Once your design is finalized, selecting the right material becomes the next crucial decision for your banner promotions. This choice directly impacts the durability, appearance, and overall use of your promotional materials.

In this article, we break down the most popular types of banners, explore the materials they’re made from, and help you understand which ones are best suited for your unique display goals.

I. Different Materials for Banners

1. Vinyl Banners

Vinyl banners are made from durable PVC and are known for their bold, high-resolution prints. You can easily print any design on them, and they’ll handle vibrant colors and sharp graphics well. These banners resist water, fading, and UV damage, making them ideal for indoor and outdoor use. You can also add a matte or gloss finish for added protection.

Vinyl banners are ideal for trade shows, retail promotions, grand openings, seasonal sales, and sports events, providing reliable visibility both indoors and outdoors. With proper storage and handling, they can also last 3 to 5 years.

2. Mesh Banners

Mesh banners are a perforated version of sturdy vinyl banners, allowing wind to pass through. This feature makes them ideal for outdoor use in breezy or open areas where standard banners might tear or flap.

The small holes also create a slightly see-through look while still displaying your message clearly.

Mesh banners typically last up to three years with proper care and limited exposure to weather. You can use them for construction site advertising, outdoor sports promotions, festival fences, or any other windy event.

3. Fabric Banners

Go for fabric banners if you require premium designs for stage backdrops, photo walls, trade show displays, or indoor promotional signage. They are made from polyester or canvas, offering a smooth look that produces rich, matte finishes with deep colors.

While not as rugged as vinyl or mesh, they are ideal for displays that require a softer aesthetic. With proper care and indoor use, they can last 1 to 2 years. Perfect for professional indoor settings.

4. Backlit Material Banners

These translucent banners are made from sturdy materials that shine when paired with lightboxes or LED displays. The backlighting enhances the design, drawing more attention when installed in dimly lit areas.

These banners work best indoors or in sheltered outdoor spots with power outlets nearby for their lighting systems. The backlit banners typically last 2 to 4 years, depending on the frequency of illumination. Common uses include trade show booths, mall or airport displays, and retail storefronts needing nighttime visibility.

5. Recyclable Banners

Recyclable banners are made from eco-friendly materials and printed using non-toxic, water-based inks. They offer a sustainable solution for short-term campaigns while reducing environmental impact.

Although not as long-lasting, they are suitable for indoor or light outdoor use. Some biodegradable options are also certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

They’re an excellent choice for eco-themed events, school programs, or companies promoting green initiatives.

II. How to Choose the Right Banner Material

With several banner material options available today, it’s easier than ever to find one that aligns with your specific promotional goals. Still, do note that each material comes with its strengths and weaknesses. To ensure your banner performs well and delivers your message, it’s essential to carefully consider the following key factors:

•  Location: Indoor vs. Outdoor

For outdoor promotions, go with vinyl or mesh banners due to their durability and weather resistance. If you’re advertising indoors, fabric and backlit banners offer a cleaner look and eye-catching design.

• Outdoor Weather Exposure

If your display area is prone to strong winds, mesh banners are your best option. For unpredictable weather conditions, opt for vinyl banners with reinforced edges to ensure added durability and longevity.

• Expected Duration of Use

Consider how long you plan to use the banner. For temporary or one-time use, fabric or recyclable banners are your go-to option. For continuous use, choose a more durable option, such as vinyl or mesh banners.

• Budget Constraints

If you’re on a tight budget, recyclable or fabric banners are cost-effective for short-term use. Meanwhile, investing in vinyl banners offers long-term savings, as you can reuse them multiple times.

• Sustainability Goals

If your business puts sustainability as a high priority, go with eco-friendly options like recyclable or biodegradable banners. These materials support green initiatives and show your commitment to environmental efforts.

Conclusion

Selecting the right banner material means finding the ideal balance between durability, sustainability, and visual appeal. With numerous material options available, you can choose the perfect banner to match any message, event, or environment.

A smart approach is to plan ahead and rotate your banners according to your promotional calendar. Use long-lasting vinyl and mesh banners for extended outdoor campaigns, while reserving fabric and recyclable banners for indoor events, trade shows, or short-term promotions. This lets you get the most value out of every banner.

Banner Material Options: Which One Fits Your Needs Best?

What is the Best Way to Mount a Banner?

Mounting a banner can be done in various methods. The best way depends on whether or not your banner has grommets or pole pockets. Grommets are metal rings inserted along the edges and corners of a banner, reinforcing holes for tear-resistant hanging. Pole pockets, on the other hand, involve folding and sewing the banner to create an open pocket on one or both ends for pole or rope hanging.

