The hype around it is enough to spur curiosity about what a clear bra does to your car. There’s just one thing we know for sure. You can believe this hype!
A clear bra is an automotive protection film. It protects your car’s paint from scratches and chips. It does this by forming protective layers around your vehicle.
Against popular opinion, clear bra application is not only for cars. It’s possible to apply a clear bra film to aircraft, boats and yachts. Away from aircraft and automobiles, it also finds use in the manufacturing and mining industries.
Here, we’ll show you what happens to your car when you use a clear bra. As part of what to expect afterward, we’ll also explore how to maintain a clear bra on your car. Let’s get right into it.
What is Clear Bra?
When referring to automotive protective films, auto shops use different names. Names like invincible shields, clear masks and car scratch films are the order of the day. Clear bra is one of such names.
A clear bra is a comprehensive protective film coating. It can protect your car from all external factors that affect how your car’s paint looks. It’s highly resistant and protects vehicles from corrosive chemicals, scratches and UV rays.
A typical clear bra film has several micro-layers that boost its protective functions. It also has an outer resistant layer and a flexible inner layer. The flexible inner layer allows for easy stretching during clear bra application procedures.
What is in a clear bra?
The primary chemical makeup of clear bras is urethane. Urethane is a flexible and strong material. If you’re curious about the scientific origin, it’s the condensation of ethanol with carbamic acid. It offers clear bra films flexibility and resilience.
During the Vietnam war, urethane was used for US helicopters. Due to the damage from flying debris and dirt, helicopters need constant replacement of body parts.
Since it is hugely resilient, it vastly reduced the need for frequent replacements. In the 1970s, urethane as clear bras was used for the nose of fighter jets. Since then, the use of urethane has become more popular.
In 1980, urethane’s use grew widely, expanding to include sports cars. Its use for making sports cars was a game-changer. In 1990, urethane use became more popular. Today, it’s now available as a protective feature for regular and luxury car owners.
Related Article: Paint Protection Film
Cost of Paint Protection Film In Vaughan: The Important Details
What does Clear Bra do to Your Car?
It protects your car against harsh weather and environmental conditions. Extreme weather conditions can affect your car’s paint. Over time, they’ll take away from your car’s look. You may even have to pay thousands of dollars to restore your vehicle.
Clear bra exists as an outer layer on your car’s paint. This layer is so thin that it’s rarely noticeable. Except you tell someone, they won’t be able to know there’s a clear bra on your car.
As the outermost layer of your car, it’ll take the brunt of sand, dirt, snow, rain and more. Instead of these environmental factors affecting your car’s paint, a clear bra will act as a shield. It’s a shield that’ll remain on your vehicle for many years.
How to maintain a clear bra on your car
Clear bra protecting your car isn’t the only thing to expect. After clear bra installation, maintenance is another area of focus. To maintain your new protective film, you’ll have to note the following:
Peeling
Peeling refers to the removal of clear bra films around some areas of your car. When this happens, these parts of the vehicle will look less attractive.
Peeling can also happen thanks to poor management and low-quality films from the installer. Even with good installation, peeling may still happen. To reduce the chances of it happening to your clear bra, avoid washing your car with pressure washers.
Yellowing
One major thing a clear bra does to your car is protect it from UV light. UV light can cause colouration by oxidizing adhesives on car films. If your car is white, yellowing can make your vehicle appear cheap and dingy.
Yellowing on clear bras is not common except in cases of low-quality films and high exposure to UV lights. To prevent it, make sure you’re using high-quality clear bras.
Why professional installation is best for clear bra
Blistering is expected if you install a clear bra on your car poorly. It’s the result of trapped air bubbles underneath the protective film. These trapped air bubbles can make the car look old and cheap.
Air bubbles happen when there are contaminants on the surface of the film. The presence of contaminants separates the film from the car’s surface.
That’s why clear bra installation happens in a controlled space. It’s the same reason you should always work with experienced installers. They can control the installation area and apply a clear bra properly.
Advantages of Clear Bras: What Happens When You Use Clear Bra
The advantages of clear bra installation can save you money while maintaining the look of your car. Here’s why it’s a top option for maintaining car paint:
Protection
Clear paint bra is a full-time bodyguard for your car. It protects your vehicle from debris, weather elements and scratches. Also, a clear bra is resistant to bird dropping and small rock chips.
Reduces expenses
If debris hits your car, it can affect the paint’s value. Over time, you may end up spending thousands on repairing the damaged areas.
If you’re using a clear bra on your car, you won’t have to worry about these expenses. You can use the savings on these expenses to get those new sets of tires.
Not only that, clear bras maintain your car’s value, especially for resale. A good-looking car will always have a higher resale value.
Flexibility
When you decide to get clear bra, you can customize where it goes on your car. For instance, you may choose only to cover the areas next to the wheels.
Clear Bra Application: A Stepwise Guide
Before you start to install a clear bra, you need the following:
- Shampoo solution
- Sort squeegee
- Lint-free towel
- Hairdryer
- Heat gun
Here’s the step-by-step to follow:
- Ensure the garage’s temperature is 75 degrees Celsius. Make sure the space doesn’t experience wind gusts. It’s also best if it’s not too humid
- Wash your hands clean of dirt and oils.
- Decide the places to apply the film to your car.
- Wash the installation areas. Remove specks of dirt that can affect the installation.
- Apply the film evenly without leaving any residue.
- At this stage, you don’t need polishes or abrasives as they can harm the paint’s film. Instead, use a lint-free towel to dry the vehicle.
How to apply clear bra solution
Here’s a breakdown of the 5th step above:
- Spray water solution on the areas you want to coat. You should also spray the water solution on your hands.
- Peel a single piece from the kit and spray the adhesive side onto your vehicle. You should only apply adhesive on wet areas.
- When you do this, the film will be able to move more freely over your vehicle. If any area feels sticky, remove the edge and spray the kits underneath.
- Now, spray water solution over the film. The water solution will act as a lubricant when you squeegee the bubbles.
- With your fingers, gently squeegee the bubbles out.
- Ensure the film adheres firmly and adequately to the body of your car. To do this, ensure there is no moisture, haze or cloudiness between your paint’s finish and the film.
Related Article: Pros And Cons Of Applying Paint Protection Film
To Wrap it Up
What a clear bra does to your car includes smear durability, protection from UV rays and colour maintenance. As long as experts handle the installation of this car paint protection film, you’ll enjoy the same benefits.
Here at Autoboss Vaughan, we provide top clear bra services. We’ll do a clean job and make sure the film protects every inch of the target area. Contact us today to get started.