Clear bra
 

Any suggestions for a clear self applied hood bra? The stone chips freak me out... arghhhh

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yes - find a professional and look at Xpel product and for installers. It truly is an art.

I've seen many DIY over the years and all... well let's just politely say look DIY...

Good luck :)

I contacted my local installer..how do these hold up to long term?

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The previous owner of my car applied a clear bra film to the front bumper fascia, leading edge of the hood, and the front side of the door mirrors. And I really wish he had not done so.

The problem is that the car will continue to collect stone chips, which now will damage the clear film instead of hitting the paint beneath directly. Which of course is the whole idea. But now the clear film looks like it has a bad case of acne.

Not to mention the wax / clay bar build up which occurs at the transition edge between the film and the paint. The line is very visible and obvious, and nothing that I have tried can minimize it.

Paint chips are easily touched up with some color matched paint so to make them far less obvious. But you cannot touch up the clear film with this sort of paint so that it looks anywhere nearly as good.

The long term solution to my problem is to remove the damaged film. But this brings forth concerns of the potential for damaging the paint beneath the film due to too-strong adhesion. So I have decided not to risk this, and instead have learned to live with the car as it is.

It is your car; you should do what you want with it. But my opinion would be to forget about the clear bra film idea.

DM

Fantastic with minimal care / maintenance. Again, "buy" the installer as much the product and find one who will wrap the edges and you'll never see any traces.

Have had 3M & Xpel on numerous vehicles over years and much prefer Xpel. In fact I have Xpel on all current vehicles in stable (except 2019 F150 toy hauler). Everything from a 9 year old DD SUV w over 140k on clock where clear bra still looks almost brand new to 3 year old track only car w 10k and not a scuff on it amongst others.

In addition to PPF, I highly recommend topping w the latest and greatest ceramic coating technology out there - lots of choices. Never thought I'd be a believer in them but WOW what an absolute total game changer for those of us who are fastidious when it comes to detailing and keeping vehicles in top shape.

Good luck :)

Ive used Hydrosilex for a few years easy to apply keep the cars looking gorgeous. Neighbors always ask how my cars look.so good. I use Meguirs
Detail spray to.touch up as needed.then reapply the hydrosilex recharge.the only issue is that the
Silica based solutions clog my spray head .Hyro was an early marketed product there are many now. I stick with it though.

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