shadytints

bought a pouch while back called dirty pouch.  #dirtypouch  #inthefilmbusiness   nothing comes close in quality,  reinforced hoops and bottom (plastic).  use many different tools and never have to hunt for one.  can even put your logo on it.

never had luck repairing them,  I keep back window tools in a small cloth bag.  can buy them for 25-50cents day after halloween.  for BG with a brake light,  first pass is with a 12 inch blk/wht and final with a bulldozer.  use 2 hands to get pressure bending it 30 degrees or so to force water out.  then all bg tools back in the bag.  less tools lost and less damage to them.

On 12/8/2017 at 11:01 AM, Tint Slayer said:

You ever bottom load?

I do on occasion.   deep felt gaskets like 200's and old taurus and 15 malibu's.  wet the gasket and pull back on door panel and use a good hooker (radiator hose removal tool) to catch the back and pull out.  to reinstall, wet the sweep with slip and pinchwell and panel and slides right in.   guess I have been lucky,  never have had to remove panels or screws to remove them.  some are tight, helps to have a helper.  will give credit to my last apprentice,  I did fight some like focus hatch and darts.  so,,  if its quicker and cleaner to pull sweeps I will.  always trying new things to go faster and cleaner, or should say was.  might go back to work some day.

so many solutions for the various problems we encounter.

easy fix for ya,,,,  providing you don't touch the adhesive.  top corner debris is typically from the top of the window.     front and back gaskets having dirt near flip line on 2 stage is a excessive water problem combined with gravity.   will describe my process and *** the steps that cause your issue.  old or dirty felt gaskets I tape and scrub old rubber ones before I start.  cars are pulled in with fan on high,  recirc and defrost on.  car filters remove dust in car and heat glass to ease shrink and avoid condensation issues. 

with window up,  wet squeegee sides, and put film on sides.  gets dirt off glass and keeps dirt from landing on glass  in dirty shops.

powder BG feeling for rocks or sap. horizontal wet line and cover with film.  cut to fit, so less shrink and can shrink to 1/8 inch of side.

knifes out,  cut sides to fit .  map gas ts8000 snap sides(top, prevents peelin, ask) and shrink BG.  my film is stretchy,  I slightly over shrink because the inside of the window is smaller with more curve.

I start passenger rear then front ending on drivers door removing key to save battery and place keys on shield.

wet door outside including upper gasket (window still down 2 inches)  round corners, place back on door.  wet door inside and roll up.  blade bottom flush gaskets side and bottom,   roll window down couple inches.  wet and blade top 2 inches,  then wipe top of glass with towel, wrap ez or tri-edge check front and back gaskets for dirt.

******spray top front and top back 2 inches***** to remove dirt the towel cant reach.  light mist window squeegee border to border making sure water goes down, not over top of glass.  squeegee front and back 2 inches down.  light mist on glass no water running,  peel 3/4 release and again mist.  pulling release creates vacuum,  car can be dirty as long as its wet.  mist prevents dirt from running in to film from car.  apply film to top of door couple inches, long slow taper to prevent pinch/flipline.  squeegee water up and over top watching top for water running down to front.    *****prevents water flowing down sides making dirt trails at flip*******.   roll window up,  rinse down and out lower section,  pull rest of release sheet and tuck extra 1/8 in gasket,  carefully squeegee the smiley (from top snap) out,  wipe down car,  most has already dried, damp towel all ya need.  vid on the youtube

I did combine the two,  will try and get new pic soon,  18,000 lumens

have had cars die in 5 min before.  min 10amp to keep battery up with key on, a 50amp is worth the extra couple bucks for POS's.  bought large jump box for my light and to jump cars just in case.  has come in handy for my 3 tractors, chipper and snow blower.   good for the lake,  dead battery's from stereo's.  

pro bond melts plastic,  be careful.  tipped over in my box and melted some hard cards together.   cars where film wont stick to edge frit,  also works great.  crown vics, old stangs and many others.   squeegees do not clean between dots,  old cars or silicone from detailers prevent film from sticking.  little probond saves time not having to touch up finger later

4 hours ago, TQtinting said:

Also glue has been mentioned. What kind? 

school glue sticks,  goes on purple, dries clear.

pull film back, smear glue on the dots.  hard card to put film back up,  trick is to not take the glue out of the dots.  helps if you have somebody watch on the outside to get a even coverage.

for those i put a cloth over my prohandle to get the water out between the dots.  let it set up a bit and squeegee again with the cloth.  need some thing soft to get into the dots.  for the picky custy,  little glue works

1 minute ago, Tint Slayer said:

Have you tried the Rapid Tac (not Rapid Tac 2), the Rapid Tac 2 is supposed to adhere in like 90 seconds or at least twice as fast as regular Rapid Tac. I called the number on their website, they're sending me out samples of all their products. Gonna check them out.

never tried it.  was happy to just have a cure.  could dilute it if needed or I have added some to slip before I used ultra-bond for slip.  good for michigan winters for fast cure.

