Did you polish and wax before having the clear bra/paint protection film installed? Planning to have the front end, mirrors and lower rear bumper cover done. I was curious if the film would still stick if I clay bar and wax the car first? I would like to get the shipping contaminants off and wax before I have the film installed. Worried if I don't do that and have the film installed first and then clay bar and wax the rest of the car. The green will not be the same level of shine or color as the areas that were not clay barred and waxed?
Wax before clear bra/paint protection film?
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I'm pretty sure they will use wax and grease remover for adhesion.
Absolutely paint correction on the whole car first.
Step 1 clay bar to remove any contaminants. Good test it to take a plastic bag like a zip lock and put it over your hand and if you feel the grit on the paint definetly an area to clay.
Step 2 Paint correction. This is where you machine polish to remove light scratches and swirl marks. This could be two step of polish depending on the condition of the paint.
Step 3 Paint Sealer. This will protect the freshly perfected paint. The option at this stage is some sort of protection like Cquartz or Opti Coat there are other steps like wheels under hood etc that can be done at this stage as well.
Step 4 now the protection film can be applied. Once dry and in place. 24 hours you can put paint sealer over the clear bra
Step 5 wax the whole car.
The results should be stunning at this point.
Step 1 clay bar to remove any contaminants. Good test it to take a plastic bag like a zip lock and put it over your hand and if you feel the grit on the paint definetly an area to clay.
Step 2 Paint correction. This is where you machine polish to remove light scratches and swirl marks. This could be two step of polish depending on the condition of the paint.
Step 3 Paint Sealer. This will protect the freshly perfected paint. The option at this stage is some sort of protection like Cquartz or Opti Coat there are other steps like wheels under hood etc that can be done at this stage as well.
Step 4 now the protection film can be applied. Once dry and in place. 24 hours you can put paint sealer over the clear bra
Step 5 wax the whole car.
The results should be stunning at this point.
My cat was 1 week old. Used Dawn 2-3 washes, Iron-x, then clay bar, then Car pro reflect polish with buffer then 50/50 alcohol and water spray. Drove 100 miles with blue tape on the from and had 3M bra installed. The installer used Dawn again as he said no matter what I did he takes any wax off with Dawn before install.
After the 3M bra I used Liquid glass pre-cleaner and top coated with several layers of Liquid glass and add a layer every 3-4 weeks.
Worked for me but no idea if this was the best thing to do or not but gave this lots of thought and think it was a good plan?
After the 3M bra I used Liquid glass pre-cleaner and top coated with several layers of Liquid glass and add a layer every 3-4 weeks.
Worked for me but no idea if this was the best thing to do or not but gave this lots of thought and think it was a good plan?
Paint should be prepared prior to any film going on. Polished to flawless and then film applied. Then coating, sealant or wax of choice on the entire vehicle. I like to prep the areas that are receiving the film and then leave the rest for after install, because you never know what areas may need a touch up after, so its best to not perfect the rest of the car until after film is applied.
HUMP
HUMP
I think if you use CQuartz or Opti you do NOT wax it. Wax defeats the purpose as CQ protects and is more "slippery" already.
Sorry Slowhand I guess I should clarify I am not saying you should wax prior to applying the clear bra as other have stated they will use typically some water and dish washing liquid to "strip off anything" then they would consider the surface prepped for film. In my case I applied the OptiCoat Pro after the clear bra was applied. After serveral months I had some swirls on both the paint and clear bra covered panels and I was able to polish them out and then I applied protectant and then wax on the whole car. I was told that even though I have OptiCoat it could be polished approx three times before it would need to be applied again. Hope that clears up my suggestion a bit.
I have my car in being done with the XPel treatment.
Hope to get it back tomorrow. He told me that I should not worry about it,
Since he will wash and clean the areas first before applying it.
I clayed it anyway
So I trust him to make it good.
Will let you know how it looks when I get it back.
Calling for liquid sunshine on Friday so I have its new litter box ready for it.
I did the entire front end from the windshield forward. Rockers, mirrors.
I can post pics when I get it back. I was impressed with the jobs I saw at his shop.
A Z06 and a Porch.
Both looked good and was hard to tell where the lines ended on each vehicle.
Hope to get it back tomorrow. He told me that I should not worry about it,
Since he will wash and clean the areas first before applying it.
I clayed it anyway
So I trust him to make it good.
Will let you know how it looks when I get it back.
Calling for liquid sunshine on Friday so I have its new litter box ready for it.
I did the entire front end from the windshield forward. Rockers, mirrors.
I can post pics when I get it back. I was impressed with the jobs I saw at his shop.
A Z06 and a Porch.
Both looked good and was hard to tell where the lines ended on each vehicle.
Wax is a great way to have things NOT stick to the paint lol. Decals and vinyl will not stay on very long either lol.
so obviously better to put the xpel clear bra on first
I know that Llumar films spec's Zaino Z-2 under and on top of their paint films, I know this because the company worked on this for years with me in the late 90's. I use Z-CS Clear Seal on top of my cars that have paint protection, fast and easy
Yes, that is correct. Film first and then coating.
What causes swirl marks and other defects in modern car paint? -The Clear Bra Installation Specialists of Atlanta-
HUMP
There is a detailer I know that will apply IGL Kenzo to a vehicle before wrapping. His method is this:
![xpel.jpg]()
He will correct the entire vehicle, mask off the edges, he reports that is where he sees the most difficulty with film adhering, and coat the remainder of the vehicle.
He will correct the entire vehicle, mask off the edges, he reports that is where he sees the most difficulty with film adhering, and coat the remainder of the vehicle.
Ceramic Coating:
I spoke with one of the manufactures about PPF regarding a prior vehicle.
PPF will not adhere to it, so do not apply it under PPF.
It will probably not stick to PPF.
It is a replacement for wax, so no need to wax afterward.
PPF:
I have never paint corrected the areas prior to applying film.
It hides the light stuff, because I never noticed any scratching on any of my vehicles underneath the film.
However...given the #$%! quality of our paint, there is probably debris on it that requires sanding.
I spoke with one of the manufactures about PPF regarding a prior vehicle.
PPF will not adhere to it, so do not apply it under PPF.
It will probably not stick to PPF.
It is a replacement for wax, so no need to wax afterward.
PPF:
I have never paint corrected the areas prior to applying film.
It hides the light stuff, because I never noticed any scratching on any of my vehicles underneath the film.
However...given the #$%! quality of our paint, there is probably debris on it that requires sanding.
Yea they will remove the wax b4 installing of.
Agreed. Most installers have their own prep strategy so you may be wasting time/money
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