It works! Window Tint Removal

[Danny_Ocean]

I had been scratching my head/nuts for a year trying to determine the best way to remove the fading window tint on my car. Most here had mentioned the "ammonia & black plastic" method, but I was skeptical. Trying to peel this stuff off was impossible and a razor blade made little progress. How the heck is a little ammonia gonna take this stuff off?

So today, I figgered...what the heck...I'll give it a try.

Let me say, the results are amazing! The tinting peeled like panties off a stripper. No glue, no nothing. There was a little left over on the edges where the ammonia didn't get a chance to soak, but the razor/windex took care of that.

Those of you similarly situated...don't wait! Just do it...

http://www.tintdude.com/remove.html

[Komenda Fan]

Good to hear, I just need a hot day and the time to get it done...I can't wait, I think it will make a drastic improvement to my cars looks, once I get rid of the tint.

[Danny_Ocean]

Not sure how much the heat has to do with it, but it was 100F here today. I'm sure that sped up the process...I waited 45 mins. before peeling.

[mark 74 carrera]

Would you consider tinting again? Did you remove due to its condition or do you not like the look of tinted windows?

Mark

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by mark 74 carrera

Would you consider tinting again? Did you remove due to its condition or do you not like the look of tinted windows?

Mark

My car is all blacked-out, so yes, I will probably get them tinted again. The tinting was installed by the PO and, as with everything else he did on the car, it was the cheap stuff....turning purple, bubbles, distorted.

I had tinting installed on one of my work vans that is at least 10 yrs. old and it still looks good. I recall paying top-dollar for it back then. When I have the car tinted again, I will be sure of the quality of the tint.

[VroomGrrl]

Originally Posted by Danny_Ocean

I had been scratching my head/nuts for a year trying to determine the best way to remove the fading window tint on my car. Most here had mentioned the "ammonia & black plastic" method, but I was skeptical. Trying to peel this stuff off was impossible and a razor blade made little progress. How the heck is a little ammonia gonna take this stuff off?

So today, I figgered...what the heck...I'll give it a try.

Let me say, the results are amazing! The tinting peeled like panties off a stripper. No glue, no nothing. There was a little left over on the edges where the ammonia didn't get a chance to soak, but the razor/windex took care of that.

Those of you similarly situated...don't wait! Just do it...

http://www.tintdude.com/remove.html

Hello! I know I'm resurrecting an oldish post, but this is going to be my first winter project. Must get the crappy tint off my windows. Distortion out the back is dangerous, and the sides just look like hell.

So my question - and I have read the other posts & link you provided - did you have rear defroster lines to deal with? If so, how did that go for you? Any tips for that part? That's the only aspect of this that worries me.

[the]

This method works great, I've done it several times.

You don't need to worry about the defroster lines. The tint will peel right off, leaving a spotless clean glass behind.

The main thing is to just get good coverage with the ammonia, and let it soak a bit (20-30 minutes will do it on a warm day). If you do that, you won't have a speck of residue left, just peel and go.

[VroomGrrl]

Originally Posted by the

This method works great, I've done it several times.

You don't need to worry about the defroster lines. The tint will peel right off, leaving a spotless clean glass behind.

The main thing is to just get good coverage with the ammonia, and let it soak a bit (20-30 minutes will do it on a warm day). If you do that, you won't have a speck of residue left, just peel and go.

Great! That's what I was hoping to hear. It's only getting into the 50s here now, not sure that'll be warm enough to melt everything. I'll have to be on the lookout for some warmer days (they always come down here until January or so). Hopefully we'll get a few more days in the 80's and I will go for it. Thanks!

[MIK911]

That's good to know--that it works well.
I've been contemplating this for awhile, but didn't want to get stuck in the middle with partially removed tint

[oneblueyedog]

Originally Posted by danny_ocean

the tinting peeled like panties off a stripper.

http://www.tintdude.com/remove.html

lol.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

All I ever used was a heat gun.

[Jayt]

I removed the tint with a steamer designed for removing wrinkles from clothes. I bought the steamer at "Bed Bath and Beyond" for $29.00. To me it was money well spent.

It worked fast (three windows in less than 20 minutes) and left no residues. You work the steam over the tint from the inside of the car and the tint peels off the window in one big sheet. No worries about the rear window defroster grid either.

You only have to take care not to scald your fingers when you start peeling the tint.

[VroomGrrl]

Originally Posted by Jayt

I removed the tint with a steamer designed for removing wrinkles from clothes. I bought the steamer at "Bed Bath and Beyond" for $29.00. To me it was money well spent.

It worked fast (three windows in less than 20 minutes) and left no residues. You work the steam over the tint from the inside of the car and the tint peels off the window in one big sheet. No worries about the rear window defroster grid either.

You only have to take care not to scald your fingers when you start peeling the tint.

Did you have a brake light assembly on the inside of the window to deal with? If so, did you remove it, or work around it?

[Jayt]

I did not have a brake light assembly to work around. I most recently did this (in September) on my daughter's VW Cabrio and removed tint from the two back passenger windows, as well as the rear window. The rear window is glass with a window defroster and it was undamaged by this process.

I suppose that removal of the brake light assembly would depend on if the tint was installed in-between the glass and the light, or just cut around the outline of the Brake light assembly. Either way, the steamer gets the tint off with minimal effort and no residue on the glass....and no need to work with what I expect would be smelly ammonia solutions. The steamer does make this process very simple.

[VroomGrrl]

Originally Posted by Jayt

I did not have a brake light assembly to work around. I most recently did this (in September) on my daughter's VW Cabrio and removed tint from the two back passenger windows, as well as the rear window. The rear window is glass with a window defroster and it was undamaged by this process.

I suppose that removal of the brake light assembly would depend on if the tint was installed in-between the glass and the light, or just cut around the outline of the Brake light assembly. Either way, the steamer gets the tint off with minimal effort and no residue on the glass....and no need to work with what I expect would be smelly ammonia solutions. The steamer does make this process very simple.

Thanks so much for your input. This is what I see out of my rear window at dusk:



I am going to pick up a steamer and give this method a try.

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by VroomGrrl

Great! That's what I was hoping to hear. It's only getting into the 50s here now, not sure that'll be warm enough to melt everything. I'll have to be on the lookout for some warmer days (they always come down here until January or so). Hopefully we'll get a few more days in the 80's and I will go for it. Thanks!

Next summer, you'll wish you still had that tint on there. I helps alot in reducing the cabin heat temps .......A/C will never keep up.

[Jayt]

I removed the tint for the same reason. Backing up at night was a guessing game! The dark tint made it impossible to see out any of the rear windows.

The summer heat is more forgiving where I live, so off with the tint!

[the]

While the ammonia method works great, I'll try the steamer next time. The downside to working with undiluted ammonia is it is really foul smelling, if you catch a whiff of it it can be enough to knock you down! You also have to be careful to not get it into the interior.

[VroomGrrl]

Originally Posted by mthomas58

Next summer, you'll wish you still had that tint on there. I helps alot in reducing the cabin heat temps .......A/C will never keep up.

Having driven this car home from Houston in July, I can tell you that I would rather be able to see at night!

The AC in this car sucks regardless. I may get a better tint job at some point later but only if the technology has really improved so that night visibility is not so compromised as with my current tint.

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by Jayt

I removed the tint for the same reason. Backing up at night was a guessing game! The dark tint made it impossible to see out any of the rear windows.

Visibility is bad when backing up even without tint. That's why I installed a back-up camera.

Back-up Camera on a 911?