Banner Materials: 13oz vs 18oz vs Mesh
Most banner orders come down to four materials. Picking the right one is usually about where it hangs and whether light gets behind it — not about buying the heaviest thing available.
13oz scrim vinyl — the default
This is what "a vinyl banner" means unless somebody says otherwise. The weight refers to ounces per square yard. The scrim is a woven polyester mesh sandwiched between the vinyl layers, and it is the reason a banner with a grommet torn out does not keep ripping across the whole piece.
It suits the large majority of jobs: storefront banners, event signage, trade shows, fence banners in normal conditions. It takes solvent, eco-solvent, latex and UV inks well, and it folds for storage without cracking.
18oz blockout — for double-sided and backlighting
Heavier vinyl with an opaque grey core. That core is the entire point: it stops artwork on one side showing through to the other.
You need it when:
- The banner is double-sided — different artwork each side, hanging where both get seen.
- Strong light sits behind it, such as a window or a lit wall, which would otherwise make a single-sided banner look washed out and ghosted.
For an ordinary single-sided banner against a wall, blockout is cost and weight you are not using. Its extra durability is real but marginal; the opacity is what you are actually buying.
Mesh — for wind
Perforated banner material, typically around 70% material to 30% open area. Wind passes through instead of pushing against it, which dramatically reduces the load on the banner, the grommets and whatever it is tied to.
Use it for fence lines, scaffolding wraps, stadium rails and building faces — anywhere fully exposed. The trade-off is colour density: you are printing on a surface with holes in it, so solid areas read slightly lighter and fine detail suffers. Design for mesh with bold shapes and large type rather than subtle gradients.
Fabric — for indoors and photography
Polyester fabric, usually dye-sublimated so the ink becomes part of the fibre rather than sitting on top. Two properties matter: it has almost no glare, and it folds without creasing permanently.
That makes it the usual choice for trade show backdrops, retail displays and anything that will be photographed or filmed — a vinyl banner under lights produces hotspots that fabric does not. It is not an outdoor material in any serious wind or weather.
Choosing quickly
| Situation | Material |
|---|---|
| Standard outdoor or indoor banner | 13oz scrim |
| Both sides seen, or light behind it | 18oz blockout |
| Fence, scaffold, exposed and windy | Mesh |
| Trade show, photographed, indoor | Fabric |
Finishing is a separate decision
Whichever material you choose, you still need to say how it is finished — hems, grommets, pole pockets or nothing. That is covered in banner finishing explained, and it affects both price and how long the banner survives.
Our designer puts the material and finishing into the spec sheet that goes to the shop, so the quote you get back is for the thing you actually want.
Put this into practice
Design your piece at its real finished size, see the trim and safe lines as you work, and send it to a print shop near you as a job they can quote on sight.
Open the Designer Check Artwork You HaveCommon questions
13oz scrim vinyl is the standard outdoor banner material. The number is the weight per square yard, and the scrim is a polyester mesh laminated between vinyl layers that stops it tearing. It suits the large majority of outdoor and indoor banners.
When the banner is double-sided or will have strong light behind it. Blockout has an opaque grey core so one side cannot show through to the other. For a single-sided banner on a wall it is unnecessary weight and cost.
Only for windy, fully exposed positions such as fence lines, scaffolding or building faces. Mesh has thousands of small perforations that let wind pass through, at the cost of some colour density since you are printing on a surface with holes in it.