Categorizing methods into grommet and non-grommet options, we’ll explore these accessories and the ideal locations for hanging banners.

Note: We’ll use ‘banners’ as a general term that applies to vinyl banners, fabric banners, and mesh banners. 

How to Hang a Banner With Grommets

The best way to hang a banner with grommets is to use display accessories like bungee cords, nylon rope, hanging clips, zip ties, and suction cups and hooks. These accessories work great with grommets and other banner finish options and expand their functionality while ensuring that the banner is secure.

Bungee Cords

Bungee cords are excellent for pulling your banner tight when displayed. Hook one end of the cord onto the grommet (included for free with all of our banners) and the other to an anchor point of your choosing. Ensure adequate tension from each bungee to pull the banner evenly across its surface.

Nylon Rope

Nylon rope is one of the most common ways to hang banners, whether or not your banner has grommets. Loop through the grommets or feed through pole pockets to secure banners to posts and fences or suspend them from ceilings of overhangs.

Hanging Clips

Hanging clips, commonly called carabiners, can be easily clipped through grommets, which can then clip to anchor points or objects. Carabiners can be used for both permanent and temporary displays. These make an excellent option for displaying a banner on a chain link fence as carabiners can hook into the fence and to the sign through the metal grommets.

Zip Ties

Zip ties are designed for temporarily displaying your banner on fences (chain link fences are the best for this). We recommend zip ties for casual, outdoor events such as fairs, food truck advertising, grand openings, sales, and birthday parties. Zip ties are also more commonly used for extended periods as they are more permanent than bungee cords, ropes, or clips. To hang your banner using zip ties, put the zip tie through the grommet and the anchor point wherever you’re hanging it, then secure it by attaching the ends. To remove it, cut the zip ties.

Suction Cups and Hooks

Suction cups allow you to hang banners on non-porous (smooth), flat surfaces. The most common application surface for these is glass. Hooks extend from the suction cups that can go right into the grommets of your banner. It’s important to mention that suction cups are not meant for large or heavy banners. The weight of larger banners can be too much for the suction ability of this accessory.

How to Hang a Banner Without Grommets

If your banners don’t have grommets and you want to hang them on a wall without drilling, consider Velcro strips, pole pockets, magnets, or tape. Here’s how you can use them:

Velcro

Velcro adhesive strips can be included to attach to the back of your banner. The strips come in two parts; one adheres to the surface you want to connect your banner to, and the other attaches to the back. Velcro strips will do the job if you want to display your banner on walls indoors or wrapped around a surface. They’re also convenient if you want to continually swap out banners in the same display position or a banner without grommets around the edges.

Pole Pockets

You can slide the banner over a pole and suspend it on both ends — picture the start of a parade where two people are holding a suspended banner — or thread something through the pole pocket, like a rope or cord. You can have pole pockets sewn on all four sides of your banner or just one, the choice is yours.

Magnets

If you’ve got a metal surface, strong magnets are another option to consider. To secure the banner in place, make sure to stick the magnets strategically so that they won’t easily fall off from the surface.

Tape

If you want a quick and temporary banner setup solution, use tape to attach your banners. Make sure the tape has strong adhesion and stick it to the back of the banner and affix it to the chosen surface.

Best Places to Hang Banners

Directly On A Wall

One of the most popular ways to hang a banner is on a flat wall. Use Velcro adhesive strips for a flush display on smooth walls. For brick walls, opt for screws or hooks for and use washers for added stability. While double-sided tape or glue are other options for displaying banners on walls, we don’t recommend using them due to potential damage and their permanent nature.

Suspended Between Posts

Suspending or hanging a banner between posts is another standard display method. We’d recommend including grommets on all four corners to allow the banner to be pulled taut between posts. To do this, use rope, zip ties, or screws to secure the banner (wooden posts are ideal for using screws). You may also install hooks into the posts to utilize the grommets of your banner. For larger banners, use a middle post to not only keep your banner taut but also to avoid potential damage in windy conditions. We always recommend taking down banners in extreme weather conditions, and to use mesh banners instead since they are the best option for often windy areas.

Hanging From an Awning or Ceiling

Hang banners from higher points using grommets and rope. Make sure the rope is long enough to feed through the grommets and back to the anchor point of the rope. Metal chains, fishing lines, and the like can also be used. However, we have found rope to be the best option for this location. The aesthetics of the different materials will also play a role in which one you choose.

