PPF and Wrap care

Summary: A short overview of how to care and maintain your PPF/Wrap.

Paint Protection Film (PPF) is a great choice for a well maintained car, as it is the only thing that will protect it from light to medium physical damage, such as stone chips.

PPF and wraps are synthetic films that are applied to the cars surfaces. They are much softer and more flexible than paint and can absorb the physical strains. Good PPF can even be self healing to a certain point.

Where most films fall short, is chemical protection, e.g. sap, tar, solvents, or bird droppings. Also if not maintained, dirt can make its way into the film’s pores.

Maintenance

So how should you maintain wrapped cars? Step one is a good protection product that provides the chemical resistance the film does not. Some films come with a protection applied from factory, others have a coating installed by the installer of the film.
If your film does not, or the protection has weakened, a good film-safe spray sealant will help greatly.

Step two is regular maintenance cleaning. You can treat it the same way as you would paint, the differences only come into play when specialty cleaners, such as tar remover, are used. Regarding specialty cleaners – iron remover is usually fine, as are water-spot removers. Strongly alkaline products can be problematic, as can products containing solvents, such as tar remover or panel prep.
Tar and sap removers should be tried on an inconspicuous spot and only used when absolutely needed. Check for products that are PPF safe – it is worthwhile checking with the product manufacturer, and the PPF installer.

Finally, another common query is whether you can polish film or not. In short, yes. It’s generally possible, although it requires some finesse, and keep in mind that film is much softer than paint and will abrade much easier, hence why it will need a much lower cut than a comparable defect on paint. If in doubt – don’t!