Often times, it can be easy for installers to jump right to the actions when doing a wrap job and apply the vinyl wrap film to a vehicle straight away. However, think for a second would be a great help.
You might say it will be a waste of time. But if you do not take this time, and just start wrapping straight away, the consequence of not thinking ahead might lead you to big troubles with the vinyl wrap film, sometimes even a re-do.
For mirror wrapping, this is particularly important, because as most wrappers know already, a mirror is not something that can be easily wrapped as you would do to a flat area.
Thus, to think for a second, and avoid the potential problems a wrapper might come across with the vinyl wrap film, the best way is to “read” the mirror before taking any action in terms of actual wrapping.
Take a thorough observation, foreseeing how the material will react if you apply it to each specific spot based on your knowledge and experience, and be clear in your mind how you can handle those problems out of the reaction of the film.
This will help you have the proper judgment particularly about at which point there will be tension to deal with. By doing this, it will save your time for making up what you could have done wrong. Not only this, the quality and long term durability of the film is promising too.
For mirror wrapping, it is always about cold pre-stretch and creating triangles. Thus, you can read the mirror beforehand, having a clear mind knowing from where you should do the pre-stretch, and to where you should form a triangle.
If there are corners and angles, know that material tends to bunch up there, so there will be wrinkles.
This is where an installer would form a triangle, starting from one corner, hooking the material from behind, and pulling it across (and away from the corner), as well as creating glass at the same time. You can pull as many times as you need in order to even the tension out.
-When the installer pulls the material, relief cut(s) should be made when it needs so that the tension can be taken out.
Once you finish forming this corner, you can lock the material right in the middle, and start creating other triangles in different directions.
Thus, wrapping mirror is actually just a repeatable process of cold pre-stretch and triangle. Once it is 360-degree dealt with, seal the edge and done.
Some mirror might have raised objects on it. This needs more attention for the wrapper to carefully handle. But the logic is the same. It is best to start with the raised object though – always remember to do the hardest part first.
So long as you take this time to read the mirror, and follow this logic of wrapping, everything should be under control. And a successful wrap job is not too far away from you if you did this very first step.