2 hours ago, Tint Slayer said:

Have you tried just the Rapid Tac 2 as the slip solution alone? Was just reading about it so i really don't know, but it seems like if it would resolve defroster and frit issues, why not use it as the slip alone?

stuck before I could squeegee it out.

11 hours ago, Tint Slayer said:

How do you apply the probond during install? Do you peel back film or spray it before film install only around frit and regular slip on the rest of glass?

clean the window with white scrubby and squeegee dry.  wet a corner of a cloth with pro-bond and wipe the grid and frit.   pro-bond flashes quick,  re-wet cloth 2 to 4 times depending on BG.  I also have rapid tac 2,  peanut pops up, peel back and spray full strength and squeegee quick.

tons of data on peanuts,  stronger cleaner/degreaser prepping seems to be key.  now i can go back to torching chargers in 2 min and 300's in 40 sec with out headaches.

wheel acid on some steel wool removes glass coatings.

forget detailing

great gross profit,  if you do enough it can put ya out of business.   I have tinted in many detail shops,  the two do not go together, 

a professional detailer can complete 3 cars a day average.   with a helper I can tint over ten cars a day.  there are many other products or services you can add that have a much better ROI then detailing.

if you need help crunching the numbers to see if detailing can be profitable for you,  let me know

newbie assistants I start at $400/wk salary.  90 day probation and one year verbal agreement.  "If" they get good, they can choose salary or a percentage that adjusts with skills.  after a year  they can take a 50/50 split or start their own business.

Why this works and understanding my sales pitch.

walk into any tint shop or place you want to tint.  never at open or close or lunch.  when they ask to help you,  say I want to make you a lot of money, if you have a couple minuets I will see if I can.   talk in their interest,  they do not care about you,,,, yet

crunching the numbers

do they tint,  what do they charge and how long does it take?  hours of operation and how many days to get appointment in season.

average answer from tint shops here is over $200 for 4dr cars.  3 to 4 hours for install and 2 to 3 week to schedule in season.

this shop would book 2 completes($400.00) and a set of doors($80.00) a day.  if one no shows they still have to pay the tinter hourly

so lets say $500/day 6 days a week brings $3000.00 total sales

I then state I will tint a vehicle an hour increasing the weekly potential to $9600 if they can book them.  8hrs/day x $200/car =$1600 x 6/day =$9600

If they only schedule 2 cars and a set of doors i will be done in 2.5 hours allowing 5.5 hours extra to book work in that bay

my program should make them $100.00/hr with no material, labor or warranty

I offer displays and price sheets and sales training (good/better/best) to increase average gross per delivery and warranty is on me if one comes back.

ask which number they like better  lol  offer to handle overflow or if the tinter calls in, say you will try to cover them so you do not have to cancel jobs.

In Michigan,  if you pay an employee 40k/yr with benefits or $20.00/hr the actual cost is about $35.00/hr.  I only take your money if I make you money.

good to have a couple vids on phone or flash drive  instead of the typical audition.  you can also project the additional income for up/cross sales.

I was a home based business. low overhead and great tax benefits.  10 to 20 sales reps booking and handling customers.   go to work only when there is work, part time job.  payed $100 to $200 an hour.  good CPA got my taxable income under 10k.  no clue how he does that,  why I pay him.

