How Long Does It Take to Wrap a Car? 7 Steps Car Wrapping Process
Wrapping is a process in which you can give your vehicle a bright and graphic look. It also becomes the basic strategy of every business to advertise its product. As per a survey through this, they grab the attention of around about 70k people in a day.
One more thing, a wrap job takes less time compared to getting a paint job for your car. So, if you are short on time and want to transform your car’s look, then wrapping is the best option.
Now, What Are You Thinking? “How Long Does It Take to Wrap a Car?” and “How Hard is to Wrap a Car?” You don’t need to think so much because I’m here to give you an answer so if you want to know “How to Install Vinyl Wrap?“ then go through the entire article carefully:
How to apply Vinyl Wrap to Car?
If you are low on budget, then you can easily wrap your car by yourself by following the DIY car wrapping process, which I have discussed below:
Gather the Essential Tools:
First, you need to gather all these essential tools:
- Hot Air Blower.
- Squeegees.
- Pyrometer.
- Vinyl Wrap.
- Blades.
- Soap.
- Water.
- Rust Remover.
Clean the Area:
Before installing vinyl wrap, clean the debris, and stubborn particles of dirt from the surface with the use of foamy water, then throw pressured water to remove the foam from the vehicle. When you see the car is dry, then you can continue the process.
Cure the Damages:
Check out if there are any dents or deep scratches, in case you find anything, then cure the damages first to flat the surface. Because if you wrap your car without filling the scratches, then you will not get the required finishing.
Tarnish Remover:
If your car is affected by tarnish or corrosion, then it is best to use a remover to get rid of it. It is suggested to remove the rust. Otherwise, it will badly affect your car, and also, the wrap will get faded soon.
Apply Vinyl Wrap:
Put the vinyl on the vehicle after removing the back paper, then use the squeegees to avoid bubbles and bumpiness. In my experience, cut the extra sides of the wrap with the blade, then use the hot air blower, which will help the vinyl wrap stick on the vehicle accurately. But you should be well aware of the ideal heat for wrapping, or else the vinyl will be destroyed. You can check the ideal temperature of the heat gun by using the pyrometer. It’s time to leave it to get dry for a day, and then you can drive it.
How Can I Protect My Wrapped Car?
If you want the wrap to remain the same on the vehicle even after years, then it is essential to maintain it. Let’s talk about the methods through which you can protect your wrapped car:
Paper Protection:
You can apply the paper over vinyl which will protect it from dust particles, but if you are expecting other services like durability and long last quality, then it will not be a good choice for you.
Ceramic Coating:
When you are short on budget, then you should go with a ceramic coating that will keep the wrap shinier and will save it from scratches or dust for 3 years.
PPF:
This protection is for those who can easily spend a lot of money on their vehicle’s protection. By using it on the wrap of your car, the vinyl will stay the same as before for 9 to 10 years.
What Are the Types of Vinyl Wrap?
There are variables of vinyl available in the market from which you can choose the best wrap colors or finish for your car. Let’s discuss all types of wraps in detail:
Metallic Finishing:
If you want to give your vehicle luxury finishing, then you should purchase the metallic wrap to give your car an attractive look. This wrap will give your vehicle the same look as it has before.
Satin Finish:
To get both matte and glossy finishing, you need to purchase the satin vinyl wrap because it will fulfill your requirement. It will give a little glossy but decent look to your vehicle.
Chrome Finish:
When you apply the chrome wrap on your car, it will provide a mirror or reflective look. It will be the best choice for you to put on any color of chrome vinyl wrap in your vehicle, which will give it a luxurious and classy appearance.
Carbon Fiber Wrap:
It will be an expensive procedure to install real carbon fiber on your vehicle. And in case you want to give a carbon glance to your car and are low in budget.
Then you don’t need to get worried because you can get the needed finishing by applying carbon vinyl wrap within your budget.
Gloss Finished Wrap:
Gloss-finished wrap gives the vehicle a shiny look that grabs the attention of others. This wrap is available in a different color, so it depends on you to choose the unique one for your vehicle.
Custom Wrap:
To get a unique design on your car then, there are a lot of places from which you can customize your vinyl wrap.
Matte Finish:
If you are a kind of sophisticated person and don’t want to give your car a shiny look, then it is suggested to get a matte finishing wrap job on it because it will suit your personality.
How Long Does It Take to Wrap a Car?
Wrapping time depends on whether you are applying the vinyl by yourself or hiring a professional for this job. If you are getting the service from a technician, then it will take 3 to 4 days.
On the other hand, if you are installing car wraps by yourself with the help of your experienced friend, then you will complete it within 2 days.
Which are the Best Options, Full Wrap or Paint Job?
For the person who wants to transform his car’s appearance in less time and is confused between paint or wrap job, then as per my recommendation, he should go with the wrap job.
As a wrap job is complete within 2 to 3 days, but if I talk about the paint job, then it will take 1 to 2 weeks to get complete, which will be time taking process.
What are the Benefits of Car Wrapping?
There are a lot of benefits of car wrapping, which I have discussed below:
- You can easily remove the wrap from the vehicle to get back to the original state.
- Through wrapping, you can increase the market value of your vehicle because of it the original paint will remain the same as before wrapping. On the other hand, the resale value of the painted car decreases over time.
- A wrap job can be done at an affordable price than a paint job.
- If you look after your vehicle after wrapping, then the durability of vinyl will be extended.
- Vinyl is available in different finishes such as satin, matte, glossy, semi-glossy, carbon fiber, metallic, and chrome. So, you can choose your favorite one.
- No one can judge that your car is wrapped, not painted.
- In case your vehicle is dented or scratched, then you will pay more to cure it in a paint job, so it is best to get the wrap on the affected area to cover it.
- You can also customize your favorite design on the wrap, which is not possible with paint.
- It is not compulsory to wrap the full car. You can have a partial or half-wrap job.
- Paint gets scratched too soon, while wrap doesn’t get the scratches, and by chance, if any scratch comes on it, then you can easily replace that scratchy part with the use of the piece of the same wrap.
- Wrapping car parts is also possible.
What Is the Process of Removing Wrap from Car?
You can remove the car wrap at any time by following this method which I have explained below:
Essential Tools:
First, you need to gather these essential tools, such as a scrapper, heat gun, and wax which will be used to remove the vinyl from your vehicle.
Use Scrapper:
Now scratch the wrap from the edges of the wrap with the help of a piece of a scrapper, and you can also use your nail to peel it off. Make sure you are doing it gently, or else you will hurt your car paint.
Heat Gun:
If the wrap is hardly joined with the car and is unable to peel off, then give ideal heat with the heat gun to the wrap that will make its adhesiveness lose, and now you will be able to peel the wrap off easily. It is suggested to use the pyrometer through which you can set the ideal temperature and will not face any kind of overheating issues.
Peel off:
After giving the heat, peel off the vinyl from the very top edges at a vertical angle. If you feel that the wrap is hard again, then repeat the process by giving the heat again and after that again, start the peeling process.
Apply Wax:
It’s time to apply the high-quality wax on the surface to get rid of the remaining glue.
Final Verdicts:
Now surely you have the answers to “How to Wrap a Car with vinyl?” and “How Long Does Car Wrap Take?” So, you can apply the wrap on your full car within 2 to 3 days by yourself and can also get the wrap job from an experienced installer.
The best part is you can also get the half or partial wrap job and can customize the vinyl wrap with your favorite design, which is not possible with the paint job.