The car paint protection film, commonly referred to as the invisible car wrap, serves to shield the car's paint from external damage. As the car wrap market is developing rapidly, it simultaneously makes the choice more challenging for car owners.
The differences between PVC, TPH and TPU
Material introduction: Material changes of Paint Protection Films. See previous post for details.
Currently, the car wraps on the market mainly include PVC material, TPH material and TPU material. Different materials of invisible car wraps have different prices and also have different performances. So how should we distinguish the materials of invisible car wraps?
PVC is commonly known as plastic. Although the invisible car wrap made of this material is inexpensive, PVC has poor chemical stability, is easy to turn yellow and become brittle, has poor ductility, cannot self-repair, and has a service life of about 1 to 2 years. When removed, it is easy to leave adhesive residue. TPH material is made by adding plasticizers to PVC. Its essence is still PVC, and the performance improvement is not obvious.
Compared with PVC and TPH, the invisible car wrap made of TPU material is higher in price than PVC and TPH materials. However, with the performance advantages of self-repairing, resistance to yellowing, long service life and easy construction, it has been unanimously recognized by car owners and film applicators.
How to identify the material of the car coat
It is not difficult to distinguish between these three materials, according to the different characteristics of the material, you can start from 5 dimensions to identify the material of the invisible car coat.
Look at the color and smell
Transparency: TPU>TPH>PVC
Odor irritation: PVC≈TPH>TPU
Due to the use of different raw materials, invisible car coat in the color and smell are different, the simplest way to identify, is through the invisible car coat color and smell to distinguish.
PVC and TPH material car coat is translucent and slightly yellow, TPU material is transparent slightly blue, put together to check the effect is more obvious; PVC and TPH material car coat smell strong and more pungent, TPU odor is small and not pungent.
Perceive the hardness by hand
Hardness: PVC>TPH>TPU
The hardness of the three materials can also be differentiated by feeling the hardness in your hand. the invisible car coat made of TPU is soft, tested by removing a small piece of the protective film, and it is hanging when it is placed flat.
PVC, TPH material invisible car coat in the hardness is stronger than TPU material, especially PVC material, after folding and stretching can not be recovered like TPU material will leave obvious creases.
Tensile property test
Tensile: TPU>TPH>PVC
The invisible car coat made of TPU has excellent tensile property and can recover after slight stretching, which is also the main principle of anti-scratch.
PVC material invisible car coat is not stretchable, through the hardness of the material itself to protect the car paint, naturally does not have the ability to recover.TPH material as an upgraded version of the PVC material, has a certain degree of tensile, but far weaker than the TPU material.
Burning observation phenomenon
Flame retardant: TPU>TPH>PVC
Cut a small section of invisible car coat made of different materials to ignite, you can observe that the flame retardancy of the three materials is different, PVC and TPH material ignite quickly, TPU material can not be ignited for a short period of time.
There is also a clear difference between different materials of invisible car coat in the burning. PVC and TPH material car coat burning, as with other plastic products, will produce pungent odor and black smoke, after burning the residue is black; TPU material invisible car coat burning, will produce a similar odor of alcohol and yellow smoke, after burning the residue is presented as a viscous liquid, hand touch viscous can be stretched.
Scratch self-healing test
Self-healing ability: TPU>TPH
To quickly test the self-healing ability, we just need to pour a cup of hot water on the scratches of the car coat, wipe off the hot water after a while and check the condition of the scratches.
Scratch self-healing is a major selling point of the TPU material invisible car coat, minor scratches by self-healing, can not see the trace; TPH material invisible car coat, self-healing ability is weak, scratches can not be completely repaired; and PVC material invisible car coat, there is no self-healing ability.
We sell a full range of Paint Protection film, Automotive Window film, Window film, TPU color-changing film and other films. We also can supply customization, OEM / ODM are available, welcome to cantact us at any time!
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