7 hours ago, Tint Slayer said:

What kind of system do you have with an assistant? I'm trying to figure the most effective way to use a second set of hands. 

hardest part is finding the right person.  show up for work and on time,  reliable and trainable.   takes about 90 days to see if they make it.  employees are like children, at first eager to learn and plan to be the next world champ tinter.  between 30 and 60 days,  little late to work and longer lunches testing the boundaries.  have to smack their hand and get them back in place.  hire for attitude,  teach experience.

newbie helper

pull up to a shop,  I go get the keys and paperwork, helper unloads the car (toolbox light film) and sets up.  I cut and shrink sides, helper cleans the back window then puts film on outside. I cut and shrink back and hang,  helper cleans sides and rounds corners.  I hang the sides while helper cleans windows and picks up behind me.  I pull car out and check while helper repacks car.  the "dance" as I call it, once learned allowed me to schedule 1 car per hour to hour and half.

trained tinter

helper still sets up while I get the car.  helper cleans,  cuts and hangs BG while I cut all sides, shrink sides  and hang starting with pass rear then front.  when I get to drivers side I either leave rear door and quarter or driver front door depending how far they are on the BG.  if I am almost done they clean and pack up and I deliver car.    slight variations depending on car.   best day we completed 5 cars in 2.5 hours.  limped all the way to the bank  LOL

crap can hit the fan faster then ya think,  had the plan set and was cruising through goals ahead of schedule.   back went out and docs are clueless.  did not plan on dipping into the nest egg for another 10 years.  Been nice taking the year off to relax,  gotta laugh

anybody have ideas for a new biz easier on the back?

All customers should be called the night before.  If they are not there when you open call again.

IMO you should attempt to get all customers to drop off at open or drop morning or 1 ish.   Waiters I scheduled 10am or 1pm (opened 8am).  dropped cars mean less interruptions during the day and if your ahead of schedule you can take walkins.  if your first job does not show,  you have others to work on.  You can offer other services if cars are dropped (upsell).  Empty bays is lost money.  You would be surprised how much it cost not to have work per hour. 

30% is about the average here in Michigan for a good tech.  Most techs cap out around 40k/yr in  a shop.   in 2006 I asked for a raise and they said I would have to quit to get one.  back then $10/hr cost an employer $16/hr.  By 2014 40k/yr or $20/hr cost $35/hr.  So I quit my job and formed Shady tints.  I set up different shops with a 60/40 split originally,  switched to flat rate when issues arose.   Starting your own business is the American dream,  just not for everyone.  You will be the first in, the last out and last one to get paid if there is anything to pay you.  You have to be a sales specialist,  easiest lowest paid or hardest highest paid job there is.  Inventory, advertising and accounting skills are necessary.  You are responsible for everything including your employees and their future.  Gross profit, gross margins and tracking average cost per delivery and sales projections.   Bit more then most realize.  I know many that have succeeded and many that failed.  I suggest a little soul searching before making the leap.    

contests are not a crock,  full of great information to learn.   clean, prep and clean up almost anyone do,  so why do it your self?

I hired an assistant to do the basics.  saved 1/3 on time for install.  increased sales with extra time with minimal cost.  made more money, did less work and was not tired at the end of the day.  its the American way  LOL

how bout a picture of where you tint.

dots in the film spread out is water or air problem.   patches of dots or lines have many different cures depending on where they are.

water

buy a fuel filter for a lawn mower and install it on the pick up tube of your sprayer.   if you use a 3 or 5 gallon buy a car fuel filter and install it on the hose near your tank.  water test,  pour a full bottle of water through a coffee filter or paper towel.  brown filter will show the particles better.

air

buy a 20x20 fan ($20) and a 20x20 hp4 furnace filter ($3) and run it in the work area before the tint and while cutting and shrinking.   shut off when hanging film.

air test,  shut off lights at night and shine  bright flashlight across shop and air particles appear.  car headlights work for a big shop.

if you post a picture of a window you have done,  i can download and zoom to see what you are doing and offer other solutions.

never tried dirt off.  Ultrabond is a good slip and has a drying agent to help in winter months.  add a little J&J on hot humid days when more work time is needed.

peanut prone vehicles I use Pro-bond after basic cleaning to prevent them.  If I was still tinting I would consider a separate cleaner for windows to insure grease and silicone removal to prevent potential issues.

8 hours ago, Tint Slayer said:

hady, Check out one of those Energizer Headlamps that are like a flashlight on a sweatband, i got one that's 300 lumen and i don't have to put lights inside the car when i cut, the light beams are adjustable, great for inspecting as well - 

been using them,  work great for checking the vehicle before pulling it out.  for cutting I still like my 180watt 18,000 lumen work light.

no more problems with peanuts.  I use probond on the grid and frit and sticks with no issues.  strong cleaner degreaser to clean and start car, turn on defrost to heat grid before you hang if you do not have probond.  rapid tac 2 if you get peanuts,  peel back a bit and spray straight.  stuff dries quick.

Welcome to Tint dude

plenty of vids here or on youtube,  type of film, heatgun and many other factors.  have some on my channel, Rob Forbes