Window tinting is one of the reasons for an emergency on the road – this is what the traffic police think. It is forbidden to tint the front and side windows of the car because this reduces the visibility of the motorist and his/her control over the situation on the road.
The traffic rules stipulate the fines resulting from the operation of a vehicle with tinted windows. To avoid them, it is necessary to remove the tint if you have it in the car. Find out how to remove window tint with a hair dryer successfully.
Removing the tinting is quite simple, but you won’t be able to quickly get rid of the film. Therefore, you have to be patient. But in the end, your efforts will pay off: you get a pretty neat and tinted glass.
Steps You Should Follow to Remove Tint with the Help of a Hair Dryer
Not every driver wants to pay quite a significant amount of money to a car service for such an insignificant procedure as removing tinting. Moreover, it is quite possible to do it yourself. The main thing here is to follow a few guidelines. What tools will you need?
- A sharp knife with a thin blade (you can use a clerical knife to cut paper).
- A hair dryer (it’s great if you have the one used in construction, but if you don’t have such a tool, you can use a usual hair dryer everyone has at home).
- Any liquid detergent (for dishes or for cleaning kitchen surfaces).
- A spray gun.
- Napkins or rag.
The detergent must be slightly diluted with water and poured into a spray bottle. Next, you need to take a hairdryer and direct the hot air onto the tint.
In addition, excessive heat can damage the plastic parts of the machine and even cause the glass to crack from temperature extremes. The latter can easily happen if you remove tint in the cold enough weather.
After some time of treatment with a hairdryer, the glue on which the tint is held will soften. Then you can proceed to the direct removal of the window tint.
To do this, take a knife and pick up the edge of the film. It’s nice if someone can help you. The glass can quickly become cold, and the glue hardens again. In this case, you will have to repeat the procedure with a hairdryer.
If one more person was involved, he/she could constantly hold the hairdryer, preventing the glue from sticking tightly to the glass again.
So, if you work in two, you can follow the tips below.
- Turn on the hair dryer and start using it to heat the tint from the edge, from which you plan to start removing it;
- Ask your friend to hook the edge of the tint with any sharp tool and peel it off the glass;
- Further, it is necessary that one person maintains a temperature of about 40 degrees Celsius in the area that is being removed, and the second one at this moment must pull the tint off the glass.
Please, note that during operation, the warm jet of the hair dryer does not touch the rubber and plastic parts of the passenger compartment, which can be damaged by exposure to high temperatures.
After the tint is completely removed from the glass, it is necessary to wash it from glue residues using a special detergent with acetone. In the event that the remnants of the glue can be easily removed without exposure to acetone, it is enough to clean the glass with a clean cloth.
Things You Need to Keep in Mind Not to Damage the Glass
After the tint has been removed, inspect the glass. It is likely to leave glue stains on it. To remove them, take the detergent solution prepared earlier. Start sprinkling it on the glass and wiping it down with a napkin or a rag.
Most of the glue should come off soon. If individual stains are still present, try washing them off with undiluted alcohol or gently scraping them off with a knife.
The rear window of a car is often equipped with a heater, which should prevent the formation of ice. It is a series of lines of electrically conductive material applied directly to the glass.
To avoid the repair of the heated rear window, the following rules must be observed when removing the tint:
- Use only the heating method for removing the tint film;
- Do not make any sudden movements and remove the film very carefully;
- When cleaning the glass from glue residues, do not overdo it and try to touch with a rag only those areas where the heater conductors are not located.
It is quite simple to remove the tinting yourself if you perform this action following the tips listed above. Having removed the tint in a hurry, it will take a lot of effort to clean up the remnants of the glue and tint.
