Football is king in Arkansas, especially Fayetteville, home of Northwest Arkansas Sign Shop and nationally renowned high school and college programs. Local high school Shiloh Christian has fielded an Arkansas state champion football team seven times since 1998.

It’s a legacy that demands recognition, and what better place to recognize the team’s place in history than its locker room and football facility. That’s where Northwest Arkansas Sign Shop brought its expertise in wrapping just about everything in sight into play.

The sign shop’s owner, Steve Holden, says the project called for everything from locker wraps, graphics inside each locker, locker name tags, perforated window graphics, wall wraps and action photo reproductions writ super-large. The “crown jewel,” as Holden calls it, is the 10′ x 10′ logo that sits on the carpet in the middle of the locker room.

Holden consulted with his LexJet customer specialist, Josh Abel, who recommended LexJet Simple CarpetAd topped with LexJet Floor Velvet Laminate (5 Mil) for the project. Holden ordered the product, printed it with the shop’s Mimaki JV3, contour cut the graphic into a circle with a Mimaki plotter and applied it to the low-pile carpet in two halves.

Installation was a breeze, says Holden. It was a simple matter of staking out where the graphic would be placed, applying one half first, and then lining up the second half to the first.

Since the installation a few weeks ago, Holden says they asked players to purposely walk over the graphic in their cleats. “It held up perfectly,” he says. “It was a large project and the carpet graphics topped it off nicely.”

If you have a similar project on tap, or see the potential for future projects where this application would be appropriate, here are some basic installation, maintenance and removal instructions for LexJet’s Simple CarpetAd Advertising System:

LexJet’s CarpetAd Advertising System has been developed to allow temporary application of graphics to indoor carpeted floors. The pressure sensitive system offers the ease of peel and stick application as well as protection of the graphic for up to 180 days from normal wear and tear. The system is designed for application on indoor low-pile, commercial-grade carpets with a tight weave and a short loop.

LexJet’s CarpetAd system is the combination of LexJet’s CarpetAd base printing film and approved scuff resistant laminate. Approved pressure sensitive laminates include: LexJet Performance Textured Polypropylene Laminate (5 Mil) and LexJet Floor Velvet Laminate (5 Mil).

Surface Preparation

• The carpet should be thoroughly vacuumed. It should be free of lint and debris prior to installation. If carpets were shampooed or steam cleaned, ensure the carpet is completely dry prior to installation.

Carpet Surface

• CarpetAd is designed for indoor low-pile, commercial-grade carpets with a tight weave and a short loop. Due to the variability of carpet fibers, weaves and textures, it is necessary for the CarpetAd decal to be thoroughly tested before installing the promotional application. New carpet may have been treated with a “Scotch Guard” product. This may result in poor CarpetAd bond. Clean the carpet using the manufactures recommended procedure before application of CarpetAd.

Graphic Installation

1. Remove a few inches of the liner from the graphic and position onto the floor. Squeegee the front of the graphic starting at the top edge. Remove the liner gradually as you squeegee the graphic to the floor working from the center out using firm, even pressure to avoid trapping air. Overlap all strokes keeping the edges from contact until firmly pressed with the squeegee. Re-burnish all edges to ensure good adhesion.

2. To avoid edge lifting, the graphic should have corners that are rounded to the largest possible radius.

Maintenance

Do not clean or vacuum for at least 24 hours after application to allow for proper adhesion to the carpet. CarpetAd decals can be cleaned using mild soap and water on a sponge to the graphic area. Excessive moisture or saturating with carpet cleaning solutions can cause premature lifting of the decal from the carpet.

If a CarpetAd decal edge lifts up from the carpet for any reason, the decal must be removed and replaced to prevent a tripping hazard.

Removal

1. To remove the CarpetAd decal start at one edge. Once the edge is loose from the carpet, pull back on the decal using a smooth consistent force.

2. Upon removal of the graphic, it is normal for a shadow to appear. This is because the area under the graphic is cleaner than the surrounding carpet. Simply clean the entire carpeted area to remove the shadow.