Sign Maker Advice: Sometimes, size does matter

Jun 27, 2025 | Industry Advice

 You know what they say, bigger isn’t always better, and for sign makers, this can be applied to the squeegee. However, the owner of Sign Making Tools and columnist, Paul Hughes, has explained how upsizing the trusty tool for certain applications can save you countless hours.

Paul Hughes demonstrating the use of a homemade squeegee

Paul Hughes applying vinyl using a large, homemade squeegee

For most sign vinyl applications, a standard 100mm squeegee is more than enough to get the job done. The standard squeegee strikes the right balance between size and controllability; any larger, and the user can be overwhelmed by how much vinyl is being applied. This can make it harder to visually process how much is being applied correctly and may result in creases and bubbles.

As trusted as a smaller squeegee is however, it would make particular jobs very long-winded. But there is an application style/technique that calls for a much larger squeegee, and its results can be amazing.

For those that attended Sign & Digital UK at the NEC in February, you may have seen me demonstrate this technique at the show – it is somewhat of a party trick – but can streamline the appropriate application jobs.

So, for now, let’s put the standard 100mm squeegee to one side – not too far away, it’s always useful – as we are going to flood coat a board with either a solid-coloured vinyl or a digital print, and we are going to make our own LARGE squeegee.

Build your own tool

We will take a piece of 5mm PVC foam board – every sign workshop has off-cuts of this lying around – cut a piece 150mm in height by just over the width of the vinyl to be applied. In this example, we will make our squeegee 700mm long, meaning we can apply the full width of a standard plotter vinyl roll. (610/630mm)

The edge of the squeegee needs some form of felt to protect the edge that will be in contact with the vinyl, reducing the chances of scratches or damage to the material. The felt can be purchased from any haberdashery or fabric shop. Attach the fabric with double-sided banner hemming tape – something again most sign shops have to hand.

Simple application, effective results

To apply the vinyl to a board or substrate, first position it in the correct place. Next, create a hinge in the vinyl of about 50mm by peeling the backing off from the bottom and folding the paper on itself. Apply the 630mm x 50mm revealed adhesive to the substrate to the correct edge (using our trust standard squeegee!)

Once applied evenly, roll the vinyl back on itself to create a V shape. Gently push the edge of the large squeegee into this ‘V’ while slowly pulling out the backing paper. Once the backing paper is moving forward in front of the vinyl being applied, take both hands and evenly push the squeegee forward. This action will force the backing paper to peel from the vinyl in front of the squeegee and apply the vinyl at the same time.

This application is both consistent and quick. The same method can be used to apply vinyl to vertical surfaces: Walls, windows, etc, but this time create the hinge at the bottom of the vinyl and push the squeegee up; that way, gravity helps keep the backing paper out of your way as you push.

This demonstration at the show is normally accompanied by puzzled looks and gasps from the onlookers, but it really is as simple as it looks – it may just save you hours!

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