Usually, when you stretch a vinyl wrap film, there will be tension. And if you overstretch and cut it, a significant amount of wrinkles will occur when you apply heat to the area, as the material tends to shrink back to its original shape.

However, you can actually stretch with zero tension if you approach the film correctly, achieving a perfect cut and durable finish. To reach this goal, you must first understand the dynamics of the stress out of stretching. Here is a demonstration to help you figure out:

Overstretch before cutting

To see the result clearly, you can prepare two small pieces of vehicle wraps. You will handle them one after another by first giving them light heat to relax the material and overstretching it in a different direction. Then, apply the piece to an area over a gap, for example, somewhere between the front and rear door of a vehicle.

Vertical overstretching and cutting

Let’s say you overstretch the first piece vertically and apply it over the gap between the two doors. Then, you cut along the gap and add heat. Typically, this is when the vinyl shrinks back. But in this case, it actually sucks onto the edge instead of bunching up with wrinkles.

This is because it tends to shrink vertically as you stretch the car wrap. And as you cut in the same direction, it becomes zero tension to some extent. In short, it is safe if you pull the film in the direction where you cut.

Horizontal stretching and vertical cutting

To further demonstrate, you can approach the second piece of vinyl film in the same way, except you will overstretch it horizontally over the gap between two doors.

Then, you cut along the edge in the same way. This time, the cut turns out to be jagged, and this is because the material tends to shrink back horizontally. When you cut, you are fighting against this tension.

To conclude, there is tension when you stretch a vehicle wrap film. And the material tends to shrink. But there is a specific direction in this shrink. Thus, if you can follow the path when cutting, it will avoid many potential problems. Learn more about wrapping at teckwrap.com