Displayed on a Flagpole

Use grommets with metal clips or zip ties for hanging banners on flagpoles. Remember to ensure the pole is designed to fit the ¼” clips. Pole pockets are also ideal for sliding a flagpole through the top or bottom of the banner. Though in both of these cases this is not the recommended use and we offer custom flags that can be displayed on flagpoles.

Note: Our pole pockets are 3” in diameter.

Hanging on a Fence

Banners are commonly displayed on chain link fences using grommets, zip ties, or hanging clip, while pole pockets can also secure a banner to a fence with the rope being fed through the pocket(s). Fences that aren’t chain-linked can have banners attached using rope and an anchor point on the fence (this varies depending on the type of fence).

Hanging on a Table

Hanging a banner on a table can be done in multiple ways. Include grommets on the four corners (and around the outside edge if necessary) to secure the banner so that it hangs in front of the table. If your banner has a pole pocket, a rope or string can feed through the pocket to secure the banner to the table.

Hung Up On Hanging?

Banners are a versatile and durable indoor and outdoor signage option. Assuming you’ve correctly hung your banner, you shouldn’t have to worry about it tearing or prematurely failing in any way. Regardless of the location or manner in which you hang them, these banners should last for years to come. If you’re still unsure how to hang your brand new banner outside or inside or are wondering what accessory you should include with your purchase, call us at 888-222-4929. Need some design help? We also offer free design services that can assist you in designing the perfect custom banner for your next event.

Related Articles

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Standard Vinyl Banner Sizes – Signage 101

A Guide To Outdoor Banners – Signage 101

Signage 101 – How to Hang Your Banner

Best-in-class material-handling solutions can be a tremendous help in this regard, which is where ABCO Systems comes in. As Jack Kaumo, chief sales officer, explains, the company solves its customers’ problems “with the best solutions available by sourcing several partners and procuring the lowest cost, best available, and highest-quality result.”

Jack has purchased a 48 x 24-inch vinyl banner (grommeted and hemmed) from Signs.com, and has installed it in his home office.  

Tell us about yourself
I’m a lifelong sales professional with concentration in the material-handling and supply-chain space. My experience started in manufacturing solutions for digital devices, later went to software to support applications, and led me to where I am today. Today, I am the chief sales officer at one of the nation’s fastest growing supply-chain integrators, driving both business and consumer market success.

What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
I have a passion for cars, their statistics, and performance measures.

What does your company do?
With a mission to help our customers improve quality, increase capacity, reduce costs, and improve efficiency, ABCO Systems has become one of the most trusted companies in the industry. Our offices are in New Jersey, but we provide solutions all across the country. With so many automated material-handling solutions to choose from, we help customers select which warehouse automation, design, or process they need to maximize their efficiency.

Where did the idea of your company come from?
It started as a family-owned business that created racking systems for warehouses.

Customers First

What sets you apart from your competition?
We have a strict customer-first philosophy. We don’t just say that, we embody it in every customer experience.

How do you market your business?
We’re active across all social-media platforms, using social media like LinkedIn to promote our business. We have several solutions available and showcase them actively with customer testimonials and other important topics. This month, we’re specifically concentrating on third-party logistics companies. We also market ourselves via various media articles, interviews, and events.

How do you “wow” your customers?
We pride ourselves in full turnkey functionality with world-class response times for full warehouse systems design.

What are one or two strategies for gaining customers that you have been successful with?
One, do whatever it takes to gain trust with small or large jobs. Two, immediate communication with very high expectations on turn time.

How do you compete with competitors that are bigger than you?
We solve our customers’ problems with the best solutions available by sourcing several partners and procuring the lowest cost, best available, and highest-quality result.

Creating a Successful Culture

What is one of the biggest challenges you have had with your business? How did you overcome it?
We were challenged to grow above our average revenue and that could only be accomplished by expanding across the nation. We did that by creating a significant partner network and opening an office in California. As a result, we have now seen revenue increase by more than double.

If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
Nothing. We have learned a lot from our mistakes and we have been able to build a family-owned business with a culture that’s unrivaled. We’re a $50M a year company with just over 40 people – it’s a small business where everyone wears several hats and contributes to business goals and excellent customer service.

What is the one thing you would do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Network, network, network. Value your customers and understand that they’ll actively buy again and recommend if you do the right thing.

Is there a book that you recommend our community should read?
The Forklifts Have Nothing To Do: Lessons in Supply Chain Leadership, by Joseph Walden.

