Why Care in Handling PVC Cards is Important
Properly handling PVC cards will give you better results by preventing dirt, hair, and grease from adhering to the card. To get the best results from your PVC cards, be careful in handling and storing unused stock. If handled improperly, the card’s surface will attract dust and lint. Additionally, touching the printable surfaces will transfer residual oils from the user’s fingers. The printing process can trap or embed dust and lint on the print surface, and ribbons used in card printers does not adhere to oily surfaces, resulting in poor quality photo IDs.
For best results, we recommend handling cards only by the edges or wearing nitrile gloves (un-powdered). Our service bureau team has found that it is relatively simple to place a small stack of cards into an input hopper while keeping their fingers off the cards’ surfaces, as demonstrated below.
However, when we handle a number of individual cards, we often use medical-style nitrile gloves to protect the surface of the card.
For more tips browse our TechTips Blog, or call our ID experts at +1 888.485.4696.
AMEN to that Jennie! Thanks for visiting our blog and taking the time to comment!
I see this all of the time: People not paying attention to the way they handle pvc cards. One time I observed an ID printing operation where cards were spread all over the desk and when I picked a couple up, they had Vaseline on them! And they wonder why the print looks blotchy!
It won’t be long before the print head on the machine is destroyed.