What Is Paint Protection Film?

What is Paint Protection Film?

Film that goes on my car like saran wrap and its called paint protection film? Also known as PPF or clear bra, paint protection film is the most complete form of paint protection on the market. Let's take a look at exactly what it is.

The exterior painted surfaces of your car are exposed to the weather elements like the sun, rain, snow, salt, along with things like bird poop, bug guts, rocks and other road debris. The surface of your vehicle, especially the clear coat, will break down every day depending on the weather conditions of where you drive, if you drive a lot vs mainly parking your vehicle, or how properly you maintain it.

Traditionally, products like carnauba waxes and paint sealants would act as a sacrificial layer on the surface of your vehicle. When driving on highways, some of us enthusiasts used to use black vinyl bras to protect our bumpers from rock chips.

These old technologies have been replaced by advanced paint protection like ceramic coatings and paint protection film.

We view paint protection film is the most complete form of protection you can establish between your car and all that can damage your car’s appearance. We generally focus this type of paint protection on the high-impact areas of your vehicle.

Definition Of Paint Protection Film

Paint protection film is a nearly invisible film that is flexible and extremely durable, which would be installed on the painted exterior of your vehicle in order to add a layer of protection.

How Does Paint Protection Film Work?

Installing paint protection film is like wrapping your car in saran wrap. If you know how vinyl wrapping is installed, this is essentially following the same idea. You lay it down and work out the air bubbles until you can't tell it's there.

When you install paint protection film, you are basically adding another layer on top of your clear coat, but this additional layer doesn't have micropores that usually would trap dirt and debris.

Traditional products like waxes and sealants attempt to do this, but because of their design, they are cannot give you the same result of protection. Waxes and sealants create a very thin temporary layer that is not very durable. They usually wear off in a few weeks or even just days. Since paint protection film is a solid layer of protection that you apply like a saran wrap, it is thicker and will last the lifetime of the vehicle.

Where Can It Be Installed On Your Vehicle?

We can install Clear Bra on any section of your car and can even cover the entire vehicle, though in most cases, there isn't much reason to cover the entire vehicle. It's much more cost-effective to focus the install on areas that are more susceptible to damage from rocks and debris, since that's what paint protection film excels in. We do computer cutting to create perfect pieces of film to fit on your vehicle but we can also custom cut the film to fit any contour for custom jobs.

Paint Protection Film is resistant to UV rays, Chemicals and Liquids

UV rays penetrate clear coats on paint, which leads to fading and oxidation. Paint Protection Film is able to block and reflect UV rays, keeping them from getting into your paint and causing oxidation or fading.

They are chemical and animal byproduct resistant, so the painted surface is well protected from etching that may otherwise be caused by leaving hard water spots or bird poop sitting on the surface too long.

Some brands of paint protection film have a "hydrophobic property" or are able to repel water, mud and other liquids. So when liquids touch the surface, they are more likely to stay together in little balls or beads and "roll" right off the surface.

Bye Bye Rock Chips

The most important benefit of paint protection is its ability to protect your car from rock chips. Traditional protection, like waxes and sealants, along with traditional ceramic coatings, can't protect the surface from rock chips. A ceramic coating may help in the case of very small debris, but it's nowhere close to paint protection film. Ceramic coatings are mainly hard and when hit by a rock they will take some damage whereas paint protection film is very flexible, allowing it to absorb the impact. Now it's not bulletproof. If a big enough rock hits it at a high speed, the rock can still penetrant it, but that's a very rear occurrence. Most rocks you will face won't be able to make it past the film. 

Self-Healing Paint Protection Film

Newer lines of paint protection film have the ability to self heal under heat. What this means is that let's say you get a scratch on your hood. If the car is parked outside under sunlight, the sun will heat up surface and the paint protection film. Since these films can self heal, the heat will actually cause the scratch to heal up and disappear. Sounds cray right? But while it works to heal out scratches, don't go taking a knife to it because, like all paint protection, there are going to be some limitations. The paint protection film does an amazing job of healing normal scratching from improper washing and light debris, but try to scratch it up with a knife and you surely will cut right through the film ruining the film and your paint.

A Killer Finish For Both Gloss And Matte Cars

Paint protection film gives off an amazing glass-like look once installed, so not only can you not able to tell there's film installed, it also enhances your gloss finish. Paint protection film also comes in a matte design so you can keep your matte finish or convert into a matte finish and still get the benefits of paint protection film.

A Summary Of What It Does

Getting paint protection film on your car or vehicle is the most complete way to protect your vehicle. It can protect painted areas of your vehicle from a variety of damage and can possibly save you a trip to the body shop.

What can we expect with paint protection film?

• A Sacrificial Layer
• UV Protection
• Chemical and Animal Byproduct Resistance
• Rock Chip Prevention
• High Gloss Finish or Clean Matte Finish
• Self-Heal Scratches
• Can Last For The Lifetime Of The Vehicle

 Do I Even Need Paint Protection Film? And What About Getting A Ceramic Coatings?

Not every vehicle needs paint protection film. It's more of a case-by-case basis since sometimes it's more adequate to use a ceramic coating. Depending on how you drive your car, we may recommend using just a ceramic coating or both paint protection film and a ceramic coating in combination! If you are someone who already has a ceramic coating and wants to get paint protection film added on, you can still have it done.

How Much Does Paint Protection Film Cost?

Depending on what car you have and how much of the surface want protected, will affect how much the paint protection film costs. Some shops have pre-made packages and some also do À la carte options so you can have any panel of your car covered with paint protection film. The best way for us to give you a price is to have you fill out one of our quote request forms or just call us at (513) 310-6259 since every vehicle is different.

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