Overview
A near-black film that returns an iridescent rainbow when light hits it. By day the graphic reads as a plain dark print; under headlights or a phone torch it lights up in colour.
It is cut, weeded and pressed like standard HTV, which is the reason it gets used: the workflow does not change, only the appearance does. The difficulty is not in application but in approval — a dark film on a dark liner hides the detail you are about to commit to.
Specification
- Code: RS-F-HT-04
- Colour: Black base, rainbow reflection
- Carrier: PET liner
- Effect: Iridescent rainbow under retroreflection
- Width: up to 140 cm
- Packing: 50 m or 100 m per roll
- Materials: Oeko-Tex Standard 100
Approve it under a torch, not on a screen
The film looks almost featureless until it is lit from the viewer's direction, so a press proof reviewed under normal workshop light tells you very little about the finished graphic. Weed it onto a scrap of the actual garment fabric and look at it with a torch at the angle a wearer would be seen from. That check catches the two usual problems — detail too fine to survive weeding, and a rainbow return that fights the garment colour — before a roll is consumed.
Typical use
Streetwear graphics, event kit, sneaker and bag panels, and promotional pieces where the reflective element is the design.
It is also used on dark technical garments that need a visible accent at night without a silver stripe that would read as workwear in daylight.
What to confirm before ordering
- Proof under a torch on the real fabric: the only reliable approval for a dark carrier film.
- Artwork detail: fine lines must survive weeding — check before committing a roll.
- Base fabric: works on cotton, polyester and blends, but confirm the specific shell you are pressing.
- Press parameters: temperature, pressure and dwell per build.
- Roll quantity: 50 m or 100 m — small runs are cut from the same stock, so agree the pack size with the artwork scale.
Compliance note
Colour and effect layers sit in the optical path and absorb most of the returned light, so a surface like this does not reach the 330 cd/(lx·m²) that EN ISO 20471 requires for retroreflective material, at any grade. It is specified for appearance, not for a certified hi-vis claim.
Where a garment needs a 20471 claim, a plain silver element has to carry it. Mixing a colour element for design with a compliant element for performance is standard practice — the two just have to be planned together at design stage.
Related formats
For printed rather than cut graphics, see Reflective Printing Fabric; for the fabric version of the same effect, Rainbow Reflective Fabric. Colour overview at Colour Reflective Fabric.
Samples and lead time
A4 swatches are free so your team can check colour, flex and hand feel under your own lighting before committing. Standard lead time is 2–4 weeks from order confirmation.
