# Placing Rhinestones on Glitter Vinyl



## dstafford

We have recently started adding rhinestones to some of our vinyl designs. We are by no means a large company, just a small home based operation. I am looking for some tips on adding rhinestones directly on top of vinyl. Is this possible? Is there a good metyhod to make sure the rhinestones adhere well? We have done a couple designs for our personal use, and they turned out very nice, and we actually had a lot of interest in them, however our rhinestones are starting to fall off. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks!


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## mfatty500

The stones will not stick to the vinyl, nothing for glue to bond to.


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## dstafford

I did not think it would adhere to vinyl in general, but I thought maybe because the glitter vinyl we use has a sand paper feel to it, but is pretty thin, that it might just work. I have seen some name brand clothing with this type of decoration on it, and I am wondering how they are able to make it work.


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## mfatty500

Also look under the heat press and transfer section here on the forum under rhinestone decoration. Have you tried just outlining the vinyl? That works well
and looks good also.
Mike


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## BlingItOn

Yes one suggestion is to create an outline in rhinestones of the pattern. 

If you want the look of the rhinestones on the vinyl then you'll will have to cut holes slightly larger than the size of the rhinestone that you are going to use in your vinyl pattern. This will expose the fabric so that the rhinestones can bond to the fabric and not to the vinyl.


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## plan b

The only vinyl product you can use to put rhinestones directly on is flock and the material isn't vinyl at all, it,s just has a heat applied adhesive attached to the flock


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## JAF

Have you tried contacting the vinyl/film distributors and the rhinestone distributors to get their professional opinions.


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## drakesis

I needs to stick to fabric, so either sticky flock, or you cut stone holes in your vinyl so the stones will sit in place.


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## treadhead

I've seen this new Sticky Glitter material which appears to be the same as Glitter Flake from Stahls and Ultra Glitter from Specialty Materials (colors are same) but with a adhesive like window vinyl so you can us it as a decal. But I haven't gotten any to play with yet. One of the recommended applications for this Sticky Glitter is to heat press rhinestones directly onto the glitter material. So...I'm thinking if it works on this then why would it not work on the same material heat applied onto a shirt?


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## Knehmer

treadhead said:


> I've seen this new Sticky Glitter material which appears to be the same as Glitter Flake from Stahls and Ultra Glitter from Specialty Materials (colors are same) but with a adhesive like window vinyl so you can us it as a decal. But I haven't gotten any to play with yet. One of the recommended applications for this Sticky Glitter is to heat press rhinestones directly onto the glitter material. So...I'm thinking if it works on this then why would it not work on the same material heat applied onto a shirt?


Because it's not the same material...just because it looks like it.


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## katruax

I think it would be best to do a test.... Do a small design and put some stones right on the glitter material and see what happens... Sometimes what we think won't work actually does...

It's hotly debated whether stones will adhere to nylon duffle bags... Some said yes, most said no they will appear to hold but then will start to pop off...

So I just made one... A year later... That bag has not lost a single stone.... Go figure!....


Kevin


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## treadhead

I realize just because it looks the same it isn't and I will do a test once I actually get some material. BUT.....I figured that MAYBE somebody has already tried this.


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## katruax

treadhead said:


> I realize just because it looks the same it isn't and I will do a test once I actually get some material. BUT.....I figured that MAYBE somebody has already tried this.


I can tell you this... Rhinestones do seem to stick well to the heat press glitter material... Good enough for all the glitter and stone decals I've made...

That said I've never tried putting stones on Heat press Glitter Vinyl and putting it thru the washer and dryer...

Made lots and lots of decals with heat press glitter vinyl and stones with no problem there...

Kevin


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## treadhead

Hey Kevin....I want to make sure I understand what you are saying.

You do use the Sticky Glitter decal material to heat press your rhinestones to? However, you have not tried doing the same using heat press vinyl glitter material such as Glitter Flake (Stahls) or Ultra Glitter (Specialty Materials)?

Do the two materials appear to have the same sandpaper type finish? The color chart on the Sticky Glitter looks to be exactly the same colors as used by either Siser or Speciality Material heat pres glitter material. I don't know if they all make their own or one of them makes it and the others brand and market it as their own.

