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BTW for anyone still watching I first used Spectrally Selective Films with IR blocking in the early 1990s with South Wall Technologies.

I think there will always be a market for less than the best of the best for any product. When you last bought tires, were there not choices as to the mileage ratings? Furnace filters from simple to MERV 13 ratings? Blended vs full synthetic oils? Should the marketing materials just say "you will feel cooler with Cermaic film" rather than have the manufactures and distributors encourage us to use "this film blocks 96% of IR heat" which clearly implies some scientific authority? Again HP 5% VLT = 61 TSER With ceramic ingredients we now have film 70% TSER at 5% VLT! A full 9% more heat rejection! To pay double for 9% more performance (that can be measured) seems like a small gain..unless we throw out measuring and just use "feel less heat" as the new industry standard for measuring film performance.

I've curated some IR info from around the net. I do not dispute that IR film out preforms in the lighter shades though. https://www.bestcaraudio.com/understanding-the-basics-of-window-tint-heat-rejection-specifications/ https://www.facebook.com/ProTintGreensboro/posts/what-is-infrared-rejection-what-does-it-mean-to-the-window-fiim-consumerbasicall/924050064308460/ https://windowtintingblog.net/tag/ir-window-film-facts/ https://windowfilmonline.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/infrared-rejection/

I agree TSER and other industry recognized measurements are best measurements of overall performance, not IR. It is my customers that call me, after talking to some other shops, asking about the IR. Today a customer said I want the Llumar IRX film that will make my interior 89% cooler! His INTERIOR will be cooler by 89%. WOW. Well that is a horse of another color! He felt he was cognoscenti and anything other than the film he'd already been told about just wouldn't do, even though I tinted the owner of the company he works for Ferrari last month. Because I wouldn't match his enthusiasm for Big Brand Cermic films, he thought I must be a dinosaur. I have three weeks of appointments scheduled for SolarFx HFX (Metalized HP film) installs thankfully.

I'm just thinking that using industry standard measuring techniques no film has ever achieved 96% IR rejection. 3M tried, but they had to resort to changing the angle at which heat source struck the glass. Once you change the angle, even clear glass would hit 96% IR rejection! No response from (my) distributor means it is likely taken at some narrow portion of the IR or we'd be privy to the testing method and nanometer range where this extraordinary number was observed. Must be trade secret and proprietary.😉 Howard at Express has told us how they measures film performance ! Recall the instance where a manufacture came to the Thunder Dome and tried to tell us veteran tinters that they had "bullet-proof film". As soon as someone offered to help the CEO test it with a 44 magnum he went poof and never posted again. SolarFx is great film, lets sell it on the merits. I've using it five years and no failures.

I just had a customer ask for FX Plus for the first time and realized I still don't know what the IR performance is over the entire IR Range (the only place it matters). I offered him FX Extreme 2 on the fronts and SolarFX HFX 5% on the back windows under privacy glass because I don't have any way to justify the cost bump. Can anyone make a credible claim that FX Plus will perform noticeably better than the HP film with 61% TSER under factory privacy glass?

I'm glad my ASWF customers apparently all sold their cars because I know the film is still de-laminating and changing color.

I use SolarFx films. That said, what nanometer range is the 96% measurement taken at?

I'd like to wrap myself in the flag. How much does it cost?" j/k

How many owners with SEO and the words window tinting in their name get calls that ask "do you do window tinting"? So much for micro targeting.

Last horizontal 48' pieces I did I measured down 14" from top and made my marks using a scrap piece of Oak trim cut to 14" so I didn't have to read the tape measure each time.

One thing about cutouts is they are not getting easier as the LED bulbs are much more likely to cause light to escape the cut out area and be noticed.

Like 3M it appears SolarFx specifies how much UV inhibitors to put in and where to put them as well as choosing to use weather-able polyester and opting for deep dye rather than cheaper methods. Re-boxers, it is my understanding, take for example Korean Film, and merely design a corporate identity system (logos and colors) to literally re-box an existing product. So to my way of thinking, those who call what SolarFx is doing re-boxing are not accurately describing what they have created by taking a hands on approach to combining existing sub-components into a product not sold elsewhere. The CarbonFx would be an example.

There are two types of Caulk Neutral Cure and Acid Cure. For this purpose you need Neutral Cure. May require going to manufacture's website to verify which is which.

SolarFx designs there films so by my mind it is not "reboxed" as some have stated.

and the adhesives are now better on decent films.

I've used Ultra for 5 years in a hot climate with no issues and I specifically choose it because it is not an entry level film. I don't think it is accurate to call SolarFx reboxed because it appears the film is made to their specification(s) and that would make it something else, correct? On the other hand, my previous manufacture's film out of Las Vegas seemed to fail about two years after the reports started coming in.

BTW I think the Stratos is a damn fine film as are all Llumar products. I've never seen a consumer complain about a purchase of a fairly priced standard film's performance but we often see consumer complaints about whether they really got at Top Of The Line ceramic film by various manufactures. This leaves me to believe that either some shops substitute cheaper films after the Heat Lamp sales pitch, or the performance just isn't that much better than what the consumer has experienced with other products.

When it comes to HP films with dye + Metal construction the TSER (total Solar Energy Rejection) spec for most 5% films is 61%. Ceramic films, not all of which are truly Ceramic but rather merely IR absorbing, reject 66% at the 5% shade. This is viewed as a shout it from the rooftops advancement of monumental significance and "new" although South Wall's V-Kool films were specially selective way back in the 1990s.

Pacific States Felt http://www.pacificstatesfelt.net/materials.html Best to call (510) 783-0277

Only for customers who are emphatic about wanting the darkest film available.

Maybe Howard can make us some limo tint with VantaBlack. (it’s one of the darkest substances on Earth) https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/20/20813054/vantablack-ultrablack-black-material-surrey-nanosystems-carbon-nanotubes-science-materials

Lots of tape on uline.com What is it marketed as?

Sun Gard made a Sutter-coated Gold film that oxidized in humid environments.

I have found that most requests made for Dark tint on windshield are made by those who are: 1) Young; 2) Male; 3) think that the most serious consequence possible is a fix-it ticket 4) likely don't have any assets of consequence to lose if the reductionist thinking illustrated by belief #3 turns out to be wrong. 5) and would throw the tint shop owner under the bus in a heartbeat despite their claim they don't need a receipt if they thought it would save their own ass.