Magnetic vehicle magnets are a great choice for identifying your vehicle on a job site or to advertise your business or service, and they give you the choice to remove them for anonymity in the evenings and on the weekends. They can now be produced in full color for the same price as we used to make them in a monochromatic design, so the sky is the limit with these decals.
However, as you've pointed out in your question, many of our clients or other company's clients aren't exactly sure how to care for magnetic door decals. Let me say it once here - it is VERY IMPORTANT to maintain your magnetic decals properly for the sake of the decals, but even more so for your vehicle's paint longevity, because if you don't, you may cause serious problems for the paint under the area where your magnetic decals are placed on your vehicle's door.
The Proper Care
First, in regards to your decals, you must remove them off your vehicle daily, especially during the winter or rainy season in your area, but I would recommend doing this year around. However, in dry areas, one could get by with removing them once weekly (as on the weekends). Still, when your truck or car doors' paint is at stake, I personally would say to err on the safe and less costly side of this equation.
When you remove your door magnets, you'll want to have a place where you lay them out flat every evening, or at least for the weekend. Any slight bump will permanently create a bump in the magnetic material that may cause an edge to lift while you're driving, and if an edge lifts, there is a good chance the wind rushing past your vehicle will simply remove the decal completely with or without your noticing it. Even if you notice it, the odds of it not being ruined are pretty slim. So, laying the decals perfectly flat is the main issue for storage, whether short or long term.
Why am I so emphatic on removing your door magnets daily?
Whether you can see it or not, moisture will get trapped under your magnets. When moisture is trapped beneath the magnet, it has nowhere to go, except into the micro-pores of the automotive paint, at which point the moisture will contact the metal, creating small rust spots. These rust spots will bleed through the paint and begin deteriorating your vehicles paint via the moisture that you trapped beneath the magnets.
So, to recap, you really have three basic rules with vehicle door magnetic signs. First, remove them frequently - I advise you do it every day when you get home. Second, store the decal magnets flat, flat, flat. And flatter. You'll never have them blow off your car this way. And third, make sure you follow the first two rules and you'll never have problems with your automobile's paint falling off or having rust spots develop.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barry Brown has been in the Sign, Banner, Decal and Display Business for over 20 years. It isn't what he thought he'd do with his life, but he says he knows too much now to do anything else!
He has been marketing these products online since 1998, and the company he was general manager of in 1998 was the first sign company to be listed on Yahoo!
