How To: Window tint removal

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VeeDub
Posts: 239
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:08 pm

How To: Window tint removal

Post by VeeDub »

I did some web searching on how to do this and got different answers. This worked so well for me I figured I would share this with everyone.

Items needed:
1. Heat gun
2. Single edge razor blade with holder (holder is optional)
3. Gunk Or similar Engine cleaning solvent
4. Wood clamp
5. Simple green
6. Card board sheet
7. Rags
8. Putty Knife
Step 1 : Remove the glass from car. I suppose you could do it in the vehicle. But this process could get a litlle messy.
2. Place the cardboard on your work bench to protect the glass from scratches and the bench from the solvent.
3. Clamp the glass down(not much pressure here, just so it won't move around) tint side up and support the opposite end with some rags between the glass and cardboard.

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4. The tint seems to be made of two thin sheets, the inner one has an adhesive. the outer the color. Starting in the corner heat that area and get the razor blade under both layers, this will make things much easier. Once a couple of inches is lifted with the razor, than you can start using your fingers.

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5. Patients is key at this point. I had the Heat gun set @ 6 out of 10 and eventually bumped up to 8 on the dial. If I was using a heat gun with a adjustable air intake I would try a leaving the vent open about 1/3. There needs to be enough heat to reactivate the adhesive but not so much that the tint melts. Letting the gun do the work, move it back and forth a few inches in front of the area your peeling. If your pulling the tint to hard and it tears, you need more heat. The window pictured took me about 10 minutes...Or roughly about 3 songs on the radio.

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6. Chances are that once the tint is removed there will be a few areas where the adhesive remained. This is easy to remove also. Just spray some of the engine cleaner on the left over adhesive and let it sit for a few minutes and let the solvent do its thing. There are many different types of solvents that could be used - Kerosene, Mineral spirits, etc. etc. I chose the engine cleaner for a few reasons. 1. It wont flash off quickly or evaporate to rapidly - you will need some working time. 2.It will act as a lubricant for the razor when you start scraping . 3. Its colored so I could see it easily and 4. I just happened to have it :D
7. Scrape that junk off. On my second window, the tint was already torn so I had to scrape about 80% of the window. That took about 10 minutes also.

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Just about finished....

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8. I used a putty knife like it was a dust pan to pick up the ball of goop.
9. Degrease glass with simple green.
10. Final cleanup with glass cleaner. Reinstall the glass.
Finished...this was incredibly easy to do. I was assuming that the tint was going to be difficult to remove but it wasn't. I suspect that the hardest part is actually removing the glass from the vehicle (mine was easy!). I guess one could leave the glass in and take certain steps to protect the interior from the solvent and heat, but that is up to you.
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