Any tips on removing 10 year old window tint?

[bigrubberjeep]

Well - Not enough time for it this weekend.

[vash]

well?

[bigrubberjeep]

Other more important things need to be adressed at the moment

[bell]

steam steam steam........if it was quality tint it'll fall right off......the glue will wipe off with towels.

[movin]

Wait a minute, do the above methods work for a rear window with defrost heating strips????

[Phantom911]

They can work but most tint shops wouldn't guaranty that the defroster will work afterwards. You stand a better chance of keeping the defroster functioning if you take your time and go very slowly when peeling the tint off.

[skinnerd]

No way.... if you use a razor on the rear window, you'll actually remove or slice of the defroster wiring strips!!!! Ask me how I know that....

I know in the past, this was a real PITA job. Mainly because of the leftover glue on the window. Lots of elbow grease and 3M adhesive remover to get it off.

If some of the ideas in this thread are right, they seem much, much easier to accomplish.

Good luck.

You'll really like the look of your car w/o the tint I think!

[1974carrera]

Here's the deal: mix ammonia and water, roughly 2 or 3 tablespoons ammonia to 1 pint of water and a little dish washing soap (just enough to kill the surface tension of the water...you don't want it to be sudsy). Pick a door window or the windshield to try first 'cause that's easy to work on while you get the hang of it.

Spray the mixture on the tint and cover it with a plastic film so it clings to the wet tint (I like a black plastic trash bag that's been cut open)...the plastic keeps the mixture from drying on the tint, i.e. you want it to stay wet. You can do this inside the shop, but the older the tint, the more it helps to be in the sun while the spray mixture does its work (the black plastic helps with this also). The older the tint the longer it needs to soak...be sure it doesn't dry out...pull back the plastic and spray the tint some more if it starts to dry out, but it probably won't be necessary.

After it has soaked for awhile (could take up to an hour for really old tint; less time for newer tint) use a single edge razor blade to carefully loosen an edge of the tint. You should only need the blade to get an edge started...don't screw around with scraping and scraping. You'll know if it has soaked sufficiently because you'll be able to easily peel the tint off the glass.

If it doesn't peel off easily or if it is leaving an adhesive mess on the glass when it does peel you need to let it soak longer...spray some more mixture on it and cover it back up with the plastic film. If you resist the urge to peel the tint prematurely you'll be rewarded with almost no adhesive mess left on the glass and little hassling around scraping with a razor blade. It's pretty easy if you just let the mixture do its thing...definitely too easy to pay someone to do it. Do be careful when you do the rear window if it has defroster conductors on the inside surface. If you do the rear last you'll have the hang of how long to let it soak so you don't risk damaging them with a razor blade.

If you don't want to make up your own spray mix you can just buy the commercial version at most auto parts stores that sell tint and supplies (Autozone, Advance, etc).

Oh...never use a window cleaner with ammonia on your tint unless you want the tint to come off.

[vash]

thanks guys! i think i am going to go for it. saturday. i am helping a buddy bleed his brakes, maybe get him for some payback.

[kanihitit]

I have done this too many times. '74 Carrera is on the right track. Use the ammonia and and cheap trash bags. I typically use a stronger ammonia solution than 74's and I cover everything near the windows. My solution will stain some parts if allowed to sit. I typically set this up in the sun and remove the tint slowly with razor blades and a small steamer. Tint is two layers, if you pull it slowly and prevent it from seperating, the job will go alot easier. The steamer helps a helluva alot on older cars. The defrost strip on many older cars will peel off with the tint so be careful.


PS. Be careful with the ammonia fumes.

[bigrubberjeep]

Well, I got home with about 2 hours to burn today, before I parked her in the garage I looke din my tool chest and saw a brand new blade, a bottle of degreaser and windex along with all the cleaning supplies and 4 cloth towels.

I figured, what the heck! Let's give it a shot

I sprayed the tint with windex (alot of it) to moisten the tint and hopefully moisten it a bit.

I let it sit for about 5-10 minutes (im not that patiant)

I picked at a corner and peeled back. Whaala! The quarter window tint came off. Sticky residue was left behind so I sprayed it with windex and let it soak for 2 minutes. Then I rubbed and rubbed away. 20% of it came off, so I took my chances and sprayed some degreaser on it while protecting the door panels with towels from the over spray.

ALL OF IT CAME RIGHT OFF! It was like getting new windows.

I finished the front 1/4's and the power windows, maybe this week end I'll do the rear.

One thing I learned about the drops of degreaser that landed on the leather door pockets, "IT CLEANS THEM LIKE NEW"

about a dime size, it looked so clean that I migh concider diluting it with 50/50 water and trying it on a later date to really clean the leather from the inbeded dirt

(oh yeah, wear gloves when handlihg degreaser. My fingers are tingly!)

[1973911s]

Show us some pictures?

[bigrubberjeep]

The front is done