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Thu 15 Aug, 14:35
As there are quite a number of organisations and businesses that have to print A4 sized notices for external display, then I thought people might like to know of an alternative to lamination. That is to use all-weather printer paper. I have started using a product called "Rite in the Rain", which is manufactured in the USA. It is also advertised as being recyclable. There are very few alternatives I can find, and they are a lot more expensive.
It is notably more expensive than ordinary A4 paper, at about 16p per A4 sheet (as against about 1p per sheet for normal copier paper), but you save much of that by not paying for plastic pouches. My experience is that it's robust enough to last a couple of months in the open, which is fine for one-off events.
There is a major proviso to this. It's only suitable for use in laser printers and copiers, not inkjets, as the ink is water soluble and I suspect it won't penetrate hydrophobic paper either.
The Street Fair will be putting up advertising and road closure notices using the paper in the next few weeks, so you can check them if you want to see the results.
It would be nice if commercial printers offered weatherproof paper options too, but I've not come across any.
On another, related point, can I recommend that anybody using cable/zip ties for any temporary purpose buys the releasable variety. They cost only a little more than the one-off use types, and not only does it save plastic waste, but it saves money too. The Street Fair has been using them for a few years now for such things as mounting banners, and they can be used year after year.
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