When you decide to get your company’s vehicles outfitted with unique custom wraps, you enjoy a wealth of benefits. Your brand awareness increases, more people call your number, and your business starts thriving. However, over time you may begin to notice the once vibrant colors have started to fade, and your fleet looks bland. 

While you may have expected them to start fading over time, it doesn’t mean you have to deal with lackluster-looking vehicles. Knowing why they began to fade can help you prevent your car wraps from fading before their time. 

Why Have My Custom Wraps Started to Fade?

In most cases, the fading colors can trace back to overexposure to the sun’s rays. Direct sunlight over an extended period can make even high-quality vinyl fade before its time. Additionally, continued exposure to the elements such as heavy rain and windy conditions can affect the look and longevity of your custom car wraps. 

Tips to Combat Fading

If you have noticed the wraps on your vehicle fading, there are ways to help counteract the effects. Taking a proactive approach to protecting your fleet’s wraps can help extend their lifespan and help continue to boost your advertising for your business. You can use the following tips to better protect your wrapped cars and trucks:

Keep All Wrapped Vehicles in a Covered Area

The best way to protect custom wraps for cars in Valparaiso, IN, and beyond from fading is tough but not impossible. Your first step is to keep them under a cover and out of the sun for as long as possible. When out in the field, parking in the shade, under trees, and in parking garages — where available — can help limit the amount of direct sunlight hitting your vehicles. 

When your fleet isn’t in the field, having a garage to store your vehicles can help protect your graphics from fading. However, if you don’t have the space to park all of them under cover, you can rotate which ones get a covered spot and which don’t to ensure no one car gets too much exposure. 

Be Mindful of the Materials You Used for the Wrapping

As with most things in life, you get what you pay for — the same adage goes for vinyl wraps. Lower quality wraps are more prone to fading earlier in their expected lifecycle and often lack vital UV protections to counteract sun exposure. However, getting a high-quality wrap — like those found at Image1 — with built-in UV fighting features can help prevent premature fading. 

Maintain a Consistent Cleaning Routine

Exposure to the elements and the sun might be the most common reasons the wraps on your vehicles are fading, but they are far from the only ones. How well you clean and maintain your fleet will have a direct impact on the overall aesthetics of your fleet. 

If you notice increasing layers of dirt, grime, and more accumulating on your wrap, it’s time to clean your cars. While you can take your fleet through some car washes, the best way to ensure an even clean while protecting the integrity of the wraps is to hand wash them. 

Have the Professionals Handle the Wrap Installation

Some companies may believe that they can watch a video online and think they can handle applying vehicle wraps with ease. However, if you mess up at any point in the process, it can have a wide range of consequences that will cost you more money to fix. Having a professional installer from a respected company handle the installation ensures the process is done right the first time.

Let Us Help Protect the Wraps on Your Vehicles From Fading!

Now that you know the reasons behind your car wraps fading before their time, you can take steps to protect your vehicle graphics for the future. Image1 has helped countless customers apply custom wraps to their fleet and given them a helpful boost in promoting their business for the long haul. 

Contact the Image1 team to learn more about our process and schedule your first appointment today!