and deviations from the requested graphics.

Wall graphics are familiar to us mainly in everyday life, in children's rooms, where walls are animated by paintings of animals and flowers, and in the urban world, on street corners and on bare walls painted with precise monochrome slogans and drawings.

Other places where you can see the use of wall stencils are direction signs on walls of parking lots, underground parking, signs on sidewalks and roads and signs of a viral advertising.

Types of paint application:

Spraying paint (Air brush) - using a spray tank, compressor and a pistol paint or air brush. In this method, it is more difficult to control the painting area and unnecessary paint spray in the background may dirty the wall that you paint. painting in this way requires using a stencil with large margins to cover these areas.

Brush paint - usually uses for manual paint when the paint is thin thick to use - varying paint thickness Allows to work in a thickness in which you can reach the corners of the stencil using the hair of the brush.

Painting with a sponge - Painting is usually done by hand by applying the saturated sponge to the stencil on the exposed areas. Painting in this way allows variable coverage and texture creation.

Roller paint brush - The roller is usually of a uniform cylindrical surface and is made of sponge (sometimes not completely pressurized), in which case the stencil should be thin enough for the paint to reach the surface.

Materials used for wall stancils:

Paper / duplex paper - disposable (one use) stencil, thickness of 0.3 mm, very cheap and accurate (can be detailed in a given area), medium or lower structural stiffness for use in spray, brush, roller or sponge.

Sticker - The sticker has two significant advantages: maximum adhesion to the surface to be painted, and the possibility of producing a non-continuous stencil (as is commonly used in letters 'O' and 'D', and in numbers '0', '8' and so).

gray / craft cardboard - stencil for several times use, thickness of 1.5 mm, very cheap and precise with structural rigidity, for use in spray, brush, or sponge.

Mylar - a paper thick polyester foil - 0.1 mm, very precise, very flexible that can be attached to a cylindrical surface for thin spray, brush or roller paint in a thin layer.

Polypropylene (PP) - A highly durable multi-time plastic stencil, thickness 0.3 mm to 1 mm, medium precision - does not allow very small detailing, has a moderate structural stiffness (flexible sheet) ,good for all types of applications (spray, brush, Roller or sponge).

Acrylic (Perspex) - a multi-time plastic stencil, thickness 1 mm to 15 mm. High precision, high structural hardness, spray paint, brush and sponge.

Magnetic stencil - a multi-time template, thickness 0.4 mm to 0.8 mm. High precision, for use with spray, brush, or sponge.
Ability to stick to metal surface such as columns, cylindrical surfaces, metal ceilings and more.

Silicone - 1 mm and 2 mm thickness. High precision, washable, heat resistant, for spray, brush, or sponge usage.

How does laser technology help us?

The ability to make precise cuts according to graphic files allows the creation of a template with a high level of detail, which is also reflected in the result obtained on the wall.

Laser cutting have many advantages:

• Customization and cheap manufacturing of individual stencils or non-industrial quantities. Even when it comes to industrial quantities it is cheaper to go through the laser development stages before producing a cutting tool.
• A high level of details that can not be reached by any other technology.
• A precision that can not be reached by hand.
• Repetition - the ability to cut the same stencil repeatedly without deviations.
• Maximum speed in the preparation of the stencil without the need to create other cutting tools (knife).
• A great deal of precision allows creating large stencils by combining several stencils together. In this way it is also possible to paint entire walls in a repeating pattern.
• A very simple process that leaves the designer / planner with all the design decisions at the planning stage on his computer in the graphic software he is used to working with.
• The possibility of cutting stencils from a very large number of materials (as described above) and adapting the material to the specific design of each stencil.

In conclusion, laser technology offers us many different options when it comes to wall hangings. The speed and simplicity of the process help us to execute and shorten the time that passes from the moment the idea or image comes to our mind and until we have a ready stencil.