Front end
Hood, fenders, bumper and mirrors. The panels that take the stone chips, so this is the one people choose when the point is protecting the paint rather than changing the color.
Home › PeelClear
PeelClear
A color change you can take back off. It sprays on in the booth like paint, and when you want the factory color again it peels away by hand in sheets.
What it is
Paint that comes off in one piece.
PeelClear is a waterborne peelable coating made for vehicles. It goes on through a spray gun, so it lays down like a finish rather than sitting on the panel like a film. There is nothing to cut, nothing to template, and no adhesive anywhere in it.
Taking it off is the part people do not believe until they watch it. The edge is scored, and then it lifts away by hand in large sheets with your original paint underneath exactly as it was. No chemicals, no heat gun, no abrasives, and no residue to polish out afterwards.
- Sprayed with standard HVLP equipment, in the booth that is already here
- No cutting, no templating, no adhesive system
- Peels off by hand, leaving the factory paint untouched
- Empire is one of a handful of certified applicators in New York
Why not a wrap
It is sprayed, so it behaves like paint.
Vinyl is a sheet of material laid onto a car by hand. That is where its problems come from, and none of them apply to something that arrives through a gun.
01
No seams, no lifting edges
Wrap has to be cut, tucked and overlapped, and the edges are what let go first, usually at a door handle or a mirror. Sprayed color has no edge to lift.
02
A finish, not a texture
Vinyl carries its own surface with it. PeelClear is sprayed and flows out, so the reflection you get is the one the panel gives you.
03
Any color, not a catalog
You are not limited to what a vinyl company decided to print this year. It is mixed, so if it can be matched it can be sprayed.
Color
267 of them, before anything custom.
The standard range runs to 165 RAL matched solids, 85 pearl and iridescent colors, and 17 multi tone shifting colors. On top of that an OEM color can be matched, which is where most color changes actually start.
165 RAL matched solids
85 pearl and iridescent
17 multi tone shifting
Custom OEM matching
Worth knowing if you lease, or if the car is going back to standard before it is sold. The color underneath never gets touched, so what you hand back is the paint that came on it.
How much of the car
Three levels of coverage.
How far the color goes is your call, and it is mostly a question of how much of the car comes apart first. Ring the shop for a number on your vehicle.
Full exterior
The whole outside of the car, sprayed without pulling it apart. A complete color change from ten feet away and from two feet away.
Full exterior, disassembled
The car comes apart so the door jambs and the trunk jamb get sprayed as well. Open a door and the color carries on, which is the difference between a color change and a convincing one.
The warranty
Twenty years, and it covers the peel.
PeelClear carries a 20 year limited warranty on the product itself. It covers delamination, blistering, peeling, cracking, premature yellowing and adhesion failure, which is to say it covers both halves of the promise: that it stays looking right while it is on the car, and that it still comes off cleanly when you want it off.
It is engineered for years of normal driving, not for a show season. Wash it, park it outside, and drive it through a Syracuse winter. The warranty is registered here when the car is done, and it asks for a check-in every three years, which is a visit to the shop rather than a job for you.
Questions people ask
The ones that come up at the counter.
The answers are PeelClear's own, put the way we would say them across the desk. Anything not covered here, ring the shop or ask at the estimate.
Is it paint, or is it a wrap?
Paint. It goes through a spray gun in the booth and is built up in layers like any other finish, but it is engineered so those layers form one flexible film that lets go of the car when you want it to, instead of bonding to it for good. There is no adhesive anywhere in the system, which is the whole difference from a wrap.
Will it hurt my factory paint?
No. Over sound original paint it comes off as a single sheet and leaves the finish underneath exactly as it was. The one thing it does need is sound paint under it. A panel that has been repainted badly, or has bodywork failing underneath, is a different conversation, and it is one we will have with you at the estimate rather than after.
Can I go back to the original color later?
Yes, and that is the point of it. The edge is scored, the film lifts away by hand in large sheets, and the car is standard again. Worth knowing if you lease, or if the car is going back to stock before it is sold.
Why this instead of PPF or a vinyl wrap?
Because it is sprayed. Film has to be cut, tucked and overlapped, and its edges are what let go first. Sprayed color has no seams, no edges and no film lines, and it flows out so the reflection you get is the one the panel gives you. You are also not limited to what a vinyl company decided to print this year: if a color can be mixed, it can be sprayed. And when it comes off there is no glue to fight.
Does the car need sanding first?
No sanding and no scuffing on sound original paint. The car is washed, decontaminated, masked and sprayed. Nothing abrasive ever touches your finish.
How long does it last?
It is made for years of normal driving, not a show season, and it is backed by PeelClear's 20 year limited warranty when it is applied by a certified shop and registered, which is what happens here. Cars have carried it for three and four years and come back to stock cleanly.
How do I look after it?
Wash it like paint, by hand or through a touchless wash. Brush car washes are the one thing the warranty rules out, along with letting bird droppings, tree sap or industrial fallout sit on it. Get those off promptly and it looks after itself. PeelClear's own care sheet is linked above, and you go home with a copy.
Do I have to do the whole car?
No. Front end only, full exterior, or full exterior with the door and trunk jambs done as well, described above. Ring the shop for a number on your vehicle.
Can I buy it and do it myself?
No. PeelClear is only supplied to certified shops, because the result depends on the booth, the airflow and the film build being right. Empire is one of a handful of certified applicators in New York.
The certified finishes
Three of them, all sprayed here.
PeelClear joins the two Empire already holds. Between them they cover a finish that lights up, a finish that mirrors, and a finish that comes back off, and all three go on in the same booth by the same hands.
