Tint Removal Problem (at my wits end)

July 22, 2010

looking forward to hearing about your progress,, want to see pics to

Deal, but I might not get to it until next week. I might even try to do a video, if I can prop the camera up at the right angle, or get my wife or son to hold it.

July 22, 2010

July 27, 2010

I know I promised pictures and video here, but when I borrowed the steamer, I plugged it in just to test it, and it was working so well I just kept going. I did two side windows, and the top half of the rear window. My previous mistake with the steamer was trying to put the steam between the tint and the glass. That doesn't work well. What works is putting the steam right on top of the tint as I peel, like in the video posted to this thread. The rear window still rips and comes off in pretty small pieces. It takes a lot of patience, but it does come off, even as delicate as this tint is.

I'll still try to get pictures/video when I do the rest, maybe tonight.

Thanks again!

July 27, 2010

you got it now,,

it take's time but it all will come right off :beach

callwild · July 27, 2010

Just a note on this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68yiB8QT4Qw

Whenever I use a steamer like this I find the best method is to run the heat along where the film is coming away from the glass BUT on top of the tint NOT between the tint and glass as the video shows.

The method shown on the video, I find, separates the glue from the tint but the glue comes off with the film if you steam on top of the film.

Which do you do?

coast2coasttinting · July 27, 2010

any window tinter knows that if you install this stuff people expect you to have some super secret way of taking it off. Truth is there is no fun way to remove window film. It that all the windows I have had to strip maybe 2 or 3 cars have just peeled off nicely without leaving a whole lot of glue, but in your case this will not be happening. My advice to you is to use atleast 1 or 2 razor blades per window and keep the glass wet and warm if possible. Scrape across the window at a 45% angle and it will come off pretty quick. But if your backglass is as bad as I think it is. Wait till you have about a half a day a six pack and some 0000 steel wool. Use the steel wool until it is full of little film peices and glue. Then get another beer and a piece of steel wool. The wool is for the windows don't eat the steel wool and pour the beer on the windows has to be the other way around. By the time you finish the six pack your backglass should be nearly clean.

July 27, 2010

I've read about several methods for removing window tint (ammonia, steamer, heat gun, etc.), but none of them address the problem I currently have, so I'm hoping some of you professionals on here will be so kind as to give me some expert advice. I purchased a car with window tint that has spent 15 years in the Florida sun, and it's a mess with bubbles all over it. The previous owner tried to remove it, but only managed to remove what he described as a "clear crunchy plastic layer", leaving behind the super-fine tinted layer still glued to the glass (doh!). This delicate layer is so thin, it only comes off in very small strips, no matter what method I try. It's so thin and delicate, I couldn't imagine it peeling off in a piece larger than my fingernail, and when I get a tiny piece off, it literally crumbles to dust when I crunch in between my fingers (probably from all those years in the Florida sun). I spent half an hour removing a section the size of my fist with a razorblade, and it left behind a gluey mess. I thought about trying to sand it off, but I don't want to scratch the glass or destroy the defroster lines on the rear window. This is driving me nuts, since I can barely see out the back window of the car. Has anyone seen this before? Tips, tricks or advice? Thanks very much in advance.

go to home depot and get a wallpapper steamer 48bucks and heat it up and it will come of like buttttttttter!!!! best steamer u can buy!! the heck wit da 150 dollar one!

SWT · July 27, 2010

go to home depot and get a wallpapper steamer 48bucks and heat it up and it will come of like buttttttttter!!!! best steamer u can buy!! the heck wit da 150 dollar one!

Spoken like someone who has never used a good steamer. Yes, your $48 home depot special will work, but never like a Jiffy steamer will.

July 31, 2010

FWIW, I used Conair clothes steamer, $24 at Walmart, and it worked just fine. Here are some pictures and videos of the tint being removed from the bottom half of my back window (I had already done the top half a couple of days before). None of this would have been possible without the advice from people on this forum, so a big THANK YOU to everyone who responded to my cry for help. As you can see from the videos, it was a PITA, but it worked, and my wife can now see out the back window of her car. It started raining while I was doing this, so the final shot doesn't do much to show how clear the back window is. Suffice it to say, the bottom half is now just as clear as the top half in the first picture.

There's a funny part in one of the videos where I'm burning my fingers with the hot steam, like a total idiot. :rest