ShatteredWeb Assorted Appliques - Articles / Reviews

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ShatteredWeb Assorted Appliques

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Kurtis Kronk
Brian
ShatteredWeb
Apr. 30, 2003

Specifications

Installation Instructions (quoting ShatteredWeb)

PLEASE READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE INSTALLING.

1. Clean surface completely using a non-abrasive cleanser. Most cleaners and products containing ammonia are NOT Safe! The best solution recommends using soap and water for this process
2. Dry the surface. Make sure the there is no soap left on it.
3. Spray a fine mist of water on the surface. This will allow you to reposition the graphic some if needed.
4. Remove the opaque white backing from the transfer backing. Make sure that the sticker stays on the transfer backing.
5. Carefully apply the sticker to the desired surface OR place the sticker face up on a flat surface. Position the window above the sticker for placement, then press the window down. Go to Step 6. NOTE: It is best if you apply the top or bottom of the appliqué and squeegee up or down. This has proven the best results.
6. Using a squeegee, or a credit card, remove any air bubbles, working out from the center. Remove as many as possible, any trapped bubbles can be left.
7. Remove the transfer backing from the sticker.
8. If you notice small air bubbles they will be gone after a few days. Do not poke holes to get rid of bubbles. Poking holes is a last resort.

NOTE: When poking holes you may end up with a rough edge around the poked area. The Shattered Web is not responsible for damage to purchased graphics caused by incorrect or poorly executed installations.

The Package

All of the appliques I was sent were shipped inside a cardboard envelope. Unless the postman decides to fold the envelope up this should be sufficient. Upon opening the envelope, I found 4 appliques (Danger: Overclocking Inside, Marijuana, Large Nvidia, Small Nvidia), a small blue piece of plastic, and an instruction sheet. The blue piece of plastic is to be used when applying the appliques, and the instruction sheet says the same as the installation instructions above. These appliques look great on paper, but they probably look cooler on a window, so lets move on to applying them...

Preparation

First thing you will need to do is remove the windowed panel from your case. Next step is washing the window. To wash the window you will need to get a non-abrasive cleaner (soap and water recommended). Use the cleaner to was the window and then rinse it thoroughly to make sure there is no soap left on the window. Now that your window is clean, dry it off. When the window is nice and dry, figure out where you want the applique positioned. Keep in mind that you will be installing the applique to the inside of the window (the side of the window that goes inside the case). If you install it on the wrong side you will end up with a mirror image applique and chances are you don't want that...

Application

Note: I will refer to these appliques by the order I installed them...
[1] Danger: Overclocking Inside
[2] Large Nvidia
[3] Marijuana
[4] Small Nvidia

Once you know where you will place the applique, you should grab a spray bottle. The reason for the spray bottle is to spray a light mist over the window so that you can reposition the applique a little bit during installation if needed. Once you have sprayed a light mist over the window, peel the backing partially off of the applique and start applying it from one side. Remove the backing slowly as you apply the sticker, similar to applying a band-aid. As you apply the applique, it will help if you use the blue piece of plastic to smooth out all bubbles as you go. As you will see in the pictures below, you should not peel off the entire backing before applying, you should start from one side and start applying there, and slowly remove the backing. You will see why not do peel off the backing in the pictures. If you have never done something like this, I recommend buying a couple of appliques so you have some to practice with in case you mess up. The first applique I did came out perfect, and the 2nd and 3rd one had bubbles. The 4th one I applied was perfect like the 1st. I was careful when installing all of these but I experimented with the 2nd one and the 3rd one was just plain hard to apply because of all the leaves. I took some pictures to show you how I installed the appliques, check them below...

Removing Appliques

If you are like me and you mess up your appliques, you may decide to remove them and try again. To remove an applique, just use a hair dryer to heat up part of the applique, then pull up a corner with your fingernail, and pull it off. If you are lucky, the applique will not leave behind any residue, but if it does you will need to get it off before applying a new applique. To remove residue, I used GOO-B-GONE, a strong cleaner that can remove adhesive. Once you have gotten the residue off, just follow all the steps from washing to applying again until you get it right.

Conclusion

Overall I was impressed with this product. I expected to receive a bag full of plain old stickers, and instead received some quality appliques with great installation instructions and a handy piece of plastic for smoothing out bubbles as you apply. The only problems I had were cause by my lack of skill. For some reason on the small Nvidia applique when I pulled off the backing the letters stuck to the backing and didn't stick to the window. I didn't notice until it was too late, but I am pretty sure I just wasn't careful enough. The only thing I urge you to do if you buy some of these appliques, is buy a couple of the design that you want, just in case you mess up the first time.

Pros

Tons of designs available
Comes with everything you need
Look great

Cons

Hard to not get bubbles
A bit pricy

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