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To better sell a product, it helps to understand that product!
Let me turn you into a grip tape pro! (If you aren’t yet already)
Griptapes are described in letters and numbers. The most common griptapes are 80AB, 80S, OS60, OS780, HS780. The letters stand for the glue and type of crystals, the number stands for the size of the crystals.
AB is dark black griptape often used on the cheapest skateboards.
S is the standard for high quality glue and crystals.
OS is the glue and crystals used for pro griptapes.
HS is the highest quality material, but also the most expensive
AB = Abrasive
S = Silicon Carbide
O = Oil Glue
HS= High level Silicon Carbide
The number determines the crystal size.
The smaller the number, the bigger the grit.
Bigger grit equals more grip. 60 is a common high grit grip tape. 80 is a common low grit grip tape.
780 is the most used grit-level for pro grip tape. 3-digit numbers are a combination of two crystal sizes. Therefor 780 is a mixture of crystals of size 70 and size 80.
Printing techniques:
The 3 most common ways to print on griptape during mass production are:
- Silk screen printing
- UV printing
- Digital printing.
Silk screen printing is the most common way to add small logos. However, when used for large prints, it strongly reduces the grit-quality of the grip tape.
During UV Printing, a thin ink is sprayed on the griptape. The ink is applied so thin, that it can be used for full prints over the complete griptape. However, UV ink is expensive and UV printers are slow. This makes it the most expensive printing technique.
Digital printing is a newer process in which the design is printed on the white paper underneath the crystals. By using transparent glue and crystals it looks like the print is on top of the griptape.
Next time a customer asks you for a grip production, you know what to ask:
1. What grit do you want?
2. What glue do you want?
3. What type of print do you want?
If they want the cheapest grip, its 80AB with screen-print.
If they want the best grip, its HS780 with UV print.
Contact us via our CONTACT FORM.
I understand starting a conversation via a contact form can be annoying, but it helps us separate serious inquiries from those that are not. This gives us more time to focus on- and communicate with companies like yours!
Good luck collecting production orders or planning your own grip tape production!
Your Production Partner – The 2HEX Team.
See our daily work on Instagram: @2HEXskateboardfactory