Wrap Around Sidelight with Vinyl Wrap Film

Fenders vary as there are different types of vehicles. Some of them have a sidelight on it. When you wrap up fenders like this, the best way is to remove the sidelight first so that you can have perfect full coverage with a vinyl wrap film.

However, you might occasionally come across a sidelight that cannot be removed. When this happens, it is crucial that you should handle it properly. Otherwise, you might overstretch or distort the vinyl wrap film. Even if the wrap looks ok at the time when you finish, the film will lift over time as you did not deal with it in the right way.

When the sidelight cannot be removed, it is tempting for a wrapper to bridge the material around straight away and force it into the base. This will lead to several problems depending on what kind of vinyl wrap film you are using.

If you are wrapping with a full print film, the images might be distorted or whitened as you wrapped in this way; If you are using a brushed or textured film, you could distort the lines; if it is a matte film, you are going to gloss it…

When you force the material in, you are actually overstretching the material, and putting pressure on the adhesive to hold on to the edge. Wrinkles can appear. And you can tell by now that the film is going to lift sooner or later.

To avoid these problems, here is a simple solution:

After applying the panel to the section, instead of bridging and forcing the material, click your blade to make sure it is sharp enough before working the film around the sidelight. Bridge the material, and make a relief cut at the top and on the sides of the light. This can relax the material and help you work around easily.

Use your finger to pull the film to the left and to the right. This will ensure that the material does not bunch up in the middle and avoid you from distorting it. You can even put masking tape on the sidelight to keep the film from grabbing it.

By now, the film is loose enough for you to pick it up in a safe way. You can feel free to tuck the material to the base, and cut on the side of the light with the tip of your blade. Use the hard part of your squeegee to tuck the slight extra film behind the sidelight.