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| Calm | Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
 
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Hi All,
As my existing (5 year old) hatch window tint was starting to bubble alot, I began an internet search to determine the best method of removal. I read about ALL sorts of products that CLAIM to work, most of which I tried. All failed. Through trial & error I was able to reason it through and come up with a solution. This is how it worked best for me: Basically, you'll need 3 items...... 1) Heat Gun 2) Razor Blades 3) Isopropyl Alcohol (paper towels & windex also) I first heated (heat gun set @ 75% about 4" away from tint) about 8" width of leading edge then scraped outer plastic sheet of tint about 1/2" away from glass. (Enough for a finger-hold) Then, grasping the edge of the tint I began heating again just forward of the loose tint and pulling it off slowly. If too fast (or not hot enough) the tint would rip and I'd just carry on (as above), until I had all the tint off. Some of the tint came off entirely (leaving just glue residue) but mostly, it separated away from a 'second layer' of tint. For this second layer I simply repeated the above. Next, I simply doused the remaining glue with the alcohol one area at a time....let it sit for half a minute, then scrubbed the glue off with a paper towel. Now that the glass was clear, I could see specks of tint still on, so I used the razor blade to remove, buffed the small spots of glue off with a bit more alcohol on a paper towel. Finally, I used windex to clean the smears and streaks off. Window looks factory origonal now. I like the tint, probably re-do it at some point. ***I had to be careful not to get too aggressive with the razor due to the defroster wires. Although I did find these wires to be very hearty. ***While heating the tint I would occasionaly put my hand on the opposite side of the glass to ensure glass would not become overheated and break. Hot seemed to work best for me.....warm was just too cold. No reason a good hair dryer wouldn't work, providing it gets hot enough. This took me around 2 hours total. |
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Posted on: 2008/11/25 22:13
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| jsup | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Elite Guru
 
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NIce, that can be a tough job.
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Posted on: 2008/11/25 22:30
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| PeteK | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Moderator
 
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I usually tape off the door panel, and use carb cleaner on a rag to disolve the adhesive. You have to be careful or the carb cleaner will tear off any paint it touches.
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Posted on: 2008/11/25 22:51
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| CentralCoaster | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
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Thanks!
I need to get this done, my back tint is crap and I want to repair some of the defroster wires before I take it to the tint shop. |
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Posted on: 2008/11/26 3:15
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| bogus | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Grand Imperial Pooh-Bah
 
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This is how my friend Johnny does it. He owns a tint shop in central Florida.
Carefully remove the tint. It will actually peal off if careful and old enough. After removal, use warm soapy water. He uses water and Dawn in a spray bottle and scrub it with 0000 wire wool. |
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Posted on: 2008/11/26 4:07
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| Calm | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
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Quote:
I had read about this and tried it. Didn't work in my case because, no matter how careful I was, I was only able to get a 1/2 inch piece off at a time. Plus the adhesive underneath was impervious to any chemical I tried (except the isopropyl alcohol). I tried a few different types of soap, brake cleaner, methyl hydrate, VIM, Goof Off, gasoline, Goo Gone, etc. I imagine there are different types of tints/adhesives used over the years. I can only assume that mine, for whatever reason, was a strange duck. |
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Posted on: 2008/11/26 5:40
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| j3studio | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Elite Guru
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Thanks for the post. This is going to come up over and over a otherwise clean C4s show up with ancient window tint...
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Posted on: 2008/12/16 15:44
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| bigmoe | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
 
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Calm, did you remove the back window to work on it or do it on the car?
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Posted on: 2009/12/5 3:08
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| Matatk | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Webmaster
 
