Bham

Guys, If you haven't gotten a "high end" aka, really good hair dryer yet,,,, get one. No more worrying about burning a door panel or a head liner trying to set a finger that didn't snap correctly. I have been using one for awHile now on stuff like the Accord back doors that have to be snapped so much, or those pesky BMW's that will try to pop a little finger up after install even though you snapped it before hand. Anyway, the high end hair dryer will keep you from burning anything but still be able to set film without ghosting. Works great for drying rubber seals on stuff like the rear glass of a '54 Chevy too.

My morning was AWESOME!!

Had 'em stacked up today.

Like @Tint Slayer said, if it is any kind of glue left, get you some ATR Adhesive Remover. If you are worried about it being too strong, dilute it 50/50, it still works amazing. Haven't had to use it full strength yet, but I'm sure it will work great. One way to verify whether you have film or just glue is to boil a small section. Boiling always lets you know what you are dealing with. Use a 5"x7" piece of limo and spray it with whatever liquid you want to, then heat the glass from the outside on that section until the liquid starts to boil under the glass. Carefully remove the piece of limo and pick at the section you just heated to see if film is coming loose. If there is film there, this will loosen it enough to tell and pull away. This method will work for the entire glass is you have it long enough to do it this way.

Why would you need too? You have your windows tinted, you shouldn't need A/C. Just kidding = yes you can turn on your A/C. There shouldn't be any issues even immediately after having your windshield done.

Those are not bubbles, but pieces of dust/trash/felt contamination of some sort. They will not go away. Pic #2 is from the installers fingers when he applied the film. Trash in the film like that shows up more with darker films and the ceramic type films like what you have installed. Dust particles are our enemy. They are everywhere during installs and we do what we can to keep this from happening. I say all this so you are aware of what the installer is dealing with. If you go back to the shop and ask them if they can do a better job,, try to be as understanding as possible about the situation (until it is time to not be understanding). They might agree to try and redo them with less trash or they might tell you it's the best they can do. Also be aware that it will be a removal and replace so there is a risk of left over glue if not cleaned well during removal. Now that you know what is up, all you can do is talk to the shop and see where it goes from there. Good luck.

So what was it? What did it turn out to be ?

That is what we call "ghosting" from shrinking the film with a heat gun. Looks like that was done after install to remove some fingers that had popped up when they applied the film. Looks like they hit those spots with some heat to lock it down and stop the fingers from popping up. Shrinking properly before hand usually stops that problem. As far as redoing it. Not sure that is going to help if the same film and install patterns are used. Not sure this wouldn't happen again because it is usually the type of film that causes these issues. You get this problem with cheaper dyed films and with some ceramic films.

New Civic Hatchback

A little Cadillaction for yas.

Is this IR coating visible ? Can you look at the glass and tell it's there like seeing the film edge ??

Is this IR coating visible ? Can you look at the glass and tell it's there like seeing the film edge ??

You might be able to contact Llumar and find out if they sell film to that particular shop ? Don't know? I'm not a doctor by any means, but I'm pretty sure the issue with skin cancer is in the UV spectrum of exposure. The good part is, all decent film will be 98-99% UV rejective. This is a necessity for the construction of window film and plays a part in longevity of the film. Bad part is trying to prove exactly what film you do have is going to be tough because you didn't see the roll. Sorry. The CTX and Air 80 are better in the IR spectrum (what you feel on your skin) so you should feel conciderably cooler behind the film, but you can be pretty sure that you are protected from UV at this point. It would take one of the smarter people to confirm whether the CTX and other higher end films are better for the skin cancer thing than other films. We know they are better for the feel of heat (iR) but I don't know that there is that much difference in the UV spectrum as far as more protection. Maybe more UV-A or UV-B blockage one way or the other but that probably about it. Again, just guessing on that part.

Didn't even think about that till now. Yeah, it could be just paint from where someone tried to fix those darn side pillars. Good on ya.

That looks like the glass has been burned by a high speed buffer or even just an orbital with compound on it. When that happens, a little bit of the glass is actually taken away and it creates the haze that you are noticing. This haze is way easier to see AFTER you tint your windows. Much like a scratch that wasn't really noticeable until after tint. There is really no good way to try and fix this problem other than replacing the window. If you try to buff the whole glass on the outside it will just create low angle blur make the window look wavy. Much like looking sideways across a windshield. There is liquid compounds that you can try that might remove a little of the haze. It would be the same stuff we use to remove coating from the glass before we tint them.

Just not real sure about this color QDP 40% front two with a 20% strip

If the color is coming out during install, that whole roll is crap. Not gonna matter if you lighten up on the soap or whatever, this should not happen unless you are installing with something extremely strong in the degreaser department. And even then it shouldn't happen that way. Gila is a DIY film that is somewhat reliable. They do have higher levels of their products, but still DIY and not going to last very long.

after reading this, I might be half wrong about some of those marks. Still think some of it is external, but DANG!! If that is what happened during install, then you probably have some really crappy film with bad dye. Sorry bout the eBay thing. That will get you some times. However, If you felt comfortable with installing then I would try to see if a shop will sell you enough quality film to do redo it or try to research a more quality film that you can purchase. NOT GILA

Pretty sure those marks are external. That seems to be a liquid that has etched the glass but wasn't visible until tint was applied. Inspect it really close externally, wet the area and see if the water changes. See if you can feel it with a razor blade or see what happens when you hit it with some 0000 steel wool. But from the pics, that looks like messed up glass on the outside, not the film

Efficiency is one thing, quality is another. You say work more efficiently ?? I say worry more about quality and quit being greedy and have some respect for the industry and not just make money slinging piss poor work. If you won’t accept an application from a quality tinter that can produce work without comebacks only to be looking for how many he can push out, it seems to me you are more worried about the wrong side of things. A quality tinter who produces work that doesn’t come back, will be better than a 14 car a day inexperienced film slapper who only knows how to do one type of car. Probably can’t hand cut a sliding rear window to save his life.

yes you can tint over the factor mirrored glass, BUT, Be aware that it will not remove the mirrored look. All it will do is make the windows darker and harder to see thru but it will not remove the mirrored look.

Also, in the first post @cleverchimp, you said "factory privacy glass" . Pretty sure the Prius is a clear glass vehicle.