Let It Snow?

As we enter into the last month of 2017, a dreaded date for some is December 21, the beginning of winter. Nadco is located in the Sunshine State of Florida, south of Tampa, and we very rarely get snow (flurries). Due to Florida’s low latitude and subtropical climate, temperatures cold enough to support significant snowfall are infrequent and their duration is fleeting. However, for those who think it never snows in Florida would be mistaken. The earliest recorded instance of snow in Florida occurred in 1774; being unaccustomed to snow, some Jacksonville residents called it “extraordinary white rain.”

With the exception of the far northern areas of the state and the Jacksonville area, most of the major cities of Florida have never recorded measurable snowfall, have only recorded trace amounts, or have only reported flurries in the air, usually just a few times each century. In the Florida Keys and Key West there is no known occurrence of snow flurries since the settlement of the region. While light snowfall occurs a few times each decade across the northern panhandle, most of the state is too far south of the cold continental air masses responsible for generating snowfall in the rest of the country. The mean maximum monthly snowfall in most parts of Florida is zero. The only other areas in the continental United States with this distinction are extreme southern Texas and parts of coastal southern California.

Still, we’re hoping for a little of the “white rain”.

Why Turkey For Thanksgiving?

In 1621 the Pilgrims of Plymouth had a celebration that is considered the First Thanksgiving. Colonist William Bradford noted in his journal that there were definitely wild turkeys in the Plymouth area. Since Bradford wrote of how the colonists had hunted wild turkeys during the autumn of 1621 and since turkey is a uniquely American (and scrumptious) bird, it gained traction as the Thanksgiving meal of choice for Americans after Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863. The birds are large enough that they can feed a table full of hungry family members, and unlike chickens or cows, they didn’t serve much utilitarian purpose like laying eggs or making milk.

Thanksgiving is also the time to give thanks and reflect on all the blessings we have. All of us at Nadco are thankful for our family, friends, and of course our customers. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Halloween Safety Tip – Use Reflective and Glow Tapes.

With Halloween just around the corner, parents should be thinking safety for their little ones. The number one hazard is kids being hit by cars because drivers simply didn’t see them. To keep them safe, supply children with flashlights and accent costumes and candy bags with reflective or glow in the dark tape. With a little imagination you can create an entire homemade costume with reflective or glow tape. The reflective tape will glow in the beams of a car’s headlights making your child easy to spot.

Reflective tapes reflect light in one of two ways – glass beads or micro prisms. Glass bead tapes are the oldest and most common reflective tape. These tapes reflect light via thousands upon thousands of small glass beads embedded into the tape. Each glass bead reflects light back to the source. Microprism tapes are called “Prismatic Tapes”. They are the brightest of all the tapes. These films utilize small prisms that reflect light back to the source in higher concentrations than glass beads. Because the micro prisms are man-made, the angle of reflectivity can be adjusted depending on the tapes intended use.

Don’t settle for only what you can find in the store. Nadco offers reflective tape in many colors and sizes. We can also print any color on reflective or glow tape. Now is the time to start creating the ultimate costume with reflective and glow tape.

Let’s (Pet) Rock

September 3rd was Pet Rock Day.

Conceived in 1975 by advertising executive Gary Dahl, Pet Rocks are smooth stones gathered from Mexico’s Rosarito Beach. They were marketed like live pets, in custom cardboard boxes, complete with straw and breathing holes. Dahl’s biggest expense was the die-cutting and manufacture of the boxes. The rocks only cost a penny each, and the straw was nearly free. The fad lasted about six months. Although discontinued by February 1976, Dahl sold 1.5 million Pet Rocks for $4 each, and became a millionaire.

Pet Rocks came with a 32-page official training manual titled “The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock”. The manual was full of gags, puns and jokes, and contained several commands that could be taught to the new pet. While “sit” and “stay” were effortless to accomplish, “roll over” usually required a little extra help from the owner. “Come,” “stand” and “shake hands” were found to be near-impossible to teach; however, “attack” was fairly simple (with additional help from the owner). The owners also found that potty-training their pet rocks was fairly simple, given that they were, in fact, rocks.

The Pet Rock became available again on September 3, 2012.

You don’t have to be a millionaire to get your idea into reality. Nadco routinely creates 1-off labels, prototypes and tapes for small, budget conscience runs.

10 Days, 42 Days, Next Day

10 Days – There’s only 10 days left before the solar eclipse. On Monday, August 21, 2017, all of North America will be treated to an eclipse of the sun. This path, where the moon will completely cover the sun can be seen over most of the middle of the U.S. Observers outside this path will still see a partial solar eclipse where the moon covers part of the sun. If you plan on watching, make sure you use proper eye protection.

