I always spend time during my workshops, on social media and with customers, talking about the amazing range of materials that I use, what the differences are between them all and how I select which material for which job. I talk passionately about my awesome Roland printer, my laminator, heat press, computers, software and the way I've built out my workspace and offices, but I realised last week that I very rarely even mention some of the most essential pieces of kit that I use to actually prepare and install the work that I create.
Recently Metamark launched their own range of tools and accessories for use in all areas of the sign, graphics and vehicle wrapping trade. As a Metamark user and someone who likes to tell the world about the quality of the materials that they make, I thought it only right that I gave them a "road test".
I want to start with just clarifying that although I regularly promote Metamark materials, show off work that I've done with their various vinyls and speak about their range in some detail during my workshops, that I am in no way employed or paid by them and I have no other ties or incentives to promote them. I do this because I like the materials, find them easy to use, consistent and great to install.
The items used in this review were purchased by me at full price and it wasn't until after I have received the goods that I even mentioned doing a review, so this review is based on my personal opinion and not influenced in any way by the company.
I tried to think of the most common day to day tools / accessories that I rely on for a wide range of jobs. I went to the Metamark website and browsed the catalogue. At the moment there is no facility to order on line, I am told that this will come in the future but right now it's a case of making a call or emailing your account manager to order and pay for the goods.
I decided to go for the IPA and a pack of 10 microfibres, they caught my eye in Metamark purple and I'm constantly using different cloths & blue roll for prep and cleaning before installation to vehicles and signage so I thought I'd give them a go.
I also ordered two of the standard felt edged squeegees with the Metamark branding, they do also supply other ranges of squeegee on there too but I went for these as they are mid range and similar to the ones I currently use.
I also bought a "guard knife" or as some call them "body knife" "back-slitter" but a really handy blade for removing backing paper to assist in fitting larger graphics and always helpful to keep in the tool pouch. With this I got a pack of spare blades too, I use this sort of knife for installing as well as for prepping the laminate before feeding into the laminator so its one tool that is always with me and I have a few lying around the office so I was interested to see how it felt / lasted.
I did also order a vinyl removal tool and a set of plastic blades for it. This is like a small handled scraper almost, that helps you quickly remove vinyl without marking the substrate. Unfortunately it wasn't until after I had ordered and paid for this one, that I was emailed to say it was out of stock.
The email told me that there was no ETA for a re stock and I chased this up a few days after my delivery of the other items, as I had heard nothing else and to my surprise, I received an answer to that email after 7pm in the evening, which I was very pleased about and to me, is a great level of service. Sadly the reply was that there was still no ETA for the re stock and so a refund for these items would be issued in a few days.
I also opted to pay extra for next day (Saturday delivery) before 1030am and the parcels arrived well ahead of time. I did say "parcels" (with an s) because each item arrived in its own box or thick plastic mailing envelope. When I say each item I literally mean that the IPA was in one box, the cloths in another separate one, the two squeegees were in a plastic mailing envelope, 3 or 4 times the size of the squeegees, the guard knife in its own envelope the same as the squeegees and yes, even the tiny pack of spare blades for the guard knife (small white rectangle in the pic) was in its own huge poly-mailer envelope. It seemed a bit of a waste of packaging as well as cost; each item had its own consignment number, I even had to sign & print 5 times, once for each package.
All of these items could quite easily have gone into one recyclable cardboard box and saved a lot of waste material as well as cost.
I have asked the question as to why this is the way the items are packaged and sent but as of yet, not had a reply. (I would like to point out that I will be re using the poly-mailer envelopes and the boxes rather than throwing them away)
Having opened all of the packages I was impressed with everything.
My biggest issue with other IPA spray bottles I've used in the past is that after a few uses, the trigger and handle can leak, I've also had them crack in the past so this was the first thing I felt and I have to say it felt sturdy.
I've been using it all week and the "twist to spray" mechanism is a lot more solid than most I have used and there are no signs of leaking. The little filter on the end of the feeder tube is also a nice little touch.
