Dano

The guy you work for sounds like a chief manipulator. Not a chance would I stay anywhere for that crap. If you write the checks you can keep the rest and he can find another bitch to starve out while he pretends to give a fuk. If you leave tomorrow the dealers still need an installer. Become a vendor, don't line up to be someone else's workslave because you're scared you can't write the checks, when the money runs out he won't write one either. Selling you fear is manipulation. It's how D-bag's get you to stay subservient. My answer was always 'fukit I'm already hungry, I'm going to put a roll of film in the car and shake the trees. Whatever I find is mine and I'll do it again tomorrow until I can find a shop space thats disused next to a garage or tire shop. I have a friend local who just did exactly that a few days ago leaving the absentee pimp...er...owner to let him find another set of sweetcheeks to leave a handprint on. Please read or even watch 'your next five moves' from Patrick Bet David on youtube. Best 10min you're going to spend today.

That's one of the reasons I'm not always a fan of running a keg. I like to change the mix on the fly. Big swings in weather combined with a few euro cars in the schedule doesn't always suit one mix. With that said I do tend to run 7th Generation Free/Clear dishsoap in the winter and switch to JnJ for more slide in the summer.

Have you tried to add more soap until it stops tacking?

I doubt it. FG film generally doesn't shrink to fit and the adhesive likely won't hold. You could always give it a whirl and tell us what happens, we might all be missing out on something.

When I was in retail I would have them sign on to a mechanical lein attached to their invoice before starting and ask 'how would you like to pay?' Collecting payment before service stopped all the bickering after the job was done. If they cancel the check/card they would get a call that I would file with local cops for theft of services. Any check above $300 is in felony fraud territory in most areas. Actually had one guy come back really hot as he was dropping off a check asking me to call off the dogs. I told him if this check clears he won't get bit.

+1 The best value for $ is the Global HP from express imo. It is easy to shrink and handles great when installing. 20% is usually the most requested flavor. Find some older Honda's and pickups to practice on. Good luck and welcome to the industry.

Hard to identify the particular brand but if you want the best quality in regards to general heat/IR reduction I would shop for a ceramic film in one of the following for a neutral charcoal look: Xpel Global Formula One Llumar 3M These are in no particular order. Some may not be available in your area depending on which shops choose to align with their preferred brands. All of the above in a ceramic should last for the life of your vehicle ownership. Thank you for supporting the top line of our industry. It's what drives the manufacturers to advance product improvements.

Just about every brand will have offerings from "just put it on there" up to "I want the best". Something middle of the road, up to a little better than average is where most land at the end of the sale. Especially if you only keep it for a few years or don't spend much time behind the wheel. Before you purchase go take a look at the jobs on the lot, check the reviews and ask yourself " is this a place that I would send my wife/daughter/grandmother alone?" Not all shops or areas are created equal.

Take off the door panel and fix it. Local glass shop could help if you don't want to break something yourself getting it off of there.

Oh boy, RnR time this week for some local hotrodders. Dang car had so much compression the starter would barley turn it. I don't know what was under the hood but it was angry. Neighbors came by to see wth I was working on after hearing it. Yes, I still need to paint the shop...shhhh!

I guess their not wrong about the markups. Sounds a little salty tho. Some folks will gladly pay the markup just to not deal with chasing down a tech and having a solid door to walk in if something heads south. I know a guy doing some of the pdr claims on the east coast. He says if people remember that they bought coverage that it's not a terrible deal, especially if they wait till trade in time. The writer should look at the markup on insulin or sunglasses if he really wants something to complain about.

My first plotter was a 24" roland. Ran it steady for about 10yrs even after I had upgraded to a 64". People would laugh at the jobs I managed to pull off that little machine. I was laughing as well, all the way to the bank. Glad to see someone with hustle getting theirs, play on Player and watch out for the fools drinking the hater-ade. Those loosers can stay thirsty. This came off that machine in '04 when I first got it. Here's where I was still using it as a mobile unit in a work trailer in '16.

Thanks TD. It's like building a boat in a bottle sometimes. I just go at it slow... A guy told me years ago...."Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. If you want to go fast, slow down."

