Cast vinyl is the premium vinyl in the wrap industry. There are others, but their outdoor lifespan and conformability to curves are not on par with cast vinyl. Why? Because of the way it is made, its ability to stretch, and its adhesive properties that others vinyls don’t possess. Let’s get into cast vinyl a bit, shall we?
Cast Vinyl Preparation:
Cast vinyl begins in a melted liquid form. It is poured into a mold and then cured and rolled onto a core. Curing is jargon for changing states. The vinyl changes states as it cools, then reheats to temperatures hovering around 400 degrees until it transforms from liquid to a solid. This diagram shows you what the preparation process looks like on a small scale.
Molds generally run 150 to 500 feet long, with widths ranging from 30 to 60 inches. This allows long runs of vinyl to be continuously printed for larger wrap areas. This expensive process of creating premium cast vinyl makes a much more durable and flexible product than cheaper calendared vinyl.
Cast Vinyl & Science:
Let’s head back to chemistry class and touch on molecules and energy as it applies to cast vinyl. In their raw liquid form, cast molecules are pretty unstable. But, due to the preparation process and the cooling and heating, when cast vinyl is ready, you get a product that is so stable, it’s hard to top. Because of its newfound molecular makeup, cast vinyl has had so much energy applied to it, that it takes a whole lot of energy to do damage to its molecules. This science lends itself to, in part, why cast vinyl is the superior product available for car wraps. Watch this to get a better understanding of how it all works.
Cast Vinyl Installation:
Even though it’s been “baked” in a 400-degree oven, cast vinyl is reheated to 210-240 degrees with a heat gun after it’s applied to the surface of a car. This optimizes the adhesive bond with the car’s surface and removes the memory effect of the vinyl, which still does want to shrink itself. Now, it can’t.
Cast is quite a thin material—around only 2 mils thick, which equates to less than two hundredths of an inch. Because of its thinness, cast vinyl is very capable of conforming to the surface it’s applied to. Think of wrapping a car. The doors are pretty flat, pretty flush. So, it could be assumed that most vinyls would have no problem sticking to the doors. And that’s true. But what about the mirrors with their rounded surface? Bumpers? Door jams? They’re not flat. It takes a special kind of long-term conformability to be able to stick and stay on car parts like that. Also, cast vinyl can actually stretch much more effectively than other vinyl. This is important in the installation process. Wrapping a vehicle is a very technical skill. Most of the elite wrapping specialists have been at it for well over 10 years.
Installers will generally incur times in the process where air finds its way between vinyl and vehicle. This creates bubbles or wrinkles. Cast can be stretched up to 150% of its makeup. What does that mean? It means it can be stretched and pulled back off the vehicle to give the wrapper a chance to make the vinyl lay perfectly in difficult areas while losing those imperfections. If that next effort still comes with bubbles, they have in them what are called air release channels. These allow the installer to push the bubbles out of the wrap using a squeegee tool. Cast vinyl will give you an end result that’s absolutely wrinkle- and bubble-free.
It’s pretty fascinating what 3M, the company we buy our vinyl from for wrapping, has done in their extensive scientific research. They have been able to create a product that can be pulled back and adjusted during the installation process, yet stick firmly to your vehicle for seven years or so.
And, with the temperatures cast vinyl goes through when being produced and then installed, more good news—those intense temperatures make it easy for cast vinyl to stand up to the temperatures it will be exposed to every day, either hot or cold.
