what kind of car wash is recommended for a wrap?

[gabagoo]

I had 3 vehicles partially wrapped using the 3M 1080 dark red. I received a phone call that after going through a "no touch" car wash there seems to be one area of vinyl lifting on one of the vehicles.

I know that no touch car washes use acid and high pressure water so I am not sure if that is reccomended ,but I can't think those with full wraps are hand washing their vehicles either.

Maybe there was a weak spot in the vinyl, as I have not seen it yet, but wondered what I should tell my customer for future washing... are brushes and roller washes better?

let me know

 

[MatthewTimothy]

I had 3 vehicles partially wrapped using the 3M 1080 dark red. I received a phone call that after going through a "no touch" car wash there seems to be one area of vinyl lifting on one of the vehicles.

I know that no touch car washes use acid and high pressure water so I am not sure if that is reccomended ,but I can't think those with full wraps are hand washing their vehicles either.

Maybe there was a weak spot in the vinyl, as I have not seen it yet, but wondered what I should tell my customer for future washing... are brushes and roller washes better?

let me know

I would hope you are hand washing. In general ALL automated car washes are bad for ANY vehicle. Just another way to be lazy. You are destroying your clear coat everytime you go into one of those. I know some people that dont even know what a wax is or how often they are suppose to

 

[Urq]

I would hope you are hand washing. In general ALL automated car washes are bad for ANY vehicle. Just another way to be lazy. You are destroying your clear coat everytime you go into one of those. I know some people that dont even know what a wax is or how often they are suppose to

I will second that!

 

[cdiesel]

Hand wash. Stay AWAY from "no touch" washes especially. If you have to use an auto wash, the ones with brushes are less evil.

Also keep a coat of good teflon based wax on it.

 

[gabagoo]

so you are telling me that your wrap customers are hand washing their vehicles? I somehow doubt it, but I will pass the info on.
I cant see large companies doing a hand wash...nope , not happening

 

[MatthewTimothy]

so you are telling me that your wrap customers are hand washing their vehicles? I somehow doubt it, but I will pass the info on.
I cant see large companies doing a hand wash...nope , not happening

why is it so hard to believe??? You are taking a temporary item and running it through with an abrasive brush?? I would if I were you include that in your warranty and/or terms.

 

[gabagoo]

why is it so hard to believe??? You are taking a temporary item and running it through with an abrasive brush?? I would if I were you include that in your warranty and/or terms.

I don't doubt what you say in regards to hand washing obviously being the safest way to handle wrap material, but in my world I just dont see large or medium sized companies actually doing that.

I have no idea what they would do in the winter to clean them unless they had an indoor wash bay too.

 

[J Hill Designs]

I would see them doing it if they didnt want to void a warranty

 

[megacab]

so you are telling me that your wrap customers are hand washing their vehicles? I somehow doubt it, but I will pass the info on.
I cant see large companies doing a hand wash...nope , not happening

and that is fine if they wanna run them through "no touch" machines. but my warranty clearly states that all wraps are to be hand washed or the warranty is null and void. plain and simple. any high pressure water on vinyl, especially a partial, and you will catch a corner or an edge and start the process of having a wrap come up.

 

[MatthewTimothy]

I don't doubt what you say in regards to hand washing obviously being the safest way to handle wrap material, but in my world I just dont see large or medium sized companies actually doing that.

I have no idea what they would do in the winter to clean them unless they had an indoor wash bay too.

THEY dont do it, they hire a company that does. We have several in Nashville who come and wash your fleets.

here
here


why not find one in your area and work something out with them.

 

[HulkSmash]

Hand wash. Stay AWAY from "no touch" washes especially. If you have to use an auto wash, the ones with brushes are less evil.

Also keep a coat of good teflon based wax on it.

chris,

I have to disagree with you on this one. The car wish with the brushes are awful for wraps. The bristles on the brushes push water behind door, and bumper seams forcing water back there, and filling up your wrap. I "gently" power wash the wraps on our trucks all the time. You gotta keep distance, but it works well.
We also wax it too.

 

[rjssigns]

Like megacab said. Handwash only or void the warranty. When a client asks for care directions I tell them to treat it just like custom paint.

 

[MatthewTimothy]

chris,

I have to disagree with you on this one. The car wish with the brushes are awful for wraps. The bristles on the brushes push water behind door, and bumper seams forcing water back there, and filling up your wrap. I "gently" power wash the wraps on our trucks all the time. You gotta keep distance, but it works well.
We also wax it too.

you really wax your wraps?? interesting.....

 

[HulkSmash]

you really wax your wraps?? interesting.....

yes, over them. Really helps with them lasting.

Have you ever done a wrap before?

 

[JR-Folientechnik]

It could also be a heat problem! If you don't put enough heat this issue met come! Maybe the car was waxed! or maybe someone couldn't believe what a good job you did and fingered it....it can all happen! I would suggest wait until you see photos, or the original and ensure your customer you will solve his problem! 3M also has a solution for corner problems with wraps. Also you can ask your supplier for his suggestions.

 

[Desert_Signs]

chris,

I have to disagree with you on this one. The car wish with the brushes are awful for wraps. The bristles on the brushes push water behind door, and bumper seams forcing water back there, and filling up your wrap. I "gently" power wash the wraps on our trucks all the time. You gotta keep distance, but it works well.
We also wax it too.

I've had a wrap on the shop truck for about a year. For "fun" I've been purposefully running it through the gas station car wash once a week. It's one of the brushed washes with high pressure rinse. I wanted to know what would happen. Close to 50 washes later and nothing's lifted anywhere. And it's el-cheapo Arlon.

Essentially, I've tried to treat this wrap as poorly as I could imagine. I've been really surprised how well it's held up.

 

[Aklaim]

you really wax your wraps?? interesting.....

We wax our wrapped shop van. Van spends 80% of the time parked out on the street baking in the sun and looks just as good as when we wrapped it 4 years ago.

 

[cdiesel]

Adam: I disagree with your disagreement.. lol Brushes and those chamois-like flappers are as close to hand wash as you can get with a machine. The high pressure sprayers are where the problem comes in. That's what has the potential to get under seams and cause issues.

Customers need to be hand washing their wrapped vehicles if they want an in-tact warranty. They also must be washing their vehicles in the first place! I truly believe that a properly installed vehicle wrap will not fail even with the use of pressure washers. However, ALL HORIZONTAL VINYL WILL BROWN, CRACK, AND FAIL if it is not kept clean. Some areas will experience this sooner than others due to many factors. Here's what's happening in a nutshell: air pollution & dust fall onto horizontal surfaces and collect on your wrap. Morning dew, humidity in the air, and rain mix with this fallout and create an acidic liquid that eats at the laminate (you did use laminate, didn't you?). The weakened laminate browns in the sun, cracks, and lets the fallout and sun get to the vinyl below.

If you don't keep a vehicle clean (at least weekly washes) you will see this in about 10 months here in Phoenix. With frequent washing and keeping a good coat of wax on the the wrap, you can easily extend the life of the wrap past three years. Use a teflon based wax, not carnuba.

BTW, my info comes from discussions I've had with lab techs at a few different vinyl companies and experience. All of the vinyl mfgs I've talked to about this are having the same browning problem and are trying to fix it.