As I mentioned, I just ran across this Sticky Glitter a few days ago and was hoping to find somebody who has used it and also have tried heat pressing rhinestones to the heat press glitter with success. None of the manufacturers recommend layering other vinyl on top of the heat press glitter but a few folks have said they've done it with success but I really don't know what that means.


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## sttbtch

I use the siser glitter and the rhinestones do stick to the glitter. It us the stahls version. I have washed and it is great. No stones came off. We have also used the sticky glitter that feels just like the glitter for clothing and heat pressed rhinestones on it and stuck it on my car. I use a car wash weekly and the rhinestones have not come off 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using T-Shirt Forums


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## dan-ann

I use sticky glitter decal material and it works very Weill. I have decals on my car, and on tervn glasses.very easy to use


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## BlingItOn

I just watched a you tube video made by heatpressvinyl.com about applying rhinestone to the sticky glitter. I noticed that the design that was applied to the window of the car there was a rhinestone missing on the first "L" in the word softball. I went back to the beginning of the video and looked at the design that was being pressed to the sticky glitter and it did not have any missing rhinestones. It appears that somewhere that rhinestone had fallen off. I would definitely do some long term testing before I would sell this type of design to a customer to see how long the rhinestones really do stay on.


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## katruax

sttbtch said:


> We have also used the sticky glitter that feels just like the glitter for clothing and heat pressed rhinestones on it and stuck it on my car. I use a car wash weekly and the rhinestones have not come off


Just as a side note... You can use the regular t-shirt heat press glitter material from Stahls, Speciality Materials whatever and heat apply it to sign vinyl and use it for your car decals...

This way you don't need to stock both types of materials... Plus the heat applied Glitter material comes in more colors than the Sticky Glitter....

Just an idea f you don't want to stock both types of materials...

Kevin


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## plan b

BlingItOn said:


> I just watched a you tube video made by heatpressvinyl.com about applying rhinestone to the sticky glitter. I noticed that the design that was applied to the window of the car there was a rhinestone missing on the first "L" in the word softball. I went back to the beginning of the video and looked at the design that was being pressed to the sticky glitter and it did not have any missing rhinestones. It appears that somewhere that rhinestone had fallen off. I would definitely do some long term testing before I would sell this type of design to a customer to see how long the rhinestones really do stay on.


The rhinestone that you saw was actually a nail head and the transfer was 5 years old,, just a something I had laying around,, I pressed it back on,, but however the material has been tested for over 8 mos in weather conditions from snow to high heat with great results.


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## treadhead

sttbtch said:


> I use the siser glitter and the rhinestones do stick to the glitter. It us the stahls version. I have washed and it is great. No stones came off. We have also used the sticky glitter that feels just like the glitter for clothing and heat pressed rhinestones on it and stuck it on my car. I use a car wash weekly and the rhinestones have not come off
> 
> Sent from my DROID RAZR using T-Shirt Forums


That's the feedback I was looking for Aimee....thanks! Just to clarify...are you saying the Siser and Stahls glitter material is the same?

I'm really curious why stones would stick to it but not other vinyl material or other glitter vinyl.  I wonder if the adhesive on the stones is thicker and is able to penetrate down into the texture of the glitter where as the other vinyl adhesive layer is thinner and not able to penetrate down into the texture?


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## sttbtch

Yes. From my local vendor of sisser glitter. Sisser is a sub company of stahls. The roll I got from stahls and my siser is exactly the same. I believe the rhinestone stick to the rough surface. It has something to grab onto unlike the shiny smooth stuff

Sent from my DROID RAZR using T-Shirt Forums


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## BlingItOn

plan b said:


> The rhinestone that you saw was actually a nail head and the transfer was 5 years old,, just a something I had laying around,, I pressed it back on,, but however the material has been tested for over 8 mos in weather conditions from snow to high heat with great results.


Thank you for clearing that up. If I were you I would redo the video that you posted on You Tube then. If I noticed the missing rhinestone then I'm sure there are others that will notice it too. Doesn't look good if you are trying to sell a product that rhinestones will stick to and it looks like they all didn't stick.