Continuing the Growth

Can you speak to your growth to this point and why you think it will continue?
We have recently seen significant growth and expect to see it continue due to consumer demand through e-commerce buying.

Where can you be found on the internet?
Our website: www.abcosystems.net.

Small Business Success Story: ABCO Systems

How Is Denier Measured? And What Is It Measuring?

Simply put, the denier count for a piece of fabric equates to how much an individual thread from that fabric would weigh in grams if that thread were to be 9,000 meters long.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s important to note that manufacturers present denier count in one of two ways:

The most common format you’ll see denier represented is as a whole number preceding the lowercase letter “d”. For example, if you are looking at a material that is 300 denier, it would be listed as 300d.

Another way a manufacturer might present denier is two separate whole numbers, which represent the thickness of threads going in the machine direction (known as “warp”), by the thickness of the threads going in its cross direction (or the “fill”), respectively. For example, a 600d material would be listed as 600×600 denier. So to be clear, a material that is listed as 50×50 denier is the same as 50d, since all of the threads (both the warp and the fill) are the same thickness.

To better understand how the measurement for denier works you can refer to this equation:

1 denier (d) = 1 gram in weight for every 9,000 meters of thread length

To help put it in perspective, take a look at each thread in the image below. Notice how each thread has the same length yet differs in thickness. The thicker threads will weigh more than the thinner threads, as they consist of more material. Thus, threads that weigh more have a higher denier count than those that weigh less. Threads such as the ones shown below are then woven together with other threads of the same thickness to create materials such as fabric banners, shirts, tents, flags, & more.

So what does that all mean for the material you are looking at? Let’s use a standard t-shirt as an example. The t-shirt is made up of many threads woven together. If the t-shirt was 30d (30 denier) than that means each thread used to create that t-shirt would weigh 30 grams if that thread were to be 9,000 meters in length.

High vs. Low Denier Count. Which Is Better?

So you’re looking to get some signage and want to know which denier count to go with. Is it better to have something with a low denier count or a high one? Well, it depends.

Generally speaking, the higher the denier count, the more durable the material will be. This is due to the thicker threads used to make up the material. So, if you’re looking for something that is durable and can withstand outdoor wear and tear, you want to go with the highest denier material possible.

This is why you will see outdoor materials such as flags, pop up tents, and banners with denier counts ranging anywhere from 150-1,000d. Once denier counts start getting into the hundreds, you start seeing materials that are extremely durable, tear-resistant and abrasion-proof. It is also important to note that tensile strength (resistance to the material breaking under tension) increases with the denier count. Banners, for example, are designed to withstand tension up to 154×17 lbs/inch, which is more than enough tensile strength when hanging the banner with four corner grommets.

If you are more concerned with low weight and smoothness, you will want to go with a material that has a lower denier count. The lower the denier count, the less the material is going to weigh as a whole and the finer that material will be. Benefits of having thinner material usually include a reduction in cost as well as ease of storage and transportation (due to the low weight of the material). This will, however, lead to the material becoming more prone to tearing.

It is also important to note the amount of light certain materials will allow to pass through based on their denier count. The higher the count, the less light that will be able to pass through. If you were to hold a piece of silk up against the sun, you would easily be able to see through it. However, if you were to do the same with a vinyl banner, it would block out all light, making it so you could not see through at all. This is important to consider with something like a pop up tent, where you will be mainly using it outdoors and will not want to have a lot of sunlight passing through the material.

What Are Some Common/Standard Denier Counts?

The denier count for fabrics, banners, and other materials can vary anywhere from less than 1 to 1,000+. Generally speaking, the thicker the fabric, the higher the denier count. Here’s a comparison chart to give you an idea of some common denier counts for materials you may be familiar with:

With so many different types of materials and applications relying on denier count as a measure of thickness and durability, it’s important to consider a material similar to the one you’re using when determining what count is best for you.  Generally speaking, microfiber materials like silk makeup anything that is 1d or less. Light fabrics such as down jackets and thin tents will be around 10-20d. General outerwear, such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, & khakis will range from 40-80d. Heavy-duty fabrics, such as flags, pop up tent canopies, backpacks, vinyl banners & more can range anywhere from 100-1,000d.

All of our signs are crafted for impressive durability; if you’re looking for a banner and are having trouble choosing one that would fit your needs, check out our vinyl banners, mesh banners, or fabric banners to learn more.  

Have any other questions about signs? Give us a call at 888-222-4929 or shoot us an email at support@signs.com

Signage 101 – What Is Denier?