42 Days – There’s only 42 days until the Autumnal Equinox. Even though many people consider Labor day to be the end of Summer, it’s the Autumnal Equinox that truly marks summer’s  end. Friday, September 22, 2017 is the Autumnal Equinox and marks the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. There are two equinoxes every year – in September and March – when the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is nearly equal.

Next Day– In many instances we can have the order in your hands the next day. Here at Nadco we pride ourselves on getting your job in your hands as soon as possible. We’ve completed jobs that came in one morning and went out the next afternoon. Granted they were local and picked up the job themselves, but it shows our concern for your timeline. We will do what it takes to not only earn your business, but to keep it.

Stick It – Adhesive Talk

When most people think about tape or labels, if it sticks it works. But there’s a lot more to the adhesives used in tapes and labels than just being sticky.

The adhesive that makes your label or tape stick can have varying levels of grip, shelf life, and longevity depending on the intended use. The adhesive can also be made from a variety of materials either man made or natural. In this post, we’ll look at Rubber, Silicone, and Acrylic.

Rubber – Natural or Synthetic
Natural rubber: used in the cheapest tapes on the market

• Has a higher tack (“stickyness when dry”)
• Limited UV resistance
• Dries out quickly (6 – 12 months)

Natural rubber adhesives are used in duct tapes and low-temperature masking tapes.

Synthetic rubber:

• Hot-melt – low-temp melting plastic, ages poorly, brittle, low UV resistance.
• Solvent-rubber – better temp and aging, poor UV resistance
• Butyl rubber – excellent UV and aging resistance, lower mechanical strength

Silicone
Compared to acrylic and rubber adhesives, they are significantly more expensive, but due to their excellent high temperature performance they are very well suited to splicing tapes, masking tapes and Kapton tapes.

• High flexibility (low modulus) at sub-ambient temperature
• Consistent performance over wide temperature range
• Excellent aging and UV resistance
• High temperature resistance
• Good resistance to solvents

Acrylic
Acrylic adhesives can either be water-based or solvent-based and are generally divided into two subgroups: Pure and Modified

Pure acrylic

• Reasonable adhesion to a wide range of substrates (see modified acrylics below)
• Good aging and UV resistance
• Reasonable temperature resistance
• Lower tack and less adhesion on hard-to-bond plastics (high- and low-density polyethylene (HDPE & LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) ). Pure acrylic adhesives are mainly used on tapes whose applications are bonding, sealing or surface protection.

Modified acrylic

Modified acrylics have the same characteristics as pure acrylics, but have superior adhesion to the hard-to-bond-plastics mentioned above. Generally, these are more expensive than pure acrylics and are used for plastic bonding, lamination and splicing.

So there you have it. I hope some of this information sticks with you.

Industry Definitions

NADCO®, like most companies, has industry terms and jargon, but what does it all mean? What does it mean to have your label kiss-cut versus die-cut? Or the 4-Color Process versus the 7 Spot Color Printing Process? Below you will find many of our industry terms and their definitions:

Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive: If an adhesive is pressure-sensitive it means that the adhesive will form a bond when pressure is applied to have the adhesive adhere to the selected surface.

Spot Color Printing: Spot coloring is any one color created by an ink that is printed using a single specific pantone color. This process is normally used when the label design calls for a specific color or the design doesn’t have complex shading.

4-Color Process: This process is the mixture of 4-colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (Black)) to create different colors and shades. This is used when the label design calls for several different colors and complex shading.

Die-Cut: Much like a cookie cutter, a die cut is used to cut the label into irregular shapes and leaves a matrix of liner exposed around the label.

Kiss-Cut: If a label is kiss-cut, it means that the top layer was cut to the liner below and no matrix of exposed liner is left behind.

Flexographic Printing: This process utilizes a flexible relief plate and that plate is rotated on a cylinder and involves a series of rollers transferring and metering the ink. Essentially it is a more modern version of the original letterpress printing process.

Digital Printing: This printer process deposits toner, in some cases, onto the substrate (material); basically the toner forms a thin layer on the surface through a heating process.

Foil Stamping: This is the application of metallic film or foil onto a surface by applying a heated dye or adhesive (cold foil) which makes it permanently adhere to the surface below leaving the design desired.

 

The difference between our Anti-Slip Tapes.

Anti-Slip Tape is an extra precaution in accident prone locations, like ladders, decks, ramps, bathtubs and stairs. These materials are made to last an extended period of time and exceed many OSHA standards. At NADCO® we offer different styles of safety tracks to meet the needs of any customer who is trying to improve their building, house or even boat safety. The real question though is how to decide which anti-slip product is right for you. Online you will find that our Anti-Slip products are listed as 3420 Glo-Brite Safety Track Tape, 188 Vinyl Anti-Slip Tape, 189 Grit Safety Tape and 189 Y-B Yellow and Black Anti-Slip Grit Tape, but what are the real differences between each product?