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## My Shirt Connect

treadhead said:


> I'm really curious why stones would stick to it but not other vinyl material or other glitter vinyl.  I wonder if the adhesive on the stones is thicker and is able to penetrate down into the texture of the glitter where as the other vinyl adhesive layer is thinner and not able to penetrate down into the texture?


Regarding rhinestones sticking to Sticky Glitter..... It is the aggressive texture of the glitter that allows the rhinestones to grip to it. The advantage that Sticky Glitter has over apparel glitter is that Sticky Glitter lays flat. Having a firm flat surface that does not bend is the key to having rhinestones adhering long term. The adhesive on the back of the rhinestones and the sticky glitter can handle soaps, weather, etc. On the other hand, rhinestones on apparel glitter wash off in the washing machine due to the lack of a good firm surface.

Hope this helps clear it up


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## SickPuppy

I have tested rhinestones on just about every type of T-Shirt vinyl there is including glitter. The only material I have had any success with is flock. I use an eco solvent printable flock to print the designs then heat press the stones on. For small rhinestone designs I cut holes in the vinyl so the stones make contact with the cotton shirt.


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## treadhead

katruax said:


> Just as a side note... You can use the regular t-shirt heat press glitter material from Stahls, Speciality Materials whatever and heat apply it to sign vinyl and use it for your car decals...
> 
> This way you don't need to stock both types of materials... Plus the heat applied Glitter material comes in more colors than the Sticky Glitter....
> 
> Just an idea f you don't want to stock both types of materials...
> 
> Kevin


Excellent idea Kevin! Have you tried this?


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## treadhead

My Shirt Connect said:


> Regarding rhinestones sticking to Sticky Glitter..... It is the aggressive texture of the glitter that allows the rhinestones to grip to it. The advantage that Sticky Glitter has over apparel glitter is that Sticky Glitter lays flat. Having a firm flat surface that does not bend is the key to having rhinestones adhering long term. The adhesive on the back of the rhinestones and the sticky glitter can handle soaps, weather, etc. On the other hand, rhinestones on apparel glitter wash off in the washing machine due to the lack of a good firm surface.
> 
> Hope this helps clear it up


Ok...that makes sense.....the movement of the garment...either during wearing or probably more importantly...during washing causes the adhesion between the rhinestones and glitter to weaken over time.


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## My Shirt Connect

treadhead said:


> Ok...that makes sense.....the movement of the garment...either during wearing or probably more importantly...during washing causes the adhesion between the rhinestones and glitter to weaken over time.


Exactly : )


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## treadhead

This is why I love this forum...great feedback and helpful members!


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## katruax

treadhead said:


> Excellent idea Kevin! Have you tried this?


Yes I have been using heat applied glitter material applied to sign vinyl and using it for car decals for a long long time now and have never had any problems with stones or without...

I have a decal applied to my car for almost a year now and all the stones are still applied...

Kevin


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## treadhead

katruax said:


> Yes I have been using heat applied glitter material applied to sign vinyl and using it for car decals for a long long time now and have never had any problems with stones or without...
> 
> I have a decal applied to my car for almost a year now and all the stones are still applied...
> 
> Kevin


Kevin....do you have any trouble cutting through the glitter and sign vinyl after the are pressed together? I am usually pushing the limits of my cutter at 250 gmf on glitter vinyl when I don't have a brand new blade.


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## Leg cramps

try pressing your glitter on XPEL (car decal material).


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## katruax

Leg cramps said:


> try pressing your glitter on XPEL (car decal material).


That's overkill... XPEL is too expensive... 

Sign Vinyl in comparison is very cheap...


Kevin


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## treadhead

Kevin....did you see my post about any difficulty cutting through both the glitter and sign vinyl after pressing?


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## katruax

treadhead said:


> Kevin....do you have any trouble cutting through the glitter and sign vinyl after the are pressed together? I am usually pushing the limits of my cutter at 250 gmf on glitter vinyl when I don't have a brand new blade.


No I don't have any problem cutting the glitter material applied to sign vinyl... I cut it at about 150 pressure on my cutter, but every cutter is a little different...

