cleaning and maintaining film after installation

April 5, 2010

I found a cans of it downstairs in our firehouse cleaning closet and it is the stuff I thought it was............Spray Away is da bomb!

Besides, don't you people know not to argue wit da legend "Stan"?? Stan says it, that settles it! ha Just kidding, now I'm settin myself up for a flame.

:thumb :thumb

April 5, 2010

None of those chemicals cause a film to turn purple. The loss of yellow in the coloring causes film to turn purple. this right?
None of those are used to an extreme that would impact the polyester or other components. what about this? first Pic is film thats Less than 1 year old, customer claims they used Windex to clean with regularly, about once a week

second pic is 5 years old, customer stated he used any glass cleaner he had at the time,

Any household cleaner is what I recommend (how often does a homeowner clean their windows ). << addressed below

Yes they will dry your skin left there long enough but the typical homeowner spray mists and immediately wipes. << addressed below

The SRC flakes because it wasn't cured long enough during manufacturing process or the coating was to thin or it was cheap SRC to start with. you mean this right?

I was asking what can cause film to prematurely fail,,,

with window film being porous (meaning it breaths through the layers) which can allow chemicals to soak through the surface eventually getting to the adhesive system ,, your telling me that it won't effect the film over time,, right?? ,, ok I strongly disagree

the pics posted above are of 3 different films ,,, something made these film go bad in a bad kind of way!,, What was it???

next car in question is this sweet Celica with a bad problem with the film and what you stated above is what I was told from the owner of the car about her "cleaning habits, Not but a few time in the entire time she has owned the car.

the car has been covered under a shelter of some sort pretty much since she purchased it several years back ( approx, 8-9 years)

well she came to me one day and asked me if I could fix her tint because something is on it!!! she claims that she wanted to clean the windows (she stated that has only been done a few times while she has owned it and the rear window has pretty much Never been cleaned at all!!)

Blurry, bubbling,, ,, what caused it??? age? UV? chemical? << can't be it's never cleaned with anything!

what little she has cleaned the windows, and it was done with this!

fella's Please keep and open mind on this subject all I'm doing is trying to figure out what is causing the films to go bad quickly or over time!

it seems something is causing the film to show similar characteristics or is the products on the cars in these pictures a poor quality product to begin with as stated by Tintjam65??

I compaired skin to the films because they are both subject to dry out with the same chemicals listed above...

April 5, 2010

I have a 2000 Celica. I've had it for 6 years. The car has a nice window tint. I have only cleaned the windows on rare occasions, like once a year. And I have never bothered with the rear hatchback window. It's too hard to reach and doesn't get dirty inside.

I tried to clean a window recently using Windex and the tint is a mess. I spritzed it lightly and then started to dry it off when it became sticky I understand you said that these cleaners are made for this so why did the film get sticky? It stays in a carport most of the time. One of the window tinters, Darkness Within, said I should not use any chemicals on tinting, that they will damage the tint. Sure did!

Why are you suggesting that it's not the cleaner? And why do you think this happened. What do you recommend for cleaning window tint. I'm sure not going to use Windex again.

It's obviously common sense that chemicals do harm window tint.

April 5, 2010

Darkness- I fail to see where your going with this thread, and with your reasons for cleaners being bad.

Every picture you just posted, you very clearly say, and even have a picture of windex, a product that is widely known to not be good for window film since it is amonia based. Some manufacturers even say that it voids the warranty right on the warranty card. All my tint invoices say the same thing on the bottom. Windex is an amonia base, but you probably already knew that.

Sprayaway, IG, etc are all alcohol based, which is not bad for window film.

I don't see how you can say that any type of window cleaner is bad for film, when the "evidence" you have supporting your side is clearly caused by windex, a product that should not be used on film in the first place. If I cleaned my windows with paint thinner, and it focked it up, I wouldn't go around saying that all "cleaners" are harmful for the film, since paint thinner is technically a cleaner.

April 5, 2010

I have a 2000 Celica. I've had it for 6 years. The car has a nice window tint. I have only cleaned the windows on rare occasions, like once a year. And I have never bothered with the rear hatchback window. It's too hard to reach and doesn't get dirty inside.
I tried to clean a window recently using Windex and the tint is a mess. I spritzed it lightly and then started to dry it off when it became sticky I understand you said that these cleaners are made for this so why did the film get sticky? It stays in a carport most of the time. One of the window tinters, Darkness Within, said I should not use any chemicals on tinting, that they will damage the tint. Sure did!

Why are you suggesting that it's not the cleaner? And why do you think this happened. What do you recommend for cleaning window tint. I'm sure not going to use Windex again.

It's obviously common sense that chemicals do harm window tint.

as stated above, windex is NOT safe for window tint. I'm surprised Darkness didn't tell you, that you should only clean your tint with an amonia free window cleaner, or one that says tint safe on it. Spray Away says amonia free, Invisible Glass says safe for tinted windows. It means the same thing.

Also as above, windex is an amonia based chemical. Darkness- you yourself mentioned that "us tinters" use amonia to remove old film/glue. So WHY IN THE WORLD would you not think that using a cleaning product that is AMONIA BASED would be bad for the film? amonia IS a harmful chemical, it DOES harm window tint. Which would be the reason we use it to remove glue, since it basically dissolves it.

