Inkjet printed vinyl

[SammyInnit]

Hi all,

I've been trying to use my inkjet printer to print my own stickers. I got myself some 'water proof self adhesive vinyl' from eBay that is sold as inkjet printable. The only thing it says is it should be used with colour fast ink an as far as I'm aware the genuine Epson ink I have is colour fast.

I printed off a sheet of the same repeated image and it just smudges. A couple weeks back now and it will still smudge if you rub it hard enough.

The printer I'm using is an Epson Stylus Photo 1500w so by no means a cheap or incapable printer.

I do the odd print on glossy photo paper up to A3+ and it's touch dry out of the tray so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with this. Have I been sold duff vinyl or is the ink just not the right stuff?

I've got 5x sets of cheaper 'refill' ink to try next as a full set of genuine Epson ink is £100. I'm wondering if that will be any better suited.

I also have a printer purely for sublimation but I'm not sure if that ink (dye) is going to work at all.

 

[footprints]

Maybe check your printer properties to see if there is a vinyl set up if you are printing on photo quality it may be applying too much ink, try setting to a lower quality.

 

[foxhole]

Epsom durabrite ink claims to be smudge resistant but not proof, maybe spray stickers after printing with a laquer ( clear varnish spray for cars.)