Vinyl flooring is highly desirable due to its low cost, versatility, ease in cleaning, durability and the wide range of colors, styles and patterns. The reason there are so many different looks for vinyl is because the flooring material is created in different layers. A defect during the printing process is always possible and can ruin otherwise fine vinyl flooring material.
How Vinyl Flooring is Made
Vinyl flooring is made of different layers, primarily a versatile plastic. The bottom layer, or backing layer is durable and strong, and a vinyl layer is attached to that one to provide resiliency. A decorative design is printed on the next layer, and the top layer is a vinyl layer that takes the brunt of the wear and tear. The printed layer is protected by this wear layer and the beautiful colors and patterns are allowed to shine through. Special inks are mixed together to create almost any look that customers might want.
Common Printing Defect
A vinyl printing defect is a distinct manufacturing error that happens during the process of putting ink onto the printed layer. Sometimes the ink color is blended differently from one application to the next, causing mismatching colors. Other times, the printing is offset just a little so that the lines, patterns or colors don’t align as they should, much like when a newspaper press is just a little off and the photos are not sharp and clear. This type of a defect can’t be corrected and the vinyl flooring must be discarded.
There are many ways that printing defects are introduced, and manufacturers do what they can to catch them before they are shipped out to the customer. Customers that find a defect, mistakes or mismatches in the vinyl flooring should request replacement vinyl before installation.
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