Vehicle wraps and Ceramic coating
There are tons of aftercare products for vehicle wrap in the market nowadays. Some are even convenient enough to allow clients to spray on and wipe off themselves. However, somehow, it turns out most customers do not want to maintain the wrap. Instead, they want a one-shot deal.
This has led to the fact that more and more people would ask to put a ceramic coating on the vehicle wrap as a part of the job, as it can protect the wrap and the client do not have to maintain it.
But in fact, the ceramic coating can affect the hue or color in the final vehicle wrap differently depending on what type of film wrappers are using. And this has made it extremely important for installers to think ahead and understand what would happen to show this to the client before the actual application.
There are several kinds of TeckWrap vehicle wraps that wrappers use the most in the market: Carbon, matte, brushed, gloss, and chrome film. With each different one, ceramic coating performs differently. This is something installers should test on the sample once a client chooses a wrap and ask for ceramic coating after wrapping because once the coating is on and it changes what the customer is looking for, it might lead to a re-do.
Ceramic coating can protect the vehicle wrap by putting a hard seal on the surface and keep moisture from getting into the film. And in some cases, it even protects the vinyl from UV so that it stays well for a longer time. These are the positive side of it. But it is not so good when it changes how the vehicle wrap is supposed to be.
By testing how it would go, let’s prepare the five different styles of film samples on the work table. And put a thin masking tape right in the middle on every panel to separate them from top to bottom for each one.
Once the panels are set, apply the ceramic coating to the top half of each one. To be more professional, have the glove and applicator ready. Wipe the coating down with micro fiber towel and evenly spread on the surface.
When wiping, just work side to side and top to bottom with the applicator in this process. For films like brushed and carbon, make sure the coating is filled in all the grooves of the wrap – In some cases, doing a couple of times coating if it needs.
Once all the panels are covered with a coating, it is important to come back and buffer them with micro fiber towel before the panels dry, because if they dry with streaks on, those streaks will become permanent. So use the towel to even those streaks out. Just use it to evenly spread the coating on the panels side to side.
When all these are done, pull the masking tape away to see the difference on each kind of film:
For gloss film, the section with coating on is looking much deeper and richer now. So the ceramic coating creates more of a gloss look here; For the brushed film, the two sections do not look very different. In fact, they are pretty even; As for matte, the section with coating on actually looks lighter, which is interesting, because people might think of the opposite here; And for carbon film, the one with coating on looks darker here; As for chrome, the section without coating looks much flatter and duller comparing to the one with coating on. The two become like totally different materials here. So if the customer expects a lighter color, maybe ceramic coating is not the best option.
These are all about doing beforehand and let the clients know what is going to happen with or without ceramic coating so that they can make their best choice. Even better, it keeps installers from unnecessary re-dos. So this is a win-win for both sides, and it will also show the client that the wrapper is professional enough and this will even gain installer or the wrap shop a bit of reputation here.
