Any tips on removing 10 year old window tint?
 

Any tips on removing 10 year old window tint?

It's not black anymore, it's blue-ish and scratched up on the inside.

It's got to go. Last time I tried to remove tint, (other car 7 years ago) I scratched the window glass and there was a sticky film I could never remove left on the windows. (sold the car 3 weeks later as is)

Same as it was put on. Get a spritz bottle and fill it with water and a few drops of liquid detergent. Spray it down. Take a hair dryer and heat up the window. Get a corner going with a single edged razor blade. Spritz, heat, work it with the blade and peel.
I just did mine a few weeks ago. Takes some work and make sure you clean it really well before you re-tint. If that is your intention. I used 91% rubbing alcohol to do the cleaning before I reapplyed new tint.

George,

I took mine off a few months ago. I got a corner and it pealed off. I then took fantastic and it ate the glue.

You doing it tonight?

Michael

Take it to a professional, they'll take off the old tint and redo it for $150 or so.

Use a razor blade to get it started and peel it off. To remove the glue, I used Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner mixed one to one to get the glue off.

Spray soapy water all over the tint, cover it with plastic wrap to keep it soaking wet, park it in the sun for a hour or so, it will come right off along with all the glue in like 5 seconds.

I'm planning on doing it this Sunday Mike - I hear about Steve's tip of covering it with plastic, but how do you cover it with plastic from the inside? Like a cling action with the water you mean?

George,

Let me know if you want some support, need to go into the office, but should be out by 11am.

I hear you spray it, and then put a plastic bag over it, it will stay on with the water and the sun.

Michael

Thank's for the offer mike - I might take you up on that. I'll give you a ring if I get owned by the tint.

Some ting guy wanted 300 for removal and re-tint, so I had to ask him "Is that "Mahle" brand tint and are you German?" If not, im not interested"

He didn't like that question, need less to say, i have a feeling my smart ass remark just cost me th elifetime warranty on the tint job I had done by him on my other cars.

yes, it'll stick on with the water. the tint is porous and the water will pass through and soften the glue. dont do it on a cold day. The hotter the sun the better.

tint is porous? wow, learned something new everyday!

The trick to not scratching the glass is to never flip the razor blade over.

use the razor blade to start if off, and just peel away. I've used brakleen (then again, I use it for everything :D ) and acetone to remove the glue, and both worked great.

I haven't tried it, but it'll probably come off real easy if you take a heat gun to it

I used to run a tint shop and the guys used 3M adhesive remover to get the glue off in conjunction with the "spritz and peel" technique. Also, don't rush.

I'd go with either the soapy water and plastic or I also hear ammonia works wonders, most tints these days say not to use ammonia on them.

Just drink a piss load of beer. Then knock out all the glass. Blame it on the kids in the neighborhood. Call in the insurance clame. That easy! All new windows and new tint! LOL.

The trick is to use a lot of blades AND not turn them over. They only cost .06 a piece in 100 packs. I use blades on glass every day. Out in the field of the glass, you can use the same blade for awhile. Nick the edge or corner on something, toss it.

Thanks for the tips guys - I will try one window tomorrow

The worst is the rear, might want to save that for the end.

George,

How did it go?

Michael

Well - Not enough time for it this weekend.:mad:

well?

Other more important things need to be adressed at the moment

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

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

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.

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....:rolleyes:

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!:D

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.

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.

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.

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!)

Show us some pictures?

The front is done

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1095459701.jpg