Glossary
Tint, PPF & Detailing Glossary
The words on spec sheets and quotes, defined plainly: what each one measures, why it matters on a car in BC, and where it comes up when you're choosing film, PPF or a coating.
49 pages · Updated
01
Every term, A to Z
- Glossary
What Is Acoustic Glass?
Acoustic glass is laminated glass with a sound-damping interlayer, in some windshields and door windows. Which trims have it, and what it means for BC tint.
Read What Is Acoustic Glass? - Glossary
What Is ADAS Calibration?
ADAS calibration re-aims driver-assist cameras and radar after a new windshield or bumper. What it involves, when BC glass claims need it, and how tint fits.
Read What Is ADAS Calibration? - Glossary
What Is Adhesive Ghosting?
Adhesive ghosting is the outline left after film, a wrap or a decal comes off: leftover glue or a mark in the paint. Learn the causes and how to avoid it.
Read What Is Adhesive Ghosting? - Glossary
What Is AS-1 Line?
The AS-1 line is the mark near a windshield's top edge showing where glass that passes the light test begins. See what the AS1 arrow means and how BC uses it.
Read What Is AS-1 Line? - Glossary
What Is Bulk PPF Install?
A bulk PPF install trims an oversized film sheet to shape on the car, not from plotter-cut pieces. Learn the trade-offs and the method a Langley shop uses.
Read What Is Bulk PPF Install? - Glossary
What Is Calendered Vinyl?
Calendered vinyl is PVC film for flat, short- to medium-term graphics such as lettering and decals, not full wraps. Learn how it differs from cast vinyl.
Read What Is Calendered Vinyl? - Glossary
What Is Carbon Window Film?
Carbon window film is tinted with carbon particles instead of dye: black, non-reflective and metal-free. Compare it with dyed and ceramic film, then choose.
Read What Is Carbon Window Film? - Glossary
What Is Cast Vinyl?
Cast vinyl is the conformable, long-life PVC film that full car wraps use; 3M 2080 and Avery SW900 are both cast. Learn what sets it apart from other film.
Read What Is Cast Vinyl? - Glossary
What Is Clay Bar?
A clay bar is soft detailing clay glided over wet paint to lift bonded rail dust, overspray and tar. Learn how to use it safely and its role in Langley prep.
Read What Is Clay Bar? - Glossary
What Is Clear Coat?
Clear coat is the transparent top layer of car paint, about 38 to 45 µm from the factory. See what it protects, what polishing removes and why it's measured.
Read What Is Clear Coat? - Glossary
What Is Compounding?
Compounding is paint correction's cutting step, levelling clear coat to remove deeper defects. See what it costs your paint and when a Langley shop uses it.
Read What Is Compounding? - Glossary
What Is Decontamination Wash?
A decontamination wash strips bonded tar, bug residue, wax and metal fallout that soap misses. See why a Langley shop does it before any coating or PPF.
Read What Is Decontamination Wash? - Glossary
What Is Defroster Lines?
Defroster lines are heating conductors bonded inside your back glass. See what damages them and how tint and steam removal spare them, from a Langley shop.
Read What Is Defroster Lines? - Glossary
What Is Dual-Action Polisher?
A dual-action polisher orbits its pad while it spins, so it polishes more gently than a rotary buffer. See how it moves and where a Langley shop uses one.
Read What Is Dual-Action Polisher? - Glossary
What Is Dyed Window Film?
Dyed window film gets its shade from dye that soaks up light. LLumar's colour-stable ATC blocks over 99% of UV, 22% of infrared. See when dyed film is enough.
Read What Is Dyed Window Film? - Glossary
What Is Factory Privacy Glass?
Factory privacy glass is car glass darkened at the glassworks, not with film. AGC sells it at 4.5 to 40% light transmission. See how it differs from tint.
Read What Is Factory Privacy Glass? - Glossary
What Is Frit (Dot Matrix)?
Frit is the black enamel fired around the edge of car glass; the dot matrix is where it fades into dots. Learn what it protects and where tint film ends.
Read What Is Frit (Dot Matrix)? - Glossary
What Is Graphene Coating?
A graphene coating is a paint coating with graphene or graphene oxide in its recipe that cures to a thin, clear layer. See what it does and how it's applied.
Read What Is Graphene Coating? - Glossary
What Is Heat Shrinking?
Heat shrinking moulds flat tint to a curved window with a heat gun, on the outside, before fitting. How it works, why back glass needs it, and where it fits.
Read What Is Heat Shrinking? - Glossary
What Is Holograms?
Holograms are faint trails a polishing machine leaves in clear coat that shift as you walk by. Learn their cause and how a Langley shop finds and fixes them.
Read What Is Holograms? - Glossary
What Is Hydrophobic?
Hydrophobic means water beads up instead of spreading: a contact angle over 90°. See where it shows up on coatings, PPF and glass, and what wears it down.
Read What Is Hydrophobic? - Glossary
What Is IR Rejection?
IR rejection is how much of the sun's infrared, the heat you feel, a film keeps out. Learn why LLumar's IRER and SIRR differ, from 22% to 88%, before you buy.
Read What Is IR Rejection? - Glossary
What Is Iron Remover?
Iron remover is a spray that dissolves brake dust and rail dust on paint and wheels, often turning purple. Read how it works and its hazards, from Langley.
Read What Is Iron Remover? - Glossary
What Is Laminated Glass?
Laminated glass is two glass sheets bonded to a plastic interlayer, as in every windshield. How it differs from tempered glass and what it means for tint.