Turbo Jag coupe yesterday. Aluminum skin that has been repainted so no glue pulling and minimal knockdown work since I was worried it could flake. Since I didn't know who painted it I didn't want to chance it. The recolor didn't look great going in so I proceeded with caution. Luckily I found an access hole behind the plastic door sill trim that I could get a thin, sharp, pick tool into. Texas Toothpick from Finesse if you're wondering. Awesome set, great for aluminum and general hail dents. I got it pushed out to here in about 30min. Then spent another 20min just pushing clean up. Happy customer!

I personally wouldn't bother with the dentking classes. The only class that I found reputable when I was looking was Marty Runick at Top Gun PDR. He's got some straight ahead vids that arn't loaded with "buy my crap" and has been training techs for decades. Dent Barron on youtube has some good vids on the realities of day to day operation and good repair practices. He also has a few on how he got into the industry. The "dent trainer"...lol, was a complete waste of $$. Basically sign up, and pay, to watch a giant infomercial and learn very little. Some of the best vids are the Russians with no english. Complete repair process from start to finish, no gimmicks, super basic tools. The only way that worked for me was to take an unpaid apprenticeship for 4.5 months and dive into complete shop operations from estimating, repairs and to see the differences in metal, paint and access from career technicians. If you spend some real time deep in the environment you can get a better understanding of how the industry works and sus out which niche you want to occupy. This aspect was just as important for me as the repair itself. Alot of people in the dent industry have never touched a tool, but know how to write a good estimate and satisfy the pushers and the claim adjusters. The industry is bigger than you might think.

I'll wear one in pink but I draw the line at v-necks

90% on a rag to wipe the edges before installing. My normal mix for just pulling grease off an open area is 50%. I wax the ppf to moisturize the material, and to make it easy to clean later. I don't want any chemicals splashing up off the road trying to stain a dry film, especially if it's hot outside. I want my customers satisfied so I put in the best practices I know to make sure the job looks good on delivery and after they get home.

I would use a 90% iso wipe and stick the emblem. A fine machine polish and iso wipe would also be ok. The glue on the emblems is pretty aggressive, I wouldn't worry about it lifting. I use 90%iso on a rag for my edge prep as well. It can and will burn/etch the surface, you've been warned. As a precaution I'll usually wipe any fresh ppf with a pure carnuba wax a few hours after install. Sometimes the film is pretty dry on the surface. I do it as a preventive measure in case it gets splatted with tar or a big bugs, I want it to be easy to clean for the customer and hopefully not stain the material.

I generally use Seventh Generation Free and Clear during the cooler months because it doesn't have a bunch of unnecessary filler in it and doesn't dry out my skin. Probably 5ml per bottle, more or less depending on how it tacks. Hot weather months I use baby shampoo because it has a higher wax content to slow down the tacking. Also the pump up bottles are over rated. The geometry puts too much pressure on my hands if I use one all day. The el-cheapo zep bottles at HD are my favorite. As @Tintguy1980 says rince em out if you're not using them everyday otherwise wax will settle and build up, getting stuck in the trigger especially. I'll keep mine flushed and filled back up with plain water, but I also run em out daily.

It's also possible that the prior owner had some film removed before turning it back in. If they are on the outside I would likely rule out the shop was at fault. No reason to blade the outside really. Scratches always get more noticed once tint is applied because of the darker contrast.

Can you feel them with a fingernail? Are the on the interior or exterior?

Mobile is about the worst situation for a new tinter. Apprentice for a local retail shop, in one stationary spot, until you figure it out if you are thinking of making any income from your efforts

Felt doesn't have enough rigidity to push out the water....and it scratches by the time you start trying to lay pressure on it.

Just rince it and let it dry. I wouldn't use it for installs. 90%chance it will scratch the film anyway. For installs, I could use this basic few tools all day and not really need much else. The yellow turbo is a "dark yellow". It's softer than the standard yellow that seems to leave chalk marks on everything. If you want to spen a few more bucks to get some more leverage and cleaner sweeps the orange crush is pretty forgiving. These are the random tools I reach for when shrinking. The top left sphear I used for 15ish years and just snapped it a few days ago. The grey card below it is probably my favorite unless I'm shrinking something big. Works great for doors and light curved rears. Below it is a random bondo spreader with a strip of ptfe tape(amazon). The other two are cards that I just put monkey/bananna strips on. Nobody needs all that crap. Any one of those would work fine, even the one I snapped.

You are correct. I'm on hp and ceramic. The carbons are under my usual preference, mainly for how it handles. I'm sure it does what it says.