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I removed tint for the first time in my life this weekend. Didn't get any good pictures but I used steam to release it and acetone for cleanup. Took less than 30 minutes per window, for a total of 2.5 hours start to finish, including learning how and warming up the steamer. I felt like it was surprisingly easy. The tint shop wanted $450 just for removal. I used a professional steamer from my buddy's carpet cleaning business but a personal clothes steamer would work just as well as long as heat and steam come out of it. When we got the car in 2017, two windows had bubbling beginning at the top edge. Since then, all 5 rear windows completely failed, with large bubbles over 100% of the surface. This may have contributed to how easy it was to work with, because I hand peeled the tint from half of one window. But steam really released it and kept it from tearing. The most difficult part was the edges of the rear windows that had the black border painted on them, the tint stuck to the border better than the glass, so if I didn't heat it enough it would tear at the edge leaving a little 1/4" strip of tint buried half under the trim. The tailgate glass was the worst for this, I had to remove the inner tailgate trim to fully clean it up. By the time I did the second rear side window I had the method down and released the entire piece of tint with only one edge tear. And for that you just heat the gently caress out of it until you melt the glue and you can just wipe and the tint comes with your finger or towel. Then came glue cleanup. One guy on youtube said if you steam it right, the glue comes off with the tint. Too little heat and the tint comes off without the glue, but too much and it melts and becomes gooey. But all 5 of my windows left the glue behind no matter what I tried. Again, this may be because the glue was all dried out and non adhesive but cleaning the windows after was not difficult at all. I tried glass cleaner first and it didn't touch it. Then I tried mineral spirits which also didn't touch it. I then tried acetone and very minor rubbing dissolved the leftover adhesive. Final pass with glass cleaner and the windows look like new. The hardest part of cleaning is the edges, especially the rear door windows where they are in tracks. I still have one spot where I couldn't quite get the rag in so there's glue left behind, I need to wrap a rag around a bone tool and get in the crack with the acetone. Or I could leave cleaning to the tint shop guys, they have to do that before putting it on anyway. It sucks that the headliner is failing on this car, because I probably have to deal with it before getting it re-tinted. Otherwise a bunch of powdered foam dust is going to get on the rear cargo windows as they try to tint them. Just bumping the loose headliner cloth causes the failed foam to disintegrate and fall out.
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Feb 19, 2023 20:29
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 04:43 |
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Yeah, that's why I did the steam and not a razorblade. Also an integrated antenna on the cargo area side window.
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Feb 20, 2023 20:42
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Agreed, maybe I'm paranoid but I 100% wouldn't put anything in contact with the paint for a few weeks minimum. And definitely not something that can flap in the wind. Are you talking about just the drive from the body shop to the glass shop? Why exactly do you have to keep it dry? Can you tarp the interior? Can you remove the interior for the drive? Once it has the glass in it you're fine right?
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Mar 23, 2023 22:41
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Do you work somewhere casual? Do they have a hose hookup? When I had that problem I used to wash my car after work, east side of the building had a hose bib that employees could access and was shaded at the end of the day.
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Apr 6, 2023 15:29
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Probably the best time to hit it with ceramic coat. AFAIK that's the new hot poo poo and supposedly amazing.
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Jun 28, 2023 18:07
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 04:43 |
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Not Wolverine posted:How can I protect my paint from over spray? Don't spray it on the badge. It's a liquid, spray it on a rag away from your car, and dab it on the badge.
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Feb 1, 2024 20:09
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