Are you indifferent about decals and stickers? It is alright, many people are not able to distinguish between a decal or a sticker. However, the ensuing guide would eliminate all your ambiguities today and help you learn the main difference between the two.

It could also be stated that all decals could be termed as stickers, but not all stickers could be termed as decals. In order to further clarify it to you properly, we would tell what exactly is each one of these so that you could gain a better understanding of each.

What is a decal?

You must have seen several stickers on some windows, those are basically window decals. It could be said in easier words that decals are also stickers, but ones that are used for decorating or decorative purposes and mainly outdoor decorations. The decal stickers comprise paper at the back, the decal sticker itself, and the front paper. The back paper is used to save and protect the adhesiveness of the decals, whereas the front paper is used to protect the decal from stains and scratches so that its polish is not compromised. Decals are widely used on cars, laptops, windows, bottles, and other objects that are placed outside. These are printed on vinyl with the help of UV technology. Decals could be in a solid color as well as in printed patterns.

What is a sticker?

Sticker is a wide term used for an object or a piece of paper that is adhesive from one side and has the tendency to be stuck on a number of surfaces. The stickers only consist of two layers, that is the back layer and the sticker itself. The purpose of the back layer is to protect the adhesive of the sticker as similar to the one in decals. The stickers have wide usage and could be used and are being used on a variety of surfaces such as papers, cards, walls, mirrors etcetera. A sticker could be anything that is able to be stuck all the way from a stamp to a window. These are printed on vinyl which could either be from the sheet or a cut-off.

The size differs

Size is one of the ways through which you could identify a decal from a sticker. As you must have seen and noticed that window decals are bigger in size as compared to the stickers. It is the case with all the decals, the decals are bigger, and the stickers are smaller in size.

Application varies

Decals could only be applied to flat surfaces, but the stickers could be applied on a number of surfaces, but the requirement is that these surfaces should be smooth. The thing about stickers is that these could be easily removed when desired,  but taking off a decal might turn out to be a challenging task for you. Both have a variety of options under their specific heads.

Lifespan slightly varies

There exists a slight difference in the lifespan of a sticker and a decal. Decals have a slightly shorter age such that they have a lifespan of 5 to 7 years depending upon the exposure and usage. The lifespan of a fine quality sticker is comparatively higher than that of a decal, it is 8 years and above.