Mirror Step by Step Guide

Recommended Squeegees

Prepping your Mirror

Before you start, it is critical to start with a clean surface. If you haven’t cleaned your mirror yet, go to our Prepping Your Vehicle module to learn how to prepare your paint for PPF before continuing on.

Mix a fresh bottle of slip and one of tack according to the directions in the Solutions module.

Spray the mirror down with a generous amount of slip solution then take your #2 squeegee and gently squeegee all of the solution off. This step ensures that any final contaminants that may have drifted onto your car are removed.

Installation

Piece A

Spray down your mirror with slip solution again and this time leave it on the mirror. You are going to start with Piece A (A), so spray the top of Piece A with slip and then remove it from the sheet. Spray slip solution as you are lifting up the piece. Leave Piece B (B) on the sheet for now. Place A on the mirror and align the narrower edge of the PPF to the outside edge of the mirror (Don’t worry about the alignment of the inside edge just yet). You want to set the PPF back from the edge enough so that it doesn’t pull up. One way to check if it is too close to the edge is if you flick your finger up against the edge of the car and the PPF pulls up at all, then its too close to the edge. Once you have a good placement hold the piece in place with one hand and lift up about 1″ of the part you just aligned and spray tack under it, just one or two sprays is enough (more isn’t better in this case). Let the edge fall back into place and check if it moved, if so realign it. If it starts to stick down too much to get the alignment right, pull it up and spray tack down again and repeat the process.

Once you have Piece A (1) down, we’re going to tack the other side (2). Start by lifting the piece up to the tack point and spray more slip solution underneath. This ensures that you don’t have any dry spots. Starting from the middle, use the palm stretching technique and move the material across the mirror. Once you don’t see any fingers on the piece, that’s when you know you’ve stretched it enough. Let it go and now that we’ve pre-stretched, we’re ready to tack #2. If you need additional practices, don’t hesitate to do so until you feel comfortable. Once you’re ready, stretch the film across the mirror like you practiced and again, watch out for those fingers in the piece. Once you have it stretched across and no fingers are present, align the bottom edge of the #2 area. Once it’s aligned, peel back a “1 and spray tack solution (1-2 sprays should be perfect). Using the push method, push the tack solution out of that corner and #2 should now be tacked.

Since there is slip solution underneath the middle of the piece, you should be able to move it up and down the mirror for alignment. Watch the alignment and do the finger test to see if it lifts up as you move your finger up and down the edge of the mirror. If it catches, then slide the middle of the Piece A slightly up until it doesn’t catch. Once you have it aligned, we’re going to visually split the piece down the horizontal middle. Using the push method, push the slip solution down the edge of the mirrors. Remember not to squeegee towards #1 and #2 as it’s been tacked and you don’t want to move slip solution in those areas. Then, do the same for the section above using the push method again and push the slip solution upwards.

Using a clean and dry microfiber, wipe down your Piece A and use your flashlight to check for any bubbles or contaminants. If you have bubbles, spray slip solution on top of the piece and try to squeegee it out. If there is contamination and you’d like to remove it, peel and repeat the steps above depending on which area the contaminant is located.

Once you are happy with your Piece A install, use tack solution and spray all the edges generously. Using the push method, squeegee all the edges out. This seals the edges and helps prepare the seam for Piece B.

Piece B

Spray down your mirror with slip solution again. Spray the top of Piece B with slip solution and then remove it from the sheet. Spray slip solution as you are lifting up the piece. Place Piece B onto the mirror. We’re going to align B to A just get a feel of what it should look like. The first alignment point should the outside edge of the piece and to Piece A. Hold the piece in the middle, peel up “1 up on the corner and spray tack solution. Use the #2 squeegee and the push method to push the tack solution out and to tack the corner.

We’re going to butt seam the two pieces now. Using your fingers, gently push Piece B to Piece A. You’ll see it seam and solution coming out of the seam as you push it. Using the push method, squeegee very gently from one end to another until the whole seam is squeegeed. When you get to the other edge, make sure that the edges are lining up on the inside as well. If it is over the edge OR too far apart, you should use your fingers to push in or out.

Lastly, push the water out using the push method towards the top edge to the rest of the slip solution out.

Once you are happy with your Piece B install, use tack solution and spray all the edges generously. Using the push method, squeegee all the edges out. This seals the edges so we don’t risk any edges to pull up.