3420 Glo-Brite Safety Track Tape: 3420 is designed for emergency situations, this product is a non-skid, mineral-coated, glow in the dark tape that provides protection on hazardous surfaces. This anti-slip tape absorbs and stores energy from ambient light and becomes instantly visible in the event of darkness. The mineral-coating appears coarse and is normally used in areas where users would be wearing shoes, like outdoor stairs and ramps.

188 Vinyl Anti-Slip Tape: 188 is a “barefoot friendly” anti-slip tape,  it is created to be used in bath-tubs or pools because it is not as coarse as the mineral-coating. The vinyl material is highly conformable and resistant to aging and a variety of corrosive chemicals. This Anti-Slip Tape has “write-on” capability and can be designed to display your colors and logo.

189 Grit Safety Tape: 189, is similar to 3420 because it is also mineral-coated and should be used in areas where the users are wearing shoes. 189, however, does not glow in the dark; it is a plastic film liner that can be customized to show your company logo.

189 Y-B Yellow and Black Anti-Slip Grit Tape: 189 Y-B is exactly like 189 with one difference, 189 Y-B has yellow and black stripes. This non-skid tape is mineral-coated and supplies excellent traction. The yellow and black stripes are perfect for marking and warning users of the hazardous area.

Click Here to learn more about our Anti-Slip Tapes.

How Your Company Will Benefit from Marketing Materials

Marketing materials help by creating an image for the company, items like window decals and banners are what make a company memorable. Something as simple as a label will create brand trust and most importantly customer retention. Companies large and small can truly benefit from using marketing materials, materials like banners, posters,  labels, and window decals. Here are more reasons why your company will benefit from marketing materials:

Personalization – Marketing materials are 100% customizable, from banners to window decals whatever design you decide is entirely yours. Print materials allow future and present clients to see your message and it is your creativity that will help your company stand out among the competition.

Affordable – Materials like banners and window decals are extremely cost effective for companies, because they are low cost per impression. For smaller companies that have a tight marketing budget print materials come at a great value and help to generate a lasting impression.

Easily Distributed – Most marketing materials, like labels and bumper stickers are easy to distribute among customers. Print materials reach a large audience and have repeat exposure. You can also be sure that the people who are seeing your banners or materials are potential customers.

Attracts Customers – Items like banners and labels receive a significant amount of impressions; these materials grab potential client’s attention which helps to produce interest in your company.

Creates Recognition and Brand Awareness – The more materials your brand name and logo is on the more impressions you are creating. Repeat impressions will create trust and helps for the company to appear as a leader in your field. Customers are going to purchase from a company that has the best appearance, a company that they know can trust.

Click HERE to learn more about the marketing materials that NADCO® has to offer.

Unique products you may not know NADCO® offers.

NADCO® specializes in the production of pressure sensitive adhesive tapes and labels, but you may not know about the variety of other products that we have to offer. We have several materials that can be produced with and without adhesive and we can produce banners and posters as well. Here are five examples of our unique products:

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1. Banners – We have two different styles of banners: a hanging banner that can come in any size and a retractable banner that is 32 1/2 in. x 80 in. The hanging banners also include grommets for easy display, and the retractable banner comes in a sturdy, simple to assemble case. Both banners are completely customizable and are produced with a durable, waterproof vinyl that is ideal for both indoor and outdoor events. This vinyl creates a soft and delicate surface that is perfect for imagery and aesthetics.
2. Barricade Tape – This product is a vinyl plastic tape with high strength, conformity and abrasion resistance. The barricade tape surface will accept writing and will resist most common solvents, water, oil, sunshine, acid, fungus, alkalis and corrosive chemicals. It has an excellent shelf life and moisture/vapor barrier, making this product perfect for outdoor events.
3. Foams – Our foam materials have premium properties of conformability, adhesion, and cushioning. Foam tapes are especially suited for irregular and textured surface applications and offer a variety of uses. A few applications include insulation, appliances and humidity protection.
4. Foils – Our line of top quality foil tapes are highly malleable, weather resistant and can conform to any irregular or uneven surface. Because of their strength and versatility, foil tapes perform considerably well in applications involving seaming, masking and sealing. Foil tapes are an ideal choice for any work requiring long-lasting durability and environmental resistance.
5. Posters – All posters are printed on bright white, scratch and water resistant, wet strength paper that features outdoor durability. This paper creates an indoor/outdoor quality advertising sign or information board. A few applications include billboards, construction signs, outdoor décor and promotions.