Automotive Paint Protection Film: What Is It And How Does It Stop Your Car's Paint Job From Being Damaged?
Posted on: 5 July 2023
Repairing small scratches or dents on your car can be surprisingly expensive. Repairs often don't look perfect unless the entire exterior panel is repainted by a trained auto body technician. It's often better to stop those small scratches from happening in the first place, and an easy way to do so is to have paint protection film applied to your car. To learn more about paint protection film and how it keeps your car's paint in great shape, read on.
What Is Automotive Paint Protection Film?
Automotive paint protection film is made from clear polyurethane, and it's applied to the outside of your car to protect its paint job from sunlight exposure and road debris.
When it's installed, a technician will cut sections of polyurethane film that perfectly fit the outside of your car, including the doors, bumpers, and hood. It's attached to your car's exterior by heating it with a heat gun, creating a secure bond between the polyurethane and the clear coat that's above your car's paint.
How Does Paint Protection Film Stop Your Paint From Being Damaged?
The polyurethane film provides an extra barrier between your car's paint job and the elements. Ultraviolet light from the sun, for example, can cause paint to fade. Paint protection film blocks sunlight from reaching your car's paint, preventing it from fading.
Paint protection film can also prevent your car's clear coat layer from being scratched by debris on the road like stones and tree branches. The polyurethane layer will be scratched instead of the underlying clear coat layer.
Why Do You Need Paint Protection Film When Your Car Already Has Clear Coat?
Modern cars come with a layer of clear coat over their exterior paint, and it serves a similar purpose to paint protection film. A clear coat helps stop the paint from being scratched by minor dents and dings. Unfortunately, the clear coat layer can wear away over time, leaving the paint beneath vulnerable.
Paint protection film is a better form of protection than your car's clear coat layer because the polyurethane film is self-healing. The polyurethane used to create paint protection film is thermoplastic, so it becomes semi-solid when it heats up.
When your car is in your driveway or a parking lot and is exposed to direct sunlight, the polyurethane film will heat up and start to flow. It will redistribute itself across your car's exterior, filling in any small scratches or holes in the film. The clear coat doesn't have this property, so any damage done to your car's clear coat is permanent.
Applying paint protection film to your car helps prevent tiny scratches and chips in your clear coat. Having a panel on your car repainted because of a small scratch can be very expensive, so paint protection film can help save you money in the long run. If you'd like to protect your car's paint job, find a detailing shop in your area that offers luxury auto protection paint protection film and ask how much it will cost to have it applied to your car. You'll be able to preserve your car's paint job by protecting it from sunlight and road debris.
For more info about luxury auto paint protecting film, contact a local company.
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