No matter how carefully a car is used, various types of surface defects such as chips, scratches and scuffs inevitably appear on its paintwork over time. If this problem is ignored, sooner or later such unnoticeable damage to the paintwork may turn into darkened and rusted areas, which will cause a real headache for the car owner in the form of costly body repairs.
For this reason, the condition of the paintwork should be constantly paid close attention and, in case of damage, wage "war" with them in the form of professional polishing the body, and in the presence of neglected nuances - regularly touch up problem areas before they have turned into nasty corrosive "rusts". Also there is other, more effective alternative for the decision of this problem: to secure the car body in due time, having covered it a special protection film.
Of course, there is no consensus on the choice of the optimal protection for the body, because all man-made human inventions have their advantages and disadvantages. Whether protection car film is really so good, what are the pros and cons of applying it - we will tell you about it in this article.
Polyurethane protection film owes its appearance to the U.S. military - originally this material was developed as a protection agent for military helicopters operating in the sandy deserts of the Middle East. The fact is that the helicopter blades, made of a light, but durable composite material, showed a tendency to rapid destruction under the influence of sand during landings. The successful implementation of the idea of using a dense and time-hardening coating for blade cladding ensured that the expensive parts were reliably protected from impact-abrasion wear and tear. Somewhat later, polyurethane coatings began to be used as a protection coating for automobiles. Polyurethane film has sufficient thickness (from 150 to 300 microns), that is why it is strong and durable coating material. Due to such characteristics polyurethane effectively resists "attacks" from gravel and small parts of the ground, scratches and even minor accidents as a collision with a cart from the supermarket, a car door from the neighboring parking place and even bumper touches with obstacles at low (up to 10 km/h) speeds.
It would seem that polyurethane is a wonderful material for its protection properties, so there is a legitimate question: why this film is still not laminated all the cars without exception? The answer is next - the comparatively high cost. For example, partial wrapping of the body with polyurethane film, depending on the specific elements to be wrapped, will cost an average of 50,000 rubles, while full wrapping can be as much as 250,000 rubles.
In addition, the use of polyurethane protection film is associated with a number of specific nuances, taking place both at the stage of the procedure of its application, and already during the operation of the car with the applied protection. It is necessary to notice that these peculiarities should not be considered as disadvantages of polyurethane film, but rather as negligence of the master who wraps a car or a car owner who does not give proper attention to own car, for example, showing vandalism to the foil wrapped body during the car wash:
- the need for careful preparation of the body for the pasting;
- film's sensitivity at the stage of wrapping to the ingress of foreign particles under it, when an inexperienced technician can "throw" dust under it;
- susceptibility to car washes (to wash a car with film coating you must be very careful because of the risk of scuffs and tears in the film, as well as the appearance of bubbles because of water getting under the film).
Pros and cons of the films for automobiles
If you consider the complex advantages and disadvantages of the films for cars, as well as the technological nuances of applying them, we can state that the final result will be determined by two factors: the quality of the base material and the skills of the film wrapping procedure.Making a decision on the question if it is necessary to cover your car with polyurethane film, it is necessary to consider carefully all advantages and disadvantages of this way of protection.
Advantages of the protective films:
- reliable protection of the car body from minor scratches, dents, scuffs;
- effective protection of the car body against aggressive road chemicals;
- versatility of use - due to the film's special elasticity, it can be applied to any car body element;
- ability to let the UV rays through the film (this advantage is especially true for partial wrapping - with this approach, both un-glued and glued elements will be exposed to the same solar rays, so separate elements of the body (with and without the film) will not contrast with each other over time);
- ability to keep your car looking and shining like new for a long time;
- durability - the service life of polyurethane film, with careful use of the car and proper maintenance of the coating can be from 5 years.
Disadvantages of protection films:
There was a time when PPF didn't look as clear, deep and texture free as paint. It was usually 6-8+ mil thick and it’s practically a piece of plastic, so of course it’s going to have some texture. That said, some films out there (such as old “regular” Suntek C) are much better looking in terms of texture than others, so the difference with covered and uncovered paint is minimal.
Also, sometimes film can’t wrap around certain crevices on the paint, so the edges of the film will show. This is most easily seen on silver cars from my experience. A good installer will make these edges as close to the panel edge as possible (sometimes right on the curve of the edge) so it simply disappears.
