car-wrap-maintenance

Vehicle wraps – whether they’re meant for personal or commercial use – are anything but cheap. But that’s all right if you think about how auto wraps can make your car more attractive. Business-wise, the right design for car wraps can also improve the ROI of your marketing plan. What’s not all right, however, is neglecting to care for your investment. Even if the most expensive materials have been used for your car wrap, they won’t make your vehicle wrap damage-proof if you don’t take good care of them.

If you want your car wrap to last long then you may want to heed the following tips.

Prioritize hand washing.

I can totally understand why you’d want to go to a professional car wash service. If you’ve got the most beautiful car wrap to flaunt then of course you’d want a lot of people to check out your car. However, doing so would likely backfire on you. Professional car washes typically rely on harsh chemicals and high-powered equipment: two things that are likely to cause your vehicle wrap more harm than good.

On the other hand – pun intended – hand-washing your car ensures that you’re in complete control of which types of products to apply as well as how much pressure and what kind of equipment you should use.

Avoid using any kind of solvent.

Solvents are basically solutions wherein Substance #1 was allowed to dissolve into Substance #2. Any kind of solvent must be avoided since they tend to cause the colors of your car wrap to smear or at least soften. If that happens, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to do touch-up work on your car wrap to save it. More often than not, smeared colors in vehicle wraps would require you to order a new one entirely.

Keep an eye on your pressure level if you need to use water nozzles.

It’s great that you’ve got your own water nozzle at home. It does make washing your car a lot easier, doesn’t it? However, it’s not a good idea to use this on graphic-wrapped vehicles. They are more likely to cause your vehicle wrap to peel off if—

You’re directly facing your car while washing it with a pressurized water nozzle rather than applying it sideways or at a 45° angle.
The pressure level for your water nozzle is more than 800 psi.
You’re less than 4 feet away from the vehicle.

Clean all kinds of liquid spills on your graphic wrap immediately.

And just to be clear – the ‘immediate’ part is imperative. It’s more than possible for spills to cause permanent damage if you allow them to stay for more than a short amount of time. You should also be especially careful about any kind of fuel drip. Wipe them off immediately then rinse quickly and thoroughly with clean water.

Now, let’s say that wax with petroleum distillates has for some reason been accidentally left to dry on your graphic wrap. That’s another huge no-no, but you can easily prevent it from causing damage with a DIY remedy. Just use cotton swabs to apply rubbing alcohol to the affected area. This will eventually cause the wax to soften enough for you to wipe and rinse it away.

These are just a few basic tips on maintaining your vehicle wrap. Consider speaking with your graphic wrap designer to find out if there are any other special instructions you need to know for maintaining your own car wrap.