What are banners made of?

There are two main types of banners: vinyl banners and fabric banners. If you’re just thinking of a generic “happy birthday” party banner or “blowout sale” to hang by the road, you’re thinking of a vinyl banner. Vinyl banners are made of a specific type of plastic, and they work great inside or outside.

Depending on your banner company, vinyl banners can be either full color or restricted to text and simple clipart. In the past, vinyl banners were actually made by placing huge vinyl stickers on them by hand. This is still done today in many smaller sign shops, and this is why it’s often more expensive to design a full color banner. True full color vinyl banners are printed, instead of stickered. Just like your desktop printer, these vinyl banners use CMYK inks, but the inks have special UV resistant chemicals built right in so they can last for several years outside. Full color vinyl banners give you the most flexibility in the design of your banner, especially when compared to traditional vinyl-lettered banners.

With vinyl banners, your banner company usually doesn’t stop at just stickering or printing the banner. Once the design has been added to the banner, they will also hem it – which can be done either by sewing or a process called heat welding. This ensures that the edges of your banner won’t fray. The finishing touch is called grommets, which are little metal-reinforced holes usually every few feet along the top and bottom of your banner. They make it easy to hang your banner with rope, push pins, zip ties, or just about anything you can think of.

The other type of banners, made of fabric, are still widely used for specialty purposes, such as civic banners that hang on street poles. They are usually weather-resistant too, but because of the material they’re made of, they are restricted to a process called screen printing which doesn’t allow for full color printing. These banners are often more expensive because they have to be sewn, and your banner artwork choices are limited, but if you need banners to put on a pole they may be a better option than vinyl banners.