Stencil Material Selection Guide

Stencil Material Overview

 MATERIAL USE FOR 125 mil (1/8") - 60 mil (1/16") Spray painting equipment, parking lots, athletic fields or outdoor uses. 40 mil Spray paints, aerosol paints, good for smaller numbers, letters, outdoor/indoor. 14 mil, 10 mil, 7.5 mil Rolling, brushing applications. Indoor uses. All vertical surfaces and most horizontal surfaces, Great for fine detail 7.5 mil adhesive Industrial surfaces for precision painting. Sticks to drums, pipes, buckets. Reusable. Spray or roll. 6 mil vinyl adhesive One-time use, can be used on walls, easy peel and stick. Brush or roll.

Note: Some of the larger stencils like hopscotch and shuffleboard can be done with 14 mil using spray due to the total sheet size and overall weight.

G.SB contains other products and information you need, so please check it out.

Material Thickness

 MATERIAL MILLIMETERS INCHES 4 mil 0.10 mm

0.004 in

7 mil 0.18 mm

0.007 in

6 mil 0.16 mm

0.006 in

7.5 mil 0.19 mm

0. in

10 mil 0.26 mm

0.01 in

14 mil 0.36 mm

0.014 in

40 mil 1.02 mm

0.04 in

60 mil 1.54 mm

0.06 in

125 mil 1.54 mm

0.125 in

Not sure what material to choose from? Get a material sample pack

Heavy-Duty 1/8" or 1/16" LLDPE

Uses: field stencils, parking lot stencils, concrete applications when a heavy-weight stencil is needed. We recommend 1/8th inch material for heavy contractor use, as it will stand up to many uses and will resist the curl caused by heavy overspray. These can be used in  windy conditions when other materials may blow around. Spray equipment, spray paints, inverted marking paints and landscape chalks can be used with these materials  (note: paint rollers, brushes and stencil brushes are more difficult to use with this thicker material and are not recommended unless you have tested your application and achieved acceptable results).

Stencil Ease manufactures industrial grade stencils using LLDPE (Linear low-density polyethylene) plastic.

LLDPE

Stencil Ease is now manufacturing all parking lot stencils, athletic field stencils and many others on a new “super-durable” plastic called LLDPE. Our current stock is 1/8" and 1/16" and results from our core contractor base have been all positive.

OUR NEW LLDPE: (Linear Low-Density Polyethylene)

• Can be rolled and flattened out without curl
• Sheds paint with ease and won't crack or break
• LLDPE has a higher tensile strength than LDPE
• LLDPE has a higher impact and puncture resistance than LDPE
• Superior stress crack resistance
• Superior resistance to chemicals

**If there is any doubt about what material is right for your job or you have any other questions, then please contact one of our customer service representatives at 1-800-334- or 860-395-. You can also request a free material sample pack here.

**NOTE: Stencil Ease recycles every ounce of plastic during the manufacturing process. Beginning in , we vowed to keep even the smallest scraps of plastic out of landfills. Today we sort scrap by plastic-type for several plastic recycling centers. These scraps are then converted into new stencil sheets, plastic bottles and a variety of other materials. Read more about the Stencil Ease green initiative Click Here.

40 mil LDPE

LLDPE material is a durable and flexible plastic that is great for laser cutting small alphabet stencils, small number stencils or graphic stencils with lots of detail. LDPE stencil plastic can be cleaned and reused many times. It does not shed paint as easily as the LLDPE but can still be cleaned with common solvents.

Mylar films

Mylar is a great plastic film for stenciling. It is cost effective. It is very tough. It does not stretch, so it can replicate images accurately and repeatedly. The material is cleanable, tolerates common paint solvents and  can stand up to multiple uses. It is light so that it easy to manage and place. If our repositionable spray is used, it will adhere to walls and ceilings; it can also conform to  gently curved surfaces.  It is flexible and is shipped rolled up. Once unrolled it will relax and again become flat. While usable outside, mylar film, especially the lighter grades, are affected by wind. You can apply paint by brush, roller, or spray. We recommend low air flow with spray applications especially for the lighter film grades to reduce bleed.

Want more information on wall stencil for painting? Feel free to contact us.

We carry three grades of mylar. The thicker mylar is more durable but less flexible. Our application recommendations balance those attributes.

Medium-Duty Mylar 14 mil Mylar= 0.014 inches (0.36 mm)

Uses

This is an extremely durable polyester plastic. It is durable enough to withstand heavy repeated use and multiple cleanings. 14 mil is ideal for use with sprays, paints and industrial inks. Most commonly used for DIY playground stencils in rolling applications. This material is not recommended for fine decorative applications when paint is being rolled on. It can still be used on vertical surfaces. It is not as flexible as the lighter mylar materials and should only be used on flat surfaces.

