Updated By Vinyl Frog On September 09, 2024
Is It Hard To Wrap a Car?
You have decided to wrap your vehicle with the finest quality of vinyl and now weighing the pros and cons of whether to hire professional help for doing the job or try your hand at it. Let us tell you how hard it is to wrap a car.
Vinyl Wraps are the dream of every DIY lover. The alluring sheets are adhered onto the original painted body of an automobile to modify its façade. But is it that simple a job? Vinyl Wrapping a car has a lot of steps. It’s not that you just have to take a sheet and paste it over the vehicle’s body.
You must also take care of a few things before you start the actual process. Hence if you want a perfect, error free job, it is not that easy. Here’s what makes vinyl application a hard job:
1- Clean, Dry, And Smooth Surface
Prepping the body is important, you need to check a few boxes before you start with your application of the vinyl wrap. Before applying vinyl on your car, make sure its body is clean from any kind of contaminants.
It could be rust, dent, peeling off paint, or simply dirt from the environment.
Any of the aforementioned things can cause an obstacle, consequently affecting the finish of the vinyl. Dents and peeled off paint have to be taken care of before applying the vinyl sheet otherwise the vinyl will not set on the surface as it should, giving an uneven look. It might also bubble and tear up.
Fix these problems before wrapping by a certified body shop.
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you must also check there is no wax residue on the body as this also mars the vinyl application process. You will have to check under the weather trims and in cracks and fenders to make sure that they are completely free of wax.
2- Planning And Measuring
This is the most important step before embarking on the actual process of installation and is more difficult than you could imagine. You cannot simply estimate the size of a body for vinyl wrapping. You have to carefully measure accurately.
This will tell you how much vinyl you need to wrap your vehicle. You should have two to three meters extra vinyl than your actual estimation. Correct measurement, which requires hard work, gives a flawless finish to the job.
3- Appropriate Tools
You must gather all the required tools for the application. The good news is, these tools are easily accessible to a layman. Therefore, you can have them all when working but the fact remains that this is an added cost. The important tools that you might need are squeegee or scraper, wrapstick flex, heat gun, infrared thermometer, surface cleaner, microfiber cloth, small magnets, blade, tweezers, snitty blade, tape measure, masking tape, gloves, spray bottle, clay bar, and isopropyl alcohol.
4- Controlled Environment
Once you have decided to modify your car with a vinyl wrap, you must check the temperature. Vinyl does not work well if it is too hot or too cold. The temperature has to be moderate. The vehicle should not also be in direct sunlight.
Furthermore, consider a dirt free environment, because even little particles of dirt from the surroundings can result in poor adhesion and bumpy seam of the vinyl. You should have a big garage for the process that has moderate temperature.
5- The Complex Body Parts
Every vehicle has curves and contours. Perfectly wrapping around them is not easy at all. It needs expertise. Also there are certain body parts that wrap well when they are removed from the car such as wing mirrors, bumpers, door handles and so on.
This is not easy at all. If you do not have the right dimensions or you miscalculate, you might have a lot of extra vinyl on your hands or less than what you require. Also, you should have the knowledge of how to remove and then put the parts back again,
6- Time Consumption And Right Know How
It might look as if putting vinyl is as easy as pasting a giant sticker on your vehicle but it’s not. It is a highly time consuming, hard job that requires a lot of focus. You have to spend countless hours on a full wrap. You should also know about the different kinds of vinyl sheets and how they behave differently from each other as this affects the application process.
Even if you are equipped with the right knowledge and are sure that you can do the installation, the final trimming of the vinyl is more difficult. Tucking the excess material properly is imperative to the final look of the wrap job.
Pros And Cons Of Wrapping With Vinyl
When one thinks of vinyl wrapping, he must consider a few things beforehand so as to not have second thoughts once the decision is made. There are certain pros and cons of wrapping the car with vinyl.
Affordability
Vinyl wrapping is more cost effective than painting the whole exterior of your car. You can choose from a variety of vinyl and get it pasted on the car. It will save you a good amount of money.
Adding A Unique Look
The car will get a unique look with the vinyl you choose since there is a huge range of varieties in the car vinyl wraps. You can decide which finish you want or the pattern you like. Textures like snake skin, metal, glass, mirror, and so on can also be imitated through the vinyl wrap which is otherwise tougher to achieve with the paint.
Can Be Used For Advertising
Vinyl can be used to create an advertisement for your vehicle. Letter for the text and pattern for the images can be cut out of the vinyl to design an ad on the car. This will help you market your business for which you might have to buy a billboard otherwise. Now roaming around the town can deliver the advertisement.
Preservation Of The Originality
Covering the car with vinyl will result in preserving the original body paint, which will increase its resale value. Since the vinyl can be removed unveiling the original color of the car, a good deal can be bagged when sold.
The Downside Of Vinyl Wrapping
- Requires Good Care: In case of any scratch or tear, the wrap is going to expose the original paint underneath. Consequently the paint will be affected by the heat, making that particular part fade. This way, the whole look of the car will not only lose its charm but once you decide to remove the vinyl, you will have faded patches all over the car.
- Risk To The Original Body: If low quality vinyl is chosen by any chance, it can ruin the original paint of the car when removed. Hence, it is essential to have the quality double checked.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Final Word
Hence we conclude that wrapping a car with vinyl is a hard job especially if you are planning to do it yourself. If the application is done with proper preparation and planning, then the outcome will be a seamless positioning of vinyl over the automobile but this requires a lot of laborious toil and time. Definitely go for a vinyl wrap over your vehicle. It is always better than a paint job.
