Discover the Best Ways to Care for your Neon Signage
Neon signs can be created in a range of sizes, styles and colours, with letters and artwork proving to be popular choices among businesses looking to make a statement. Neon signs are as popular now as ever before, with businesses all over the world still turning to neon when they require a stand-out-from-the-crowd advertising solution. Despite the popularity of neon signs, lots of sign owners still aren’t sure about how to care for their neon signage. We still receive plenty of calls from people that require advice on how best to look after them.
To save time for everyone involved, we thought we would produce a short guide to help you give your neon signage the right care it needs.
Neon Sign Maintenance: Our Top Tips
Buying a neon sign is fun, but you need to make sure you look after it properly. Although neon signs don’t require much maintenance, there are things you can do to ensure your signage lives for longer without damage.
1. Choose the right Sign
Neon signs can last for an incredibly long time, providing they are well looked after. The first step to making sure your sign will last as long as possible is ensuring you choose the right type of sign. Ask yourself the following questions: Is the sign going to be reachable by people? Is the sign going to be in an area where things are often transported or carried? If the answer to either of these is yes, then maybe you would benefit from a clear acrylic cover over your sign. While neon is perfectly safe to touch when installed correctly, it is still a glass product and so if your sign is in an area where it could get knocked or broken, a clear cover, or case could be the thing to extend the life of your sign
2. Handle with care
Real neon signs are made using glass tubes filled with gas, so they need to be treated with respect. If your sign is getting delivered, unwrap it carefully and handle it with care. Check the tubes to make sure there are no cracks or damages and make sure everything is intact. If all looks well, you can set about installing it in a safe place. If your signage is damaged, don’t try to fix it yourself; ask the manufacturer to take a look at it for you.
When unplugging or moving your sign about, make sure you do so carefully. Although we’d recommend moving or handling the neon as little as possible once it is in place, you might fancy putting it somewhere different. When the time comes to move your signage about, remember that glass tubes can be fragile, so try to avoid contact with other surfaces where possible.
3. 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.
4. Clean it carefully
Though neon signs require little maintenance, they may still need cleaning from time to time. Bar signs can succumb to dust build up quite quickly, with large crowds usually occupying the areas nearby. Signs in busy areas generally require more cleaning, so it’s important that you know how to go about doing this.
Although there is no harm in leaving your light switched on all the time, we’d suggest unplugging it to clean it. Use a duster to remove all dust build up and grime from the glass tubes. If you are struggling to get to small crevices, try using a small brush to get in all the gaps. These are the areas that can look the dirtiest as dust builds up in a more compressed area.
If your sign is especially dirty, you might want to give it a more thorough cleaning. Providing your sign is unplugged, you can use warm, soapy water to clean the tubes. Make sure the ingredients don’t contain any ammonia though as this can be damaging to the tubes. Gently wipe them down using a clean cloth and dry them quickly with a lint-free towel. This will leave your signage looking spic and span, ready for you to plug back in.
Breakages
No matter how well you care for your sign or how strategically you place it, sometimes it will get broken. Accidents happen, or you get so used to a sign being there that you forget how fragile it is.
So the worst has happened and part of your sign is broken, what should you do? The caring of your neon sign does not end when it breaks. The first thing to do is switch the sign off to avoid further damage to the sign. Any broken pieces should be carefully collected and packaged to be recycled at a suitable glass recycling facility. You can also return the pieces to us and we will recycle them free of charge. After that, you should contact us with as much information about the breakage as possible and we will let you know what can be done to replace the piece.
Neon Signs
If you have any questions or would like to speak to someone about an idea you have for a project, feel free to get in touch and speak to a member of the A1deSIGNS team. We can talk you through the different options available for purchasing new neon lighting or give further advice on how best to look after your signage.
