Freshen Up Your Fabric Banners This Summer
This headline may put some interesting ideas in hour head. It feels like a call to pull your fabric banners out of storage and toss them in the washing machine. While it’s an amusing idea, it’s not a completely far-fetched one. Banners are sometimes made from vinyl, canvas, or polyester, and if your machine motor is powerful enough, it can certainly launder those fabrics. Plus they’re likely to have accumulated a lot of dust, so a good run in the washer should get them beautifully bright again, ready to flap in the summer breeze.
Well, at least in theory. In reality, banners may be too large to fit in a domestic washing machine. And getting access to an industrial washer is likely to be expensive. And there are practical aspects too. For example, we’re sure not many corporates ask their banner suppliers whether these promotional materials are machine-safe. The question would probably throw them, but once they recovered, they can posit a few anti-laundry tips.
One, not all banners have detergent-proof ink. They’re designed to resist rain, wind, and possible ultraviolet rays. So they may remain intact under the drizzle, and the paint may resist scratching and chipping in harsh sunlight. But it’s unlikely the paint will resist strong detergents, or being tossed around with abrasive cleaning pads. Also, all that twisting and turning as the fabric agitates, in combination with soapy water saturating the fabric, is likely to cake your print and peel the graphics off the fabric.
It’s Not All Hygiene
TL;DR? Don’t wash your banners. There are other ways to clean them. First, at your initial point of purchase, look for a supplier that gives you carry cases. These can be zipped nylon or hard-backed cases, often with castors for easy transportation. These cases will protect your banners from dust, dirt, pests, and mechanical damage. That way, they’ll be good as new when you take them out for your next summer event. Occasionally, you can take them out and dust them with damp cloth, or brush attachments on your vacuum cleaner.
Before putting them back in storage, ensure they’re completely dry. You don’t want them getting mouldy inside their protective case. You can also put silica gel baggies inside the carry case to absorb any atmospheric moisture which might spoil them. These are the little pouches you find in new shoes or handbags. They absorb liquid vapour and nasty smells too. All that said, refreshing your banners isn’t all about washing your buntings and bali flags. (They could survive the machine, but they might leave all their pretty colours in the wash.)
More often, you want to refresh your banner content rather than the physical fabric. You don’t have to toss the old ones – they can be recycled into branded swag. Some ad agencies re-purpose canvas billboards and banners into backpacks, tote bags, or tents. You could even add zippers and turn them into carry cases for your other banners. A little pre-planning helps here. Whenever you’re printing banners for an event, limit your specificity. A banner that says ‘Our brand welcomes you this festival’ is generic enough or re-use.
Emphasise Cross-Selling
One that says ‘Introducing Our Brand-sponsored Summerfest 28th January 2019’ is a little tougher to redeploy. So when you’re designing your banners, make one that’s event-specific and nine that are more generalised, just as an example. Also, for retractable banner stands and other banner types (aside from pull-ups), graphics are generally interchange-able. You can use the same frame and simply slip a new fabric into it. This helps, because about 80% of the banner cost is the stand. Replacing the graphics sheet is far cheaper.
Go back to your banner supplier and order a new print that’s more in keeping with the season. Think Christmas colours, holiday messages, and beach barbeque themes. Remember what we said earlier – emphasise on general messaging that can cross-sell in other events, especially since the year is almost over. Don’t print anything with December 2018 on it. But you can use imagery of sunshine, swimming pools, beaches, and picnics. Yes, we indulge more this holiday season, but with our beachy climate, these visuals work all year round.
If you do use Christmas colours, apply them in a cunning way. It’s okay to have one banner with a beach-surfing Santa. But for the rest, you can have models in red and green swimsuits or eating Christmas candy. The bathing suit colours do imply the holidays, but they’re not as obvious as – say – an elf building a sand-castle. You could also be cheeky – plant the elf in a corner of the billboard so you can crop her our later, or turn him into Cupid come February. After all, he likes red things, fancy chocolate, and shiny gift wrappers as well.
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