I love the microfibre cloths. At £9.50 I thought they were good value, I like the branded colour and I think when I turn up to do an installation or a customer comes to my unit and all of the kit and equipment looks clean and set out ready for the job, it gives a professional appearance. Having ALL of your kit match and be branded the same as the graphics your installing really looks good.
That may sound a little vain, but the fact is that when you turn up to a job or a customer comes to your unit, they will quickly, almost immediately in fact, form an opinion. We all do the same walking into garages, shops, pubs.....we do a quick scan and we decide what we think, should we eat here, will they look after my car, would I want to buy from this place.
We take time and effort telling our customers to brand their van, have business cards that match, work uniforms, signage etc... we up-sell our customers on the value of great branding and giving a good first impression, and kit like this helps us to really do that.
Anyway, back to the microfibres. They have been really useful, hard wearing and a good size to keep in the belt without being too small. Ive washed 3 of them already and they wash well too so its a big thumbs up for these.
The squeegees are a pretty standard item, we all have a particular preference and for me these do the job well. The felt edges could maybe do with being a little thicker and they did start to "fray" a little but I have experienced this with similar squeegees priced around the same. The plastic edge is great and has so far worn really well.
I will definitely be buying another guard knife to have around the office. The domed Metamark logo on each side of the handle makes it quite chunky compared to my current one but I like this, for me personally it's a comfier grip and it cuts well so what more can I ask for.
I have already flipped the blade over to use the other side but I do use it a lot for a range of things around the print room as well as during installations.
Well, overall I'm really happy with all of my new items, they look good, feel good and do what they should do and with tools thats all you want. The real bonus is the branding aspect that I talked about earlier. Remember, it can sometimes be the little touches that a customer notices and well presented kit can say a lot about you as an installer and a business owner, customers will assume if you care about the look of something as little as a squeegee, imagine the care you will take over their installation!
I did have a couple of messages asking me to talk about prices and to be honest, there were no huge savings to be had over other suppliers. I do think the microfibres are great value but the other items were priced within 50p or so of what I used to pay.
For me as a business owner, the value in buying these items from Metamark is that I know their delivery is reliable, the service is always great, they always want to go above and beyond to help you out when you need it and it is just easier to be able to order these things when I'm ordering my vinyls.
Have a browse through the product catalogue on their website CLICK HERE (to open the catalogue in a new window) and tool up!
Recently Metamark launched their own range of tools and accessories for use in all areas of the sign, graphics and vehicle wrapping trade. As a Metamark user and someone who likes to tell the world about the quality of the materials that they make, I thought it only right that I gave them a "road test".
I want to start with just clarifying that although I regularly promote Metamark materials, show off work that I've done with their various vinyls and speak about their range in some detail during my workshops, that I am in no way employed or paid by them and I have no other ties or incentives to promote them. I do this because I like the materials, find them easy to use, consistent and great to install.
The items used in this review were purchased by me at full price and it wasn't until after I have received the goods that I even mentioned doing a review, so this review is based on my personal opinion and not influenced in any way by the company.
I tried to think of the most common day to day tools / accessories that I rely on for a wide range of jobs. I went to the Metamark website and browsed the catalogue. At the moment there is no facility to order on line, I am told that this will come in the future but right now it's a case of making a call or emailing your account manager to order and pay for the goods.
I decided to go for the IPA and a pack of 10 microfibres, they caught my eye in Metamark purple and I'm constantly using different cloths & blue roll for prep and cleaning before installation to vehicles and signage so I thought I'd give them a go.
I also ordered two of the standard felt edged squeegees with the Metamark branding, they do also supply other ranges of squeegee on there too but I went for these as they are mid range and similar to the ones I currently use.
I also bought a "guard knife" or as some call them "body knife" "back-slitter" but a really handy blade for removing backing paper to assist in fitting larger graphics and always helpful to keep in the tool pouch. With this I got a pack of spare blades too, I use this sort of knife for installing as well as for prepping the laminate before feeding into the laminator so its one tool that is always with me and I have a few lying around the office so I was interested to see how it felt / lasted.
I did also order a vinyl removal tool and a set of plastic blades for it. This is like a small handled scraper almost, that helps you quickly remove vinyl without marking the substrate. Unfortunately it wasn't until after I had ordered and paid for this one, that I was emailed to say it was out of stock.
