6 Tips For Maintaining Your Neon Sign
Modern, colorful, eye-catching, and innovative: neon signs are the best solution to make your shop recognizable and attract customers. Making a neon sign takes a lot of skill and years of practice, in order to create beautiful designs that you can use for your home or business. The events and hospitality industry have used the custom neon sign to be noticed throughout the decades. That unique glow created by a neon sign is incredibly eye-catching and vibrant, which is what makes them so popular as a decorative piece for your home or place of work.
Whether it’s off the shelf or custom neon signs for special events or businesses, Neon Attack creates, design and deliver signage for events, exhibitions, offices, shop owners, shoplifters, retailers, hospitality and weddings. So, whether you’re looking to jazz up your living room with funky wall lights or brighten up a stage with interesting lighting, Neon Attack is bursting with passion and ready to turn your idea into something special. While you receive a finished sign that comes ready to hang or mount to the wall, your neon sign has undergone an exciting journey to reach that point.
Custom Neon Signs
Creators of custom neon signs for special events use glass tubes, and these are fragile. The tubes have gas, and so you must take utmost care when handling the sign. Immediately you receive your custom neon sign shipment, unwrap, check the tubes and confirm there are no cracks. Plug it carefully, considering it’s fragile. Any time you want to move the signage, remember the glass tubes and handle them carefully.
As with all lights, neon tubes accumulate dust, dirt, and grime from airborne particles and other debris. Dirty neon signs and lights on display appear dingy. Hence, just like any aspect of your business, neon signs need to be maintained so they can work at optimum levels. You must inspect the neon signs regularly to check for cracks in the glass tubes. Also, check the quantity of gas present inside the tubes to ensure that the glow of these signs doesn’t fade away. The sign should be clean and neat to convey the message to clients. To ensure that these signs serve your business for a long time, you must learn some good tips to take care of them.
Keep Bugs Away
If your sign is indoors, you’re probably already doing everything you can to keep bugs from coming indoors. But if you have an outdoor neon sign, bugs can become a problem. Bugs are attracted to all kinds of light, and brightly colored neon tubes can be especially attractive.
Not only will you have to clean your sign more often if bugs use it as a hangout spot if a large number of bugs are crawling on your sign, but they can also partially block it from view. Plus, bugs crawling over your sign is just not a good look. The simplest fix is to simply install electronic bug zappers or mosquito traps on your property to help keep the bug population down.
Don’t unplug
While it may seem counter-intuitive, the truth is that it’s best for your neon sign if you leave it plugged in all the time. Why? The sign’s power transformation will wear out much sooner if your sign is continually turned on and off every day. Since neon signs use electrodes rather than heated filaments, they don’t get hot and won’t pose a fire danger.
Concerned about energy costs? LED neon lights use very little power to operate and restarting their power transformer uses more electricity than lighting the sign for many hours.
Install in a safe place
Most people will have somewhere in mind before purchasing a neon sign. Before you go rushing to put your sign up, however, think about how safe the surrounding area is. As we mentioned previously, the glass tubes are delicate. Signage should be installed in a safe area, out of reach of children and pets to avoid accidents.
If you are purchasing a neon bar sign, try to avoid installing your signage in an area where people could bump into it or knock something into it, as these risks are increased when there is alcohol involved. As mentioned above, if you really want to put your sign somewhere it might get knocked, perhaps a clear cover would be beneficial.
Dusting dust
Well, cleaning the signs at regular intervals will avoid the formation of layers of dust on them. All you need to do for keeping them dust-free is get a dry brush and dust them. Here’s how.
Firstly, switch off and unplug the neon sign. Now take a soft nylon brush with long bristles and slowly wipe off the dust from each part of the LED neon lights. You can also use an old pair of socks for cleaning the neon sign. Be slow and careful while you perform this task.
Don’t soak in water
Some neon signs may need more than your standard wipe down. Neon signs can collect stains just like any other sign, and need to be cleaned with care every once in a while. Do NOT soak the sign in the solution or water during the cleaning. Furthermore, special care is required if there is block-out paint used on the sign. Confirm that the cleaning solution doesn’t crack or peel the paint by testing a small section on a corner before proceeding to clean the whole sign.
Spot cleaning
If the neon sign has light spots on it, it can be removed with a cloth dampened with water. If the stains are stubborn they cannot be cleaned with a cloth dampened with water. You need to moisten the cloth or a sock in an ammonia-based cleaning solution. This can help you completely remove stains and leave your sign dust-free. Buying commercial cleaners that are specially formulated for neon signs is also a good idea if the stains are old or hard.
Well, now you have learned how to clean neon signs, but it is also essential that you know how to take care of neon signs when cleaning them. It is essential that you check for cracks and damage before using a damp cloth or a sock on it and starting the cleaning process. In case you notice any problems as first consider repairing the neon sign by calling a professional. When cleaning neon signs, make sure you brush to dust on a flat surface and change the stocking at regular intervals. This will ensure that the cleaning tools stay free of dirt and the signs are cleaned faster and better.