What exactly are “skins”?
They’re adhesive-backed vinyl pieces pre-cut to fit your iPod. While there are some products on the market that are made of hard plastic or rubber, most of the time when you’re discussing skins, you’re talking about flexible adhesive-backed vinyl. That said, not all skins are the same.
If they’re all vinyl, what’s the difference?
You’ve got to understand that with vinyl films, there are basic two types of material. The vinyl itself can be made using one of two methods: “cast” or “calendared”.
Calendared vinyl is fairly inexpensive and is meant mostly for short-term applications on signs. It has a moderately glossy finish, but can have some problems with fading and color inconsistencies and is prone to shrinking over time, especially when exposed to heat (like those your iPod puts off when charging). It’s also less pliable and doesn’t conform as well to compound curves.
Cast vinyl costs roughly 2.5 times as much as calendared vinyl, but is notably higher quality. Cast vinyls have a much higher gloss point (frequently as shiny as automotive paint), don’t discolor and won’t shrink over time. They conform easily to just about any curve and last 7-9 years.
Isn’t that overkill for an iPod?
Not really. We want your skin to look the same years from now, so we use the cast materials almost exclusively. While our profit margins are less than someone using the cheaper materials, we’re focused more on the long-term relationship with our customers.
What about your printed skins?
This technology allows air bubbles and wrinkles to simply be pushed down and out, making application a breeze. It’s also more forgiving on people who might make errors during the installation process, as it can be removed and applied again. During application, the skin can be removed and reapplied as desired, and the skin will never leave any nasty goo on your iPod. There’s no need to use water or application fluid – just apply and you’re ready to go.
Shouldn’t your skins be thicker?
No… as we explained above, with vinyl products thicker means cheaper materials. The total thickness of a completed printed skin is around 6-7 mil. While we’d love to profit from using the thick stuff that costs a fraction of what our materials do, we’re concerned about fitment and longevity. Also, thicker skins don’t wrap around compound curves (ie, around the corners of the iPod). In order to offer maximum coverage and proper fitment, we’re obligated to continue using the high-dollar premium materials you’ve come to expect to see in our products.
Skin Application Tips
Some of you are probably like me and don’t exactly have rock-steady hands when putting skins on. With our iPod nano and iPod Video skins, we didn’t allow much room for error, opting to cover as much of the device as possible. With the intricacies of the face piece, it can be challenging to get it aligned properly. There’s nothing worse that getting it halfway on, realizing it’s crooked and then destroying it by peeling it off too fast.
The perfect way of aligning a skin depends on the individual as various techniques work better from person to person. Here are two that we recommend, depending on whichever you feel more comfortable with.
Face-up Method (works better for most cases)
Start with a clean iPod and a clean, flat working surface.
Place the iPod on the surface with the screen and clickwheel facing up.
Remove the skin from its backing and looking straight down, carefully lower the skin onto the iPod, all the time aligning the screen and clickwheel by sight.
Once the skin touches the iPod and bonds, lift up the iPod and press with your finger to bond the skin to the iPod.
Face-down Method (works for skins with two piece designs)
Start with a clean iPod and a clean, flat working surface.
Remove the skin from its backing and lay it, adhesive side up on the flat surface in front of you.
Holding the iPod face-down with both hands, looking straight down, carefully lower the iPod onto the skin, all the time aligning it by sight.
Once the iPod touches the skin and bonds, lift it up and press with your finger to bond the skin to the iPod.
You can repeat this with the back, but the back is usually easy enough to install without this method, as the curved edges (of the iPod Video) give you some room to play.