Read What Is Laminated Glass? - Glossary
What Is Light Film?
Light film is protection film for headlights and taillights, clear or tinted, that guards lenses from chips. STEK's shades, and BC's inspection rule on it.
Read What Is Light Film? - Glossary
What Is Limo Tint?
Limo tint is the darkest common window film, about 5% VLT. BC allows it on every pane behind the driver and on no front door. See what to weigh first.
Read What Is Limo Tint? - Glossary
What Is Metallized Window Film?
Metallized window film uses a thin metal layer to reflect heat, with a slight mirror look and a risk to radio signals. See how it compares and what BC says.
Read What Is Metallized Window Film? - Glossary
What Is Nano Ceramic Film?
Nano ceramic film blocks infrared heat with ceramic tech, not dye or metal. LLumar IRX rejects 59 to 61% of IR energy, dyed ATC 22%. See how it works.
Read What Is Nano Ceramic Film? - Glossary
What Is Orange Peel?
Orange peel is the dimpled, orange-skin texture in cured paint, even on new cars. See what causes it, how it's levelled, and what that costs in clear coat.
Read What Is Orange Peel? - Glossary
What Is Overlaminate?
An overlaminate is clear film laid over printed vinyl to shield the ink from UV, salt and wear. When a wrap needs one, and why solid-colour films skip it.
Read What Is Overlaminate? - Glossary
What Is Oxidation?
In car care, oxidation is the dull, chalky breakdown of paint or headlight plastic after years of sun. How to spot it, how it affects film, and the fixes.
Read What Is Oxidation? - Glossary
What Is Paint Depth Gauge?
A paint depth gauge measures paint thickness in microns or mils without marking it. See how magnetic, eddy-current and ultrasonic types work, from Langley.
Read What Is Paint Depth Gauge? - Glossary
What Is Plotter-Cut Tint?
Plotter-cut tint is film cut by a computer from a pattern for your exact model, so nobody trims it against your glass. How it works; book it in Langley.
Read What Is Plotter-Cut Tint? - Glossary
What Is Polishing?
Polishing refines clear coat with a fine abrasive to remove light swirls and haze. Learn how it differs from compounding and where a Langley shop uses it.
Read What Is Polishing? - Glossary
What Is Post-Heating?
Post-heating is the last heat pass on a vinyl wrap: stretched film goes to 80–95 °C so it holds its shape and doesn't lift. Why it matters on a wrap in BC.
Read What Is Post-Heating? - Glossary
What Is Relief Cut?
A relief cut is a small slit in PPF or vinyl that lets film lie flat over a tight curve. Learn why bumpers need them and how a Langley shop shows them first.
Read What Is Relief Cut? - Glossary
What Is Self-Healing Top Coat?
A self-healing top coat is PPF's clear outer layer that lets light scratches close when warm. What it covers, its limits, and LLumar Platinum in Langley.
Read What Is Self-Healing Top Coat? - Glossary
What Is Silvering?
Silvering is a silvery speckle from tiny air pockets under film adhesive. What causes it, when it fades, and how it differs from tint haze or mirror film.
Read What Is Silvering? - Glossary
What Is SiO2?
SiO2 is silicon dioxide, the silica in quartz, sand and ceramic paint coatings like the shop's own. Learn what it does on a car and how to book a coating.
Read What Is SiO2? - Glossary
What Is Stealth PPF?
Stealth PPF is paint protection film with a satin top layer: it shields paint like gloss film but turns shiny paint satin. See where the name comes from.
Read What Is Stealth PPF? - Glossary
What Is Swirl Marks?
Swirl marks are fine scratches in clear coat that ring a bright light, mostly from gritty washing. Learn how they look and how a Langley shop removes them.
Read What Is Swirl Marks? - Glossary
What Is Tempered Glass?
Tempered glass is a heat-treated sheet that breaks into small blunt pieces, used in most side and back windows. What it means for UV, tint and BC law.
Read What Is Tempered Glass? - Glossary
What Is Tint Meter?
A tint meter reads how much light passes through a car window, glass and film together. Where that number decides the law, and why BC's rule uses none.
Read What Is Tint Meter? - Glossary
What Is TSER?
TSER is the percentage of solar energy a filmed window turns away. LLumar's sheet runs 28% for ATC 50 to 62% for IRX 05. Learn how to compare it.
Read What Is TSER? - Glossary
What Is UV Hard Coat?
A UV hard coat is the clear factory coating on plastic headlight lenses that keeps sun from yellowing them. How it's tested, why it fails, what replaces it.
Read What Is UV Hard Coat? - Glossary
What Is UV Rejection?
UV rejection is the share of ultraviolet light a window or film stops. Every LLumar film the shop fits is rated over 99%, clear or dark. See what it covers.
Read What Is UV Rejection? - Glossary
What Is VLT?
VLT is the percentage of daylight a window lets through, so 5% is near black and 70% near clear. See how LLumar measures it and why BC law ignores it.
Read What Is VLT? - Glossary
What Is Windshield Sun Strip?
A windshield sun strip is a band of film along the top of the glass to cut glare. BC allows any shade within 75 mm of the top, never reflective. Plan yours.
Read What Is Windshield Sun Strip? - Glossary
What Is Wrapped Edges?
Wrapped edges are PPF or vinyl folded around a panel edge so the cut end hides on the inner side. See why it helps in the wash and how a Langley shop fits it.
Read What Is Wrapped Edges?
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