Glossary / Films & coatings

Clear bra

A clear bra ispaint protection film. Not a cheaper version of it, not a smaller version of it, not an older chemistry — the same thermoplastic urethane, sold off the same 60-inch rolls, installed by the same people. The name is a fossil: before film, drivers strapped a vinyl-and-leather “bra” over the nose of a car to catch stones, and when clear film replaced it the word came along.

What has changed is what the phrase implies about coverage. For years a clear bra meant a small kit — the bumper and the leading edge of the hood — because that was as far as the material and the patterns went. Today the same film wraps whole vehicles, so “clear bra” on one shop's price list and “PPF” on another's may describe wildly different amounts of car. The useful question is never which word they used. It is which panels are in the quote.

If you want the material itself rather than the name, the paint protection film entry covers how it is bought and consumed, and full front vs full body PPF walks the coverage decision panel by panel.

The table below is the spanof what six named shops publish, not an average. Averaging them would invent a seventh number nobody charges. Each source's own figures are in the notes at the foot of this page, so you can see the spread rather than take the envelope on trust.

Gloss is the baseline. Two sources put matte and satin (often sold as “stealth”) film at roughly 10–25% above the same brand's gloss (notes 6 and 7), because the material costs more and every install flaw shows on a surface that does not reflect light away. Colour PPF pricing was not verified as of September 11, 2026.

Two things move a quote inside those bands more than anything else. The first is the vehicle: a large SUV or truck has more hood and fender to cover, and a deeply creased sports car is slower to wrap than a flatter, bigger panel — one source names the front bumper as the most labour-intensive panel on the car.⁴ The second is prep: film is clear, so whatever is on the paint when it goes down stays there magnified. If the paint needs correction first, that is real bay time and a legitimate line on the quote.

For the long version — what moves the price, what dealerships do differently, and the same ranges broken out by finish and vehicle class — see how much PPF costs in 2026.

One thing worth being clear-eyed about: film protects against chips and abrasion, and it does not stop a door ding, a shopping trolley or a collision. It is also not the same job as a ceramic coating, which adds gloss and makes the surface easier to clean but stops no rocks. Plenty of people fit both, film on the impact zones and coating over the top.

Most modern film carries an elastomeric topcoat that flows back to smooth when it is warmed — by the sun, by warm water over the panel, sometimes by a heat gun in the bay. Light swirls and fine scratches in that topcoat close up and disappear. It is genuinely impressive the first time you watch it, and it is the reason a higher film tier is worth paying for rather than a marketing line.

The limit is the part that gets skipped. It heals the topcoat. A cut that goes through the film does not heal, a tear does not heal, and nothing about self-healing film repairs the paint underneath it — if a stone goes through the film to the clear coat, you have a chip and a film replacement, not a self-repairing panel. Heat speeds the process and cold slows it, so a mark that vanishes in July may sit there for a week in January.

The self-healing film entry has the short definition, and self-healing PPF explained goes through what the topcoat is actually doing.

The shop-side view of the same two documents — and why a workmanship warranty is worth filing against the VIN rather than in a drawer — is in PPF warranty basics.

More definitions in the film and detailing glossary.