Standard-Duty Mylar 10 mil = 0.010 inches (0.26 mm)

This is our most commonly used stencil material for indoor uses.  Can be used outdoors but will be impacted by wind.  Can be used on almost any surface. Uses: for projects that require moderate repeated-use and repeated cleaning of a stencil. The 10 mil stencil material can be used with brushes, rollers, inks and most paints and stains. It is a great material for super fine detail like our cookie stencils. When used with our our repositionable spray, it can will adhere to vertical surfaces and to gently curved surfaces. When using with spray applications we recommend using the repositionable spray and light air pressure so reduce bleed under the stencil.\

Light Duty Mylar 7.5 mil = 0. inches (0.19 mm)

Our 7.5 mil mylar is can be used much like the 10 mil but as it is thinner is slightly less durable.

Adhesive-Backed Mylar Material 7.5 mil = 0. inches (0.19 mm)

Adhesive-backed, 7.5 mil material, comes with a repositionable, medium-tack backing to secure your stencil in place. This durable, reusable, plastic material can be used on any painted surface, floor, sign, car, boat or craft project. The adhesive-backing assures that paint will not seep under the stencil design if you are using liquid paints, spray paints, inks or other mediums. Additionally, the medium-tack quality of this material will allow you to easily lift the stencil from the surface and reposition it securely onto your surface over and over again. See Tips on how to use this material >

Low-Tack Adhesive-Backed Vinyl 6 mil = 0.006 inches (0.16 mm)

Uses

Trucks, boats, walls or any job that requires precision stenciling. Our peel and stick low-tack vinyl can easily be removed from any surface and reapplied. Ideal for air brushing, spraying or rolling applications on clean smooth surfaces.

You can request a custom download in almost any size.

1. Visit the Order Page for the stencil you want to download
2. Click 'Custom Download' button
3. Choose the desired size of the final image you want to produce
4. Select the size of the cut medium (size of your panels)
5. The number of panels in each row and column will be calculated for you
6. Click 'Download'

In the custom download popup, red lines over the image illustrate how your image is divided up into panels.

For those who like numbers, here's an example. If you want your painted image to be 20 inches high, and the image is 4 x 5 aspect ratio, then your final image would be 20 in x 25 in. Let's say your stencil media is 10 in x 12 in, and you want a minimum 0.5 inch margin (a border around the edge of the stencil that contains no holes). Then the Stencilizer divides your image up into 3 rows of 2 panels each. Each panel will contain 1/2 of the total width of the image, and 1/3 of the total height. So each panel will contain a 10" x 8.33" 'chunk' of your image, on a 12" x 10" panel.

Still confused? Try it out--it's easier than you think to get the perfect multi-panel stencil. All you need to know is how big you want the final image to be, and how big your panels are.

A stencil has to be connected or it falls apart. Bridges hold those islands in place. One island can require two, three or even more bridges to keep it in place. Bridges also keep unstable areas from flopping out of place while you place and paint the stencil.

You can choose how 'bridge-y' we make your stencils:

• Stable bridges: the most bridges, the most stable
• Fewer bridges (recommended): good balance between stability and visual result
• One bridge per island: might be flimsy but everything is connected
• No bridges: use with an image that is already bridged

When you paint the stencil, the bridges mask the surface just like the rest of the stencil does. So you may see lines in the painted stencil that were not in the original image. Those unpainted lines can be filled in with the same color as the color you used to paint the stencil. You can also carefully remove extra bridges. It's 100 times easier to remove a bridge than it is to add one.

It depends on what you put on it. If you intend to use the stencil 5 or 10 times, it's probably best not to clean it at all. If you want to use it 100 times, then you need to clean it periodically, and before any buildup occurs. Water-based paints clean up with hot soapy water. Soak the stencils in a flat bath, and use a brush to clean off any buildup on the edges. (It's the edges primarily, not the flat surfaces, that need to be kept free of paint buildup.)

For most spray painting applications, there is very little buildup because the surface catches the paint rather than the edges. If you intend to use the stencil for spray painting, you can probably use it 30 times without cleaning it at all. But if you want to be able to use it more often than that, you'll probably need to start cleaning it with acetone after the first use. (It's possible to clean the stencil even after it's had extensive buildup, but it may take alternating soaks and brushings to clean it at that point.)

Get the full story on how to clean your stencils.

(Or, why do you cut four stencils when you only use three of them?, etc.)

The best stencil work draws in the color of the background and makes it part of the finished work. Sure, you could cover the entire surface with your three layers, but none of the colors in the stencil would be the background color, and it wouldn't look as cool.

Because you have a stencil for all three (or four or five) tones in the final image, you can choose the color surface you want to work on. Many stencils are reproduced with the color of the surface replacing either the lightest or the darkest layer. A balanced midtone surface like brick or asphalt works well when the stencil is three-color. In that case, you use the lightest and darkest stencils and leave out the midtone layer. For an illustrated example, check out this article on why you often leave out one layer when painting.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit decorative paint rollers for walls.