Essential to fitting PPF properly is making use of the slip solution and the tack solution properly. Understanding how these work together is key, but equally key is understanding what they are, and how to make them up.
Tack Solution
The DIY PPF tack solution is essentially a mix of water (ideally purified) and 99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol. The ratio of your mix should be 1 to 5 so for every 100ml of tack solution, you want to add 500ml of water.
Our tack solution concentrate contains just over 200ml, this means you should be able to make up over 1 litre of tack solution. It's used less frequently in an application so this should be plenty.
Slip Solution
The DIY PPF slip solution is a lot smaller than the tack, and this isn't because you need less, in fact, you need way more, however, the mix ratio is very different. You only need half a cap of slip solution for every 500ml of water, that's about 3-4 drops. You don't want it to be too soapy, but equally, you don't want it to not be soapy enough because it won't allow the panel to slide around effectively. You might need to spend a little bit of time getting it right.
The slip solution concentrate is made from baby shampoo, and the reason we use this, is because it has absolutely nothing in there that causes contamination, so you get a super clean install.
What if you get the mix wrong?
No worries really, if you don't make the solution soapy enough, just add some more slip concentrate to your bottle, shake it up and spray generously onto the PPF, it should slip around in no time. If you make it too soapy, that's totally fine too. Just empty your bottle, re-fill with just water and spray over the area that's too soapy. This will help dilute the mixture and hopefully make it less bubbly!
So how does slip and tack work together?
You'll use the slip solution with every panel you apply, and probably tack too, but in smaller quantities.
Slip and tack work together to get your panel down. Always use slip first, it helps you position the panel and get everything lined up. When you are happy with the position, select a key area you want to fix in place, this is where you use the tack. Spray the tack solution on the underside of the film in this area and squeegee it down. What this does is essentially wash away the slip solution and lock the film into place. So you can see how you use both solutions to work together to get it positioned and fitted.
Hopefully this gives a good breakdown of slip and tack solutions, what they are and how they can be used to ensure your PPF applies smoothly.
If you have any questions, feel free to use the chat bot on our site, send us an email or call to speak to one of our experts.
As always, safe driving!
