FAQs

Do you manufacture your own cards?

Yes, we do.

And we’re one of the few left in Australia that still do. Most plastic card production has been moved offshore but we’re still producing plastic cards here in Australia.

Head to our Contact page and give us a call if you’d like to come visit our factory.

What substrates do you print on?

PVC, polypropylene and Teslin® are the main ones.

We can also print on paper, vinyl, polycarbonate, Lexan®, cardboard, Tyvek® and a whole bunch of other substrates. If you’re after something special, ask us. We like a challenge.

Credit Cards?

No. We don’t make credit cards. We do accept payment by them, though.

The infrastructure required for the production of credit cards would simply prevent us from doing what we do best. One of the main reasons we can do what we do, the way we do it, is that we’re not occupied trying to meet the demands of one or two very large companies. We can therefore specialise and gear our production around small, fast turnaround jobs.

How come there’s no real cards in the sample pack?

A few of them are.

But you’re right, not many of them are and there’s a couple of reasons for this.

The main reason is that most of our work has been for resellers – producing for other card manufacturers as it were. We don’t use those cards in our promotions so that rules out a large proportion of potential samples.

The other reason is one we’re proud of. Over the last few years we’ve got our over-runs (or the amount of extra cards produced to meet an order) down to the 0% to 5% range. In this industry, on the substrates we produce on, this is unheard of. We produce almost exactly the correct amount of cards required and only produce more to replace defects. Many jobs are produced where the exact number of cards are produced – no over-run – resulting in no cards left over for use as samples.

Because of this, we have to create our samples from scratch. Some of the custom sized cards on the sample page are actual jobs. If we do something a bit different, we tend to like to have some to show off. It also allows us to push the limits of what we can produce a bit further than most jobs require, thereby allowing us to give you more ideas about what we can achieve for you.

How environmentally friendly are plastic cards?

Depends on the card.

And if that sounds like a bit of a cop-out, well, apologies. The fact is, each type of plastic has different environmental benefits and drawbacks.

They’re all recyclable if (and at times, it’s a big if) your local recycling service supports that particular type of plastic. Most councils recycle polypropylene; PVC has a much lower uptake. Polyproyplene burns clean, PVC doesn’t. We can manufacture a 100% recycled polypropylene card. PVC cards tend to be much longer lasting and therefore have less of an impact in that manner.

Teslin® has received a name for itself lately as being environmentally friendly, but once laminated, it’s bonded to either a PVC, polypropylene or polyester laminate which may cause issues further down the track.

What about biodegradable plastics?

Not something we offer at the moment.

The main problem is the volume of stock you have to order (over 1 tonne) and the shelf life of the product (less than 6 months). The two combined make it uneconomical and wasteful for us to use. It is a product that we check out every so often to keep abreast of any changes in either of the above.

What about recycled plastics?

This is something we can offer. We can provide a card manufactured from 100% post-industrial polyproplene with a choice of a varnish finish or a clear laminate. The laminate is not recycled, however.

We don’t currently have this as one of our main products as the base stock isn’t a pristine white and changes from batch to batch, similar to non-bleached, recycled paper. This has been an issue for customers in the past, but we reckon it’s actually quite a good product. If you’d like more information, please contact us.

What is polypropylene?

Polypropylene is a thermoplastic polymer made, like most plastics, from fossil fuels. It has many advantages for plastic cards. It’s recyclable, is non-toxic (often is used in food packaging), and if the worst occurs, burns with very little smoke and toxic fumes. For more detailed information, see here.

What is Teslin®?

Teslin® is a synthetic material that exhibits many of the printing properties of paper. Once laminated, it makes a very high quality plastic card.

Made from silica and polyolefin, Teslin® has very good resistance to many chemicals and environments, making it a good choice for usage in industrial environments.

What is PVC?

Polyvinyl chloride. The traditional plastic of choice for plastic card manufacturing. Strong, rigid, long-lasting. Can be thermal printed post-production. It is, however, not easy to recycle (although it can be done), nor, if it comes to it, burns cleanly. In fact, we highly recommend against burning PVC as it releases quite toxic chemicals as it does so. For more detailed information, see here.

Where’s Whroo?

Good question. It’s one that gets thrown around here a fair bit, too.

The obscure answer is that it’s near where the guy who does the artwork for the sample cards goes camping. Which helps no-one much at all. It’s actually up in north eastern central Victoria, near Rushworth, Murchison and Nagambie, across a bit from Shepparton.

The important bit, as far as the guy who does the artwork is concerned, is that there is pretty much nothing there. No one lives there, there’s no businesses there, and so no-one should get too upset about a couple of imaginary businesses there. Of course, that’s not to say there’s absolutely nothing there.

It’s actually a bit of a ghost town, a relic from the gold rush era. There’s very little of it there now, although there is quite a cool mine that you can wander around and in, and the obligatory cemetery – life wasn’t easy on the diggings. All in all, not somewhere to set as your final holiday destination, but if you’re that way, probably worth a picnic and a good look around.

If you’re interested, here’s where Whroo is if you want to go take a gander for yourself.