I would just get you a roll of vinyl and heat apply some glitter to it... You can get 15" x 10yrds (30 ft) of Oracal 631 from SIGN Warehouse - Vinyl Cutters, Garment Decoration, Wide Format Color Printers, Engravers, Sign Making Supplies and More! and try it... I think you will find your cutter will cut it and it will work great for your glitter car decals too...

It's cheap enough to give it a try... 

Kevin


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## treadhead

I was wondering about whether you were using the 631 as your website mentioned that you could peel and move the decal. I didn't know whether that would hold up to car washes or not but apparently it does.

Thanks for all your feedback. I am going to give this a try with some vinyl I have in house already. It is 651 but I can always scrape it off if I don't like it.


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## Leg cramps

I don't think it is over kill, I think it was an option that I know works that had not been mentioned in this post.


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## treadhead

Hey Leg Cramps....I also thought about that option as well and think it would be a good option for those who already have a supply of the XPEL for their normal rhinestone decals.


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## treadhead

Hey Kevin...have you had any success layering glitter material over glitter material long term on t-shirts?


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## Amy Ho

It should be possible, we made a lot of transfer with glitter and rhinestone.
Just to control the temperature when heat press the stone on glitter.

there is no hole on the glitter.

But the different, the glitter with thin fabric onback.. So many be the different material.


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## schapkaren

Can someone please tell me where is the best place to purchase Glitter Decal material ? I looking to purchase several colors so if someone could please help me it would be much appreciated .
Thank you


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## schapkaren

What is the sticky glitter masking for ?? And do you need to purchase it?


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## sttbtch

schapkaren said:


> What is the sticky glitter masking for ?? And do you need to purchase it?


it is so when you cut out a sticker and it has multiple pieces it holds it together when taking it off the carrier and putting it on the final piece


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## schapkaren

Thank you so much for your help. What seems to be the cheapest place to get sticky glitter or who might sell a variety of colors ??


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## BlingItOn

schapkaren said:


> Thank you so much for your help. What seems to be the cheapest place to get sticky glitter or who might sell a variety of colors ??


I'm sure all of suppliers that are listed in the prior post have very similar pricing for the sticky glitter but choosing the supplier that is the closest to you will save on shipping costs and therefore will be the cheapest depending where you live.


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## hi-nrg-joe

I don't think it's just the washing of the clothes that causes the stones to fall of, but also the heat from the dryer perhaps loosing up the glue on the stones, along with the tumbling.

The stones can stick to lots of things. It's what happens to those things that causes the stones to fall off. I've put them on plastic, wood, etc with no problem...BUT, they are decorations hanging on the wall. I'm sure if someone picks at them they would eventually fall off. Also, being inside, they are not subject to extreme hot and cold changes like outside.

So, if you use some kind of glitter sticker with stones directly on it, I think it depends on what you do with that sticker. Maybe outside in extreme weather or car washes, etc the stones might come off. But a decal on something that doesn't get touched alot or expose to hot and cold, will be fine. I think it's something you just have to try for your intended purpose.


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## katruax

schapkaren said:


> Thank you so much for your help. What seems to be the cheapest place to get sticky glitter or who might sell a variety of colors ??



The cheapest option for "Sticky Glitter" and the option for the most colors is to make your own... Not something everyone wants to do but by far your cheapest option....

24 Different Colors at Stahls 32 colors at Specialty Materials

http://www.stahls.com/stahls/OOE_Ma...er.asp?txtMaterialType=CC&txtMaterialCode=GFL

They do sell by the yard which is nice.... But 5 yards x 20 is $60.00

Then just heat apply to just about any sign vinyl you like...

The advantage here is you have one material for two different applications... Use the heat press glitter for shirts... Or if you need to make a decal heat apply the heat press glitter material to a piece of sign vinyl and then you have glitter decal material for doing decals....

Kevin


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## schapkaren

I live in Maryland is there any suppliers in my area ??


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## katruax

schapkaren said:


> I live in Maryland is there any suppliers in my area ??


