Don’t apply vinyl wrap film while ceramic coatings on

It is common to wipe over a vehicle with ceramic coating for extra protection. People apply the coating on top of a vinyl wrap film and the bare surface of a car. And when it gets on the windows, it might stay there for quite a long time, leaving an extra challenge for future install when you have to wrap the windows.

With the ceramic coating on, there is a protective layer on top that lowers the surface energy of the windows. Thus, if you apply vinyl wrap film straight away, the material will not stick well, which will lead to potential quality problems.

So it is best to check the surface energy of the window before putting a vinyl wrap film on it and remove the ceramic coating when it needs. Here is a trick to see if you need to get rid of the coating:

Clean the window thoroughly and adequately. Then, use a paint marker like Quick Stik to draw a line on the window. If the surface energy is high enough, you will see a clear and solid line there, which means the surface is ready to wrap. But if you see a blurry line there, it means the surface energy is really low. And you have to do something before wrapping it.

To completely remove the ceramic coating, you can use a propane torch, as the heat will neutralize the low surface energy of the coating. But make sure the temperature of the window is above 20 Celsius before you do it to avoid cracking the glass. Remember to set the propane torch on with constant fame.

When you heat the window, keep waving the torch and do not let the fame stay on one spot for too long during the process. Go over from the outside edge first. Heat it around in a 360-degree circle. If there is rubber molding around the outside, pay extra attention to the fame to avoid glossing it.

After you heat around the outside edge, heat up the inside area part by part with overlapping fame from side to side until you have gone over the whole section. The low surface energy of the ceramic coating should be neutralized by now.

Check with the paint marker again. If you get a clear line, it means the section is ready for you to get wrapped. And you can go ahead with confidence in it being good and durable for the long term. For more wrap tips, visit teckwrap.com