Quote:
Originally Posted by Bevan
Good points all.
Bob,
The vinyl wrap of today goes on dry. At least with the 3M that I am testing with, has tiny "grooves" or air channels in the adhesive that allows the air to be squeegeed out and seems to make sort of a vacuum seal. It is down strong immediately once squeegeed. I would think it would get a little stronger in stick over time but that's only a guess. Hopefully not so much stick that it's too labour intensive to remove eventually.
Perry,
Do you agree that the vinyl of today is non-porous?
Bevan
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Bevan, I must admit that I've been out of the game for well over a decade so there have obviously been technological changes to the process. Sorry about that. In the past a water based "slip aid" was used for the application of wraps but obviously that is no longer the case.
However some protective films are still wet applied including clear protective films such as 3M Scotchguard Paint Protection Film. Car window tints are also still wet applied. The residual moisture then migrates out through the film.
The point however is not whether wraps are wet applied or dry applied. The point is whether they are porous or not. Scotchguard Paint Protection Film is perhaps 4 times the thickness of your typical wrap film but it is obviously quite porous as it allows the water used during application to migrate out through the film.
Are "dry applied" wrap films porous. Well I would suggest that they probably are, and that it is just a matter of degree of porosity.
Maybe if you are intending to wrap your RV you might consider degreasing and alodining the aluminium surface first. Alodining is cheap and it is no big deal to apply and it will passivate the surface under the wrap to inhibit possible corrosion creep. It will also give you some modest degree of protection in the numerous areas where you will not be able to apply the wrap.
