When purchasing DIY PPF, we think it's super important to understand these 7 factors before attempting to fit PPF to your own car. Take a look below!
1 - What's your fitting environment?
What's your garage or driveway like? For best results, it's important to try and find indoor space to fit your PPF kit, this allows for consistency in weather, it stops wind and rain which could be a major source of contamination. However, it doesn't stop dust, so if your garage is dusty, it's important to try and clean as much as possible to remove any possible sources of contamination before your install.
Additionally, it's important to try and fit your kit out of direct sunlight, and the perfect fitting temperature is around 20°c. It can be colder, but the film becomes stiffer and the glue less active; you may have to use more heat to get the film down.
2 - Do you have the time to fit the PPF properly?
Fitting PPF is absolutely possible for an amateur. See our article 'Fitting PPF is not a dark art' for more info on this! But one thing you really need to allow to ensure good results is a plenty of time. Are you willing to dedicate plenty of time to the job as it's naturally a time consuming process, especially for amateurs.
To give you a rough timeline, we'd expect the process to pan out like this...
- 2 hours of car cleaning ensuring every surface of the car is as clean as possible.
- 1 hour of clay bar decontamination process
- 35 minutes for small pieces (parts around the grille, headlights etc)
- 55 minutes for medium pieces (fenders, front bumper thirds etc)
- 1hr30 minutes for larger pieces (such as bonnets, roofs etc)
As you can see, depending on the complexity of the kit, realistically you should allow minimum of 8 hours but possibly up to 16 hours to fit your kit properly. It's a full weekend job!
3 - What are your expected results?
A DIY job is well... just that, DIY! So naturally, the results can vary drastically. We like to think the vast majority of our customers get results they are super happy with for the price they pay. The reality is, they probably wouldn't have paid for a professional fitter in any event so the protection gained is a win win all round.
Those that aren't so happy fall into 2 camps. The first is the camp of people who sadly are super bad at fitting PPF! These people are out there!! Usually, not enough time is spent in every aspect of the process, that is learning, prepping and then fitting. Each area needs time investing. The second camp is those who are expecting a job as good as a professional fitter. Whilst it is possible to get results as good, generally speaking, the environment the film is being fitted in does prevent this from happening. We like to think the result is often 90% as good, for 15% of the cost.
4 - Do you have or are you willing to buy the equipment needed?
Whilst you don't need much to successfully fit PPF, you do need some key tools to ensure you get a successful fit. This is, a good quality squeegee, spray bottles, clay bar and the right slip and tack mixes.
At DIY PPF, we do sell our fitting kits which give you everything you need to get started with your PPF application. If you don't have the tools, it'll be almost impossible to do a good job.
5 - What's the condition of your car paintwork before the install?
This is a super important one! The best time to fit PPF is when your car is brand new. This is because, if there are imperfections in the paint, by fitting PPF over the top of them, essentially you're 'locking in' those imperfections.
PPF can help reduce or completely cover up the appearance of light scratches on paintwork, but what it can't do, is cover up damage caused by stone chips or deep scratches. They will always be visible.
Another thing to consider is whether you have had any smart repairs done to your paint. If you have, PPF is a no go for you! Sorry! Smart repairs are often super risky to lay PPF over the top as when you eventually get around to removing the PPF film, there is a high chance you could pull the paint off with it. Smart repair paint is no where near as well bonded to your car as the original paint.
Lastly, you need to consider if your car has just been painted. It's a common mistake to pick up your car from a front end re-spray and think "great! Now is the perfect time to PPF my car"... WRONG! The paint applied to your car will need to go through a process called gassing. This is where all the natural gasses from the paint are released and you don't want this happening into PPF as the gas will have nowhere to go. Give it 3-4 weeks for the paint to 'gas off' before applying your film.. just try to protect it as much as possible in the meantime as the paint will be softer.
6 - How much of the car do you wish to cover?
Our DIY PPF kits are designed to only cover the front of the car. We've done this because in reality, Applying PPF to an entire car is a big job and really one that should be done by a pro. But, the good news is, the vast majority of damage likely to occur to a car is on the front.
If you're looking for PPF to cover your entire vehicle, DIY PPF may not be the right choice for you.
7 - Are you bothered about the cost?
There is a HUGE cost difference between a DIY PPF install and a pro install. So the question is, are you worried about saving the money and fitting yourself? Because if you're not, get a pro to do it! You'll probably have a better result. However, if you want to save some cash (for your next upgrade of course), protect your car and have a bunch of fun learning a new skill whilst doing it then boom... you found your match.
Thats it from us today, as ever, if you found this blog interesting leave a comment and share with your friends!
Safe driving!
