Hi there...I’ve been aware of your products for a while and I’m finally getting round to the point of ordering some to wrap (sorry “skin” ) some interior parts on my Porsche ... my specific question is whether there is a difference in the flexibility of real carbon fibre cloth for skinning vs. the silver “carbon fibre” fabric you sell...which is called alufibre I believe and is I think not actually made of carbon?

I plan to skin the centre console, some small parts on the steering wheel, the door handle surrounds and the ignition key surround as Porsche use a flexible rubbery paint on some of these parts which scratches badly

I really like the silver finish of the alufibre but I’ve not seen any how to videos applying this fabric and I suspect it will be difficult enough using the ordinary black carbon let alone the silver if it’s not flexible as there are some interesting shapes to cover here

Advice on the relative flexibility of the two would be welcome please...plus if I do go with alufibre do you do a silver base coat that I would use similar to the black base coat used for ordinary black carbon fabric?

Many thanks

Mike

You're correct about the Alufibre not being carbon, it is fibreglass with an aluminium coating.

I hate the stuff. It is very crispy, and in addition to having quite poor drape (flexibility), if you do push it somewhere it doesn't want to go then the fibres move and expose the uncoated fibreglass, which then becomes transparent when wet out with resin creating quite unsightly gaps in the material. You really need to do at least 2 layers of the stuff to avoid this issue, and to tackle the poor drapeability I would suggest cutting the material into shapes that do not require it to go around compound curves. 

The end result also just feels a bit cheap, it doesn't have the depth and lustre that carbon has so it somehow just feels like an imitation - which really it is.

thanks Hanaldo for the response...that’s a shame but exactly the kind of insight I was looking for

I’ve used fibreglass lots in the past in boatbuilding and boat repairs and experienced that “crispiness” ... I have also used grp woven tape which is more flexible but the weave can be damaged easily ... not a particular problem in a boat but I guess it’s the same issue then with alufibre ... I just didn’t really want the black carbon look in the car... but the centre console in particular has lots of intricate mouldings ... I might just end up getting it painted...

Thanks again

Mike

I have done a few things with the aluminized fibreglass. This one I have used is quite soft.

It can be difficult to finish as when you start sanding and re coating then you can not even touch the aluminium coating as it will very easily just sand off so then there is no silver left whereas carbon you can rub into the weave in minimal way without affecting the look of it.