Iron Decontamination on Plastic - PPF Staining

[chefwong]

I know it's best practice to avoid plastic when doing chem decontamination

The other day, I timed doing a chemical decontamination on my PPF *which is esentially the car's wrapped in plastic*.
I mean PPF is plastic....
PPF is known to take on staining from those guys using those fancy colored foams

Anyhow, I timed it right before a extended rainfall.
Pull the car out of the garage, sprayed, dwelled, rinsed it off the the PPF and about 20 minutes later, it rained for the next few hours.

For those with PPF , are you guys avoiding chemical decontamination or just take special precaution with iron decontamination on PPF

[joebruin77]

I have PPF on my car and have never felt like I needed to use an iron remover.

That said, if you feel the need, this FAQ is on the Carpro website (manufacturer of IronX):

"Is IronX safe to use on 3M and Paint Protection Film?
Yes, there is no problem at all using it on clear bra and modern PPF when used properly."

Personally, if I am not 100% certain a given product is safe for PPF, I usually email the manufacturer of my PPF (in my case, Xpel) and ask their support team if it is safe to use it. I have found Xpel to be very responsive to these types of questions. I trust the word of the PPF manufacturer more than the manufacturer of the product.

[Rsurfer]

I trust the word of the PPF manufacturer more than the manufacturer of the product.

??

[joebruin77]

??

There have been a few times when I was considering buying a product and the manufacturer of the product said it was safe for PPF. But then when I took a close look at the product or when I checked with Xpel customer service, it turned out the product was not safe for PPF.

For example, when I first had my Xpel PPF installed, the Xpel website said to avoid using waxes or sealants that are more than 5% petroleum distillates, since such products could damage the PPF. At the time, I was considering using HD Poxy on my PPF. I contacted the manufacturer to ask if HD Poxy was safe for PPF and they said yes. But then I found the SDS sheet for HD Poxy, which said that the concentration of petroleum distillates in HD Poxy was 30-36 percent. Therefore, I decided to not to apply the HD Poxy to my PPF.

[AMarkham40]

Gyeon PPF Wash has a mild iron remover in it. I've used it on Xpel PPF with no issues.

[chefwong]

I briefed the Gyeon *PPF* centric line.
IMO, if I'm going to use an iron product, I'd like it straight and neat....and I will dilute as needed.
I do plan to look at the PPF Renew - however, I think to some degree, like paint polishing and clear coat, I may be diminishing some portion of the self-healing layer of the flm.

[BudgetPlan1]

I’ve doused both my STEK & XPEL PPF’d cars with Gyeon Iron periodically w no ill effects. Used as directed w standard precautions as noted for paint and no issues.

Cars were coated on top of PPF FWIW.


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[chefwong]

Subjective Question or Opinion BP1.

Prior to full wrap, I've always had coatings on the paint.
IME, coatings or anything for the most part doesn't last nearly as it does on paint.
So I won't do a high solid coating, but just something -lite-. I top and I top often.

Now, if there was something that actually stayed of plastic for longer....ahem, less maintenance on top and top often comment, I'm all in.

Have you tried or used the so called PPF centric coatings ?

[BudgetPlan1]

Subjective Question or Opinion BP1.

Prior to full wrap, I've always had coatings on the paint.
IME, coatings or anything for the most part doesn't last nearly as it does on paint.
So I won't do a high solid coating, but just something -lite-. I top and I top often.

Now, if there was something that actually stayed of plastic for longer....ahem, less maintenance on top and top often comment, I'm all in.

Have you tried or used the so called PPF centric coatings ?

I had a film-specific coating on our STEK car for a while and it did well for 2 ‘seasons’ albeit only about 7500 miles, generally April thru November daily driver. I recoated with a non-film-specific coating about 13 months/5000 miles ago, and it’s still doing well. It was our first PPF’d car which I didn’t do an Iron decon on for 1st 2 years which was a mistake; it got a bit crunchy and eventually I had to clay it to get it smooth again. I currently have a sealant on top of the coating just for fun as it pleases me with regard to look & feel. Heresy in some circles but oh well, it works for me

I had/have a non-film-specific coating on the XPEL car, daily driven year round for 5000 miles a year since April 2021 and it’s still doing well.

To be quite honest, both cars don’t get washed crazy-often, maybe every 3-4 weeks as they always look acceptably good to me with little attention. For the last 18 months or so I’ve only been dropping a little ‘boost’ on ‘em every 6 weeks or so.

Coatings won’t last as long on top of PPF, especially PPF like the STEK which has a hydrophobic ‘topcoat’ built in but I like coatings so I’ll always coat PPF.

Last year at SEMA I asked a mfg rep what the main difference between their PPF & regular coatings was; his answer was that for the most part the largest difference was that PPF coatings focus on ease of use (high spots on PPF are troublesome) as opposed to any other aspect of their formulation.


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[dlc95]

Subjective Question or Opinion BP1.

Prior to full wrap, I've always had coatings on the paint.
IME, coatings or anything for the most part doesn't last nearly as it does on paint.
So I won't do a high solid coating, but just something -lite-. I top and I top often.

Now, if there was something that actually stayed of plastic for longer....ahem, less maintenance on top and top often comment, I'm all in.

Have you tried or used the so called PPF centric coatings ?

Great point!

On my gf's vehicle I tried CarPro Skin. I'm not the best ceramic coating installer guy, and I didn't really care for it's performance.

I lightly polished it with Optimum Hyper Polish on one of the black waffle pads, hit with Paint Prep, and installed Gloss Coat (which was on the rest of the vehicle), and I'm very happy with the results.

At work we recently received their new line of coatings, and they specifically say to use their Lite coating on the ppf. I always prefer when the customer opts for the Fusion Film with the coating already in it!