Inprintables is in PA and I bet a 1 day ship?


http://www.imprintables.com/product/spectra-bling,488,64.htm


Kevin


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## schapkaren

Kevin don't mean to be a pain lol but do they offer the sticky glitter for decals ?? If so could you tell me what name it falls under
Thanks so much


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## katruax

schapkaren said:


> Kevin don't mean to be a pain lol but do they offer the sticky glitter for decals ?? If so could you tell me what name it falls under
> Thanks so much


They carry StickyFlock and Sticky Glitter is made by the same company so you would think they would but it's not listed on the website... I would call and ask if they can get it though... 

But they do have the heat press Glitter material that you could heat apply to sign vinyl and make your own "StickyGlitter". It's a little cheaper this route and you have have glitter for regular heat press applications and for making decals when needed....

Kevin


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## schapkaren

Well I have taken some glitter vinyl and heat pressed it to my decal material and worked great!! However I used on another brand of decal material and it was horrible the decal material isn't that good . So what type of decal material would you suggest ??


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## katruax

schapkaren said:


> Well I have taken some glitter vinyl and heat pressed it to my decal material and worked great!! However I used on another brand of decal material and it was horrible the decal material isn't that good . So what type of decal material would you suggest ??


I would not recommend the clear decal material at all..As you know that material is not cheap...

I would just use any sign vinyl you might have...

I use Oracal 631 but really any sign vinyl will work for the most part... 

24" x 10 yards is only $20.00... Much cheaper than using the clear decal material... They even sell the 631 in clear if you really want it....

Oracal 631 - 24 inch x 10 yds - Black - Sign Supplies and Equipment


Just so you know stones won't stick to the 631 so while it's clear like decal material stones won't stick to it but heat press glitter vinyl will...


Kevin


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## schapkaren

Kevin so what you are saying is you can use reg sign vinyl as your medium for decal material?? Then you can layer with the glitter vinyl?? and then heat press the stones to the vinyl?


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## katruax

schapkaren said:


> Kevin so what you are saying is you can use reg sign vinyl as your medium for decal material?? Then you can layer with the glitter vinyl?? and then heat press the stones to the vinyl?


If you heat press glitter material to the sign vinyl now your glitter material has the sticky back of your sign vinyl....

Then you can adhere your stones to the rough texture of the glitter material... The stones will not stick to the sign vinyl however... Only the rough texture of the glitter material.... Like in the image below....












Kevin


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## katruax

I thought you might like to see a close up of a design I just finished... These were to be put on little mini wine bottles for a wedding as a wedding favor for the men and a smaller version yet to be put on a little bottle of perfume for the ladies... 

So here is the customer mockup I did.... 











Then a close up of the real deal....










Kevin


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## ltipton

I have a question about the sticky glitter for the cars. Has anyone ever notice the colors to fade in the sun. Red is a big fader in the sun. Anyone gotten any feedback?
I have a school that wanted to the red with stones for car bling.


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## sttbtch

yes the ones with red in them fade. I have noticed the pinks and the reds and the purples fade I have switched to just gold and the silver unless they sign that the color might fade. they sign alot of times. I deal with a crowd that changes their car stickers each semester


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## ltipton

So do you like working with the glitter better than the XPEL?


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## katruax

ltipton said:


> So do you like working with the glitter better than the XPEL?


XPEL?.... Man you are old school!... I didn't know anyone uses that anymore... 

That said I think the clear decal material is still the most common... Each has their place though...

Kevin


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## ltipton

So I guess I am behind the times. 

So now there is the Heat glitter and you use the sign vinyl. with the rhinestones.

And what else for the rhinestones on vehicles. You know these woman love their bling.


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## hi-nrg-joe

ltipton said:


> I have a question about the sticky glitter for the cars. Has anyone ever notice the colors to fade in the sun. Red is a big fader in the sun. Anyone gotten any feedback?
> I have a school that wanted to the red with stones for car bling.


I asked a question about the glitter decal as well to get some feedback. You can see some of the users responses here... 
https://www.facebook.com/synergy17

Not sure how to link a direct post, but do a "control+f" and search for StickyGlitter...or just look at the July 27th post.

Most complain about it fading in the sun.


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