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I'd say it's more work than it's worth. At least the window opens! When I removed the tint on the 79 I had to crawl into the back cargo area. Matthew |
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Posted on: 2009/12/5 13:34
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| CentralCoaster | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
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Still need to do this, argh. My tint looks like crap. I really want to stay with the cheap tint though because the metallic stuff blocks the radar detector.
Probably best not to do on a cold day though, to prevent breaking the glass. Then I have a few defroster wires to fix. I've seen a product where you mask around it and paint it on to repair the breaks. |
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Posted on: 2009/12/5 16:18
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| NC Kid | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Elite Guru
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Im ripping my tint off now. i have some glue left on the hatch and a little on each window. It's to cold to mess with it at the moment. Im hoping to get it to the tint shop within the next week or so. I got a medical exemption from the state due to my sensitivity to light. Going to get it retinted and be done with it!
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Posted on: 2009/12/5 17:23
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| Tech | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Guru Newb
 
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This is how I did it. I sprayed a zone of the hatch with Windex and covered it with a sheet of cling wrap. I covered the entire surface this way. Eight hours later I took off the cling and the tint came off in big sheets with most of the adhesive. I had to repeat the process in a few areas that had dried out over night. The remainder of the adhesive was cleaned up with Windex and paper towels.
Jeff |
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Posted on: 2010/11/4 7:10
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| Calm | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Clever, Tech! I'll remember that next time. Thanks for the tip! |
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Posted on: 2010/11/4 7:37
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| Calm | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
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Quote:
Nope. I did consider doing that at first but tried it without removing and it seemed a whole lot faster. Matthew's right.....more work than it's worth. |
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Posted on: 2010/11/4 7:41
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| Calm | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
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Quote:
Lucky you, man!  Around these parts...if you have tint you're a drug dealer. SUCKS to be from 'around here'. |
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Posted on: 2010/11/4 7:43
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| Calm | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
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[quote]
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Posted on: 2010/11/4 7:46
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1995 Forged 385 ZF6 227/234 1.6 FIC30# MSD BBK SS SLP Bullets X-Pipe DynoMax |
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| Calm | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
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[quote]
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Posted on: 2010/11/4 8:16
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1995 Forged 385 ZF6 227/234 1.6 FIC30# MSD BBK SS SLP Bullets X-Pipe DynoMax |
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| Calm | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
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Quote:
Hey Bigmoe! I'm from the peg! (25 yrs ago but who's countin' huh?) What parts you hail from? |
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Posted on: 2010/11/4 8:19
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1995 Forged 385 ZF6 227/234 1.6 FIC30# MSD BBK SS SLP Bullets X-Pipe DynoMax |
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| Calm | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
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I'm an idiot techno dweeb.
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Posted on: 2010/11/4 8:32
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1995 Forged 385 ZF6 227/234 1.6 FIC30# MSD BBK SS SLP Bullets X-Pipe DynoMax |
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| bigmoe | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
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Quote:
Brandon. |
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Posted on: 2010/11/4 14:17
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| bigmoe | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Senior Guru
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I'll just update this for my own tint removal experience. I used a hair dryer to warm my tint and remove it. The tint was coming off so good I got a little gung ho and tore it all off without warming it enough. I guess ideally if you warm it to the right temp the glue will come off with the tint as you remove it. Most of my glue was left on the glass. A pro told me to use ammonia. The ammonia worked pretty well, not instant but if you keep it wet with ammonia and use some elbow grease it comes off pretty well.
I should add I think Windex has ammonia but straight ammonia is stronger. |
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Posted on: 2010/11/4 14:23
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| Tech | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Guru Newb
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I thought about using the ammonia and garbage bag method but I didn't want to deal with straight ammonia and I didn't think that the garbage bag would stick as well as the cling wrap to the nearly horizontal surface so I opted for more soak time and less harsh chemicals with the Windex.
Tech |
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Posted on: 2010/11/4 23:17
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| 85RedSled | Re: Removing Window Tint | ||
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Guru
 
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Yeah its the ammonia in the Windex. Thats why all tint folks tell ya to NEVER clean your tinted windows with it. It cleans so well it takes the tint off.
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Posted on: 2010/12/15 0:31
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