Also, especially with a product like spray away that evaporates extremely fast, there is a very slim chance of it leeching through the film to harm the adhesive. We've all seen/known how long it takes window film to completely dry, and for the mounting solution/water to transmit through the film. It takes hours or days. The typical window cleaning session lasts what, 30 seconds per window, maybe? Plus, after mounting, the water evaporates through the film because on the water(glass) side it is the equivalent of being extremely humid, so the water vapor moves through the easiest way out. Obviously its not going through the glass, so it has to slowly go through the film. While cleaning your windows, the liquid is on the outside of the film, so once it evaporates, it goes directly into the atmosphere. It has zero reason to penetrate into the film, since it can easily evaporate into the air.

now, spraying the windex on the film was 100% the cause for the film to flake/haze get "sticky". It was a combination of a cheap film/bad SRC, and the harsh chemicals.

Again, you cannot say all chemicals are bad for tint based off your experience with one particular one that I thought EVERY tinter in the world knew was bad for film to begin with.

April 5, 2010

Darkness- I fail to see where your going with this thread, and with your reasons for cleaners being bad.
Every picture you just posted, you very clearly say, and even have a picture of windex, a product that is widely known to not be good for window film since it is amonia based. Some manufacturers even say that it voids the warranty right on the warranty card. All my tint invoices say the same thing on the bottom. Windex is an amonia base, but you probably already knew that.

Sprayaway, IG, etc are all alcohol based, which is not bad for window film.

I don't see how you can say that any type of window cleaner is bad for film, when the "evidence" you have supporting your side is clearly caused by windex, a product that should not be used on film in the first place. If I cleaned my windows with paint thinner, and it focked it up, I wouldn't go around saying that all "cleaners" are harmful for the film, since paint thinner is technically a cleaner.

only 2 of them where windex according to the customers,,,, Stoner was one brand I did not put in there, and the honda customer said he used whatever he could get his hands on,,

my point in this thread is that films are failing because of something, just trying to open tinters minds and try and figure out what it is,, and Yes your right about the warranty paper work on some are stating Not to use glass cleaners at all.. however there are different opinions on the matter..

What is doing this??

Bad product to begin with or what there using to clean with?? all of the pics are related with the customers stating that they used "Glass cleaners"

I'm waiting on some sample's to get back to me that I set off to have analyzed to see what caused the problems,, testing center will Not be reveled but the facts will!

April 5, 2010

maybe you need to go read your warranty paperwork again, because I've never seen a warranty card that says don't use window cleaners. They say don't use amonia cleaners, I.e windex. Big difference. it goes back to your generalizing all cleaners in the same category.

Invisible glass is a product mostly marketed to the automotive industry, which would be why it says safe for tinted windows. I'm sure they put a few dollars into r/d on it to make sure that it is safe when they put those claims on the bottle.

You cannot say that all window cleaners are bad for film, because that is just dumb. I for one have no worries about using SprayAway on any type of tinted window, because Stan has been doing this since before I was born, and he's been using it forever, so its pretty safe to say that it is safe, regardless of what your "tests" say.

Have you ever just thought about the fact that you live in the harshest portion of the country for window films? That almost no film stands up to the sun down there very long?

April 5, 2010

maybe you need to go read your warranty paperwork again, because I've never seen a warranty card that says don't use window cleaners. They say don't use amonia cleaners, I.e windex. Big difference. it goes back to your generalizing all cleaners in the same category.
Invisible glass is a product mostly marketed to the automotive industry, which would be why it says safe for tinted windows. I'm sure they put a few dollars into r/d on it to make sure that it is safe when they put those claims on the bottle.

You cannot say that all window cleaners are bad for film, because that is just dumb. I for one have no worries about using SprayAway on any type of tinted window, because Stan has been doing this since before I was born, and he's been using it forever, so its pretty safe to say that it is safe, regardless of what your "tests" say.

Have you ever just thought about the fact that you live in the harshest portion of the country for window films? That almost no film stands up to the sun down there very long?

I have read them,, looking at a Suntek warranty form now,, states to use soap and water ,,

very funny you refer to my location,,, I'm doing a strip and retint on a car thats from TN next week.. the same issues that I've talked about with films failing are on cars from Tn , Nc, area as well,, is that not a better climate? I did Alot of removals in Nc a few yrs back, same problems as described above!

So,,, if it's not the cleaners then What is it,, that question has not been answered!,,,,

Still just trying to find out whats doing this,, according to everyone who has disagreed with me on this, they claim they have Never had a failure with there film... mmmm thats odd.. so the next question is whos film is it all over the place??

and I'll say this everytime the subject comes up,, Glass cleaners are for glass not Plastic's!

alot of the "glass cleaners" say safe for tinted glass not window films! and Yes some do say window films but only a very few.

also as for the celica above ,, She was told to use windex or any glass cleaner from the original tinter to begin with

you have some valid points scotty,, so what is making the films fail like this?? Bad product to begin with or cleaning agents......

April 5, 2010

well if the original tinter told her to use windex, then thats a failure on their part, because as I've said countless times, WINDEX IS NOT TO BE USED ON TINT. PERIOD.

do YOU think that its okay to use windex on tint? You haven't made that clear in any of your posts, you appear to be defending windex again in lumping it into the same class as other window cleaners that are not amonia based. How many times do I have to say it before it sinks in, you CANNOT use amonia based cleaners on window tint.

also, any automotive specific window cleaner, such as IG, NXT, meguiars, etc all specifically state "safe for ALL tinted windows." no company would say tinted windows/glass in reference to factory tint, because everyone knows that its just dyed glass

and it is SPRAYWAY,not SPRAYAWAY people.

I never noticed that :dunno

April 5, 2010

WINDEX IS NOT TO BE USED ON TINT. PERIOD.

All those pictures show film failure do to film failing not from what was used to clean it. Most likely a straight dye product, they don't last no matter who makes it. Metalized and nano ceramice far out last plain dye film.

Scotty must never use LLumar because they say any household cleaner is fine.