The email told me that there was no ETA for a re stock and I chased this up a few days after my delivery of the other items, as I had heard nothing else and to my surprise, I received an answer to that email after 7pm in the evening, which I was very pleased about and to me, is a great level of service. Sadly the reply was that there was still no ETA for the re stock and so a refund for these items would be issued in a few days.
I also opted to pay extra for next day (Saturday delivery) before 1030am and the parcels arrived well ahead of time. I did say "parcels" (with an s) because each item arrived in its own box or thick plastic mailing envelope. When I say each item I literally mean that the IPA was in one box, the cloths in another separate one, the two squeegees were in a plastic mailing envelope, 3 or 4 times the size of the squeegees, the guard knife in its own envelope the same as the squeegees and yes, even the tiny pack of spare blades for the guard knife (small white rectangle in the pic) was in its own huge poly-mailer envelope. It seemed a bit of a waste of packaging as well as cost; each item had its own consignment number, I even had to sign & print 5 times, once for each package.
All of these items could quite easily have gone into one recyclable cardboard box and saved a lot of waste material as well as cost.
I have asked the question as to why this is the way the items are packaged and sent but as of yet, not had a reply. (I would like to point out that I will be re using the poly-mailer envelopes and the boxes rather than throwing them away)
Having opened all of the packages I was impressed with everything.
My biggest issue with other IPA spray bottles I've used in the past is that after a few uses, the trigger and handle can leak, I've also had them crack in the past so this was the first thing I felt and I have to say it felt sturdy.
I've been using it all week and the "twist to spray" mechanism is a lot more solid than most I have used and there are no signs of leaking. The little filter on the end of the feeder tube is also a nice little touch.
I love the microfibre cloths. At £9.50 I thought they were good value, I like the branded colour and I think when I turn up to do an installation or a customer comes to my unit and all of the kit and equipment looks clean and set out ready for the job, it gives a professional appearance. Having ALL of your kit match and be branded the same as the graphics your installing really looks good.
That may sound a little vain, but the fact is that when you turn up to a job or a customer comes to your unit, they will quickly, almost immediately in fact, form an opinion. We all do the same walking into garages, shops, pubs.....we do a quick scan and we decide what we think, should we eat here, will they look after my car, would I want to buy from this place.
We take time and effort telling our customers to brand their van, have business cards that match, work uniforms, signage etc... we up-sell our customers on the value of great branding and giving a good first impression, and kit like this helps us to really do that.
Anyway, back to the microfibres. They have been really useful, hard wearing and a good size to keep in the belt without being too small. Ive washed 3 of them already and they wash well too so its a big thumbs up for these.
The squeegees are a pretty standard item, we all have a particular preference and for me these do the job well. The felt edges could maybe do with being a little thicker and they did start to "fray" a little but I have experienced this with similar squeegees priced around the same. The plastic edge is great and has so far worn really well.
I will definitely be buying another guard knife to have around the office. The domed Metamark logo on each side of the handle makes it quite chunky compared to my current one but I like this, for me personally it's a comfier grip and it cuts well so what more can I ask for.
I have already flipped the blade over to use the other side but I do use it a lot for a range of things around the print room as well as during installations.
Well, overall I'm really happy with all of my new items, they look good, feel good and do what they should do and with tools thats all you want. The real bonus is the branding aspect that I talked about earlier. Remember, it can sometimes be the little touches that a customer notices and well presented kit can say a lot about you as an installer and a business owner, customers will assume if you care about the look of something as little as a squeegee, imagine the care you will take over their installation!
I did have a couple of messages asking me to talk about prices and to be honest, there were no huge savings to be had over other suppliers. I do think the microfibres are great value but the other items were priced within 50p or so of what I used to pay.
For me as a business owner, the value in buying these items from Metamark is that I know their delivery is reliable, the service is always great, they always want to go above and beyond to help you out when you need it and it is just easier to be able to order these things when I'm ordering my vinyls.
Have a browse through the product catalogue on their website CLICK HERE (to open the catalogue in a new window) and tool up!
