How to Tint Car Windows

Tinting offers many benefits, including privacy and UV protection. You will want to assess your skills before taking on this project yourself. At the very least, you'd better be good at measuring and cutting. But this is a precision job that requires lots of practice to get it right.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Blade Eater brand tool
• Dishwashing Soap
• Spray Bottles
• Blow Dryers
• Small Sponges
• X-Acto Knives
• Men's Razor Blades
• Bone Tools
• Heat Guns
• 4-inch Squeegees
• Window Tinting Film

1. Gather the following tools and materials: tinting film, an X-acto knife, razors, a blow dryer or heat gun, 4-inch squeegees, small sponges, a 4-inch hard card or Bondo card, a bone tool, and a spray bottle filled with a mixture of dishwashing soap and water.

2. Cut the film in the shape of the windows. Set the pieces aside on a glass board or an area devoted to cut film. Some companies offer pre-cut film that you can order for specific models of vehicles.

3. Spray the side window with the soap and water mixture.

4. Use a razor to go over the side window to remove any residue.

5. Use a 4-inch squeegee to get rid of any residue from top to bottom.

6. Apply the tint to the side window. Leave 1/4 inch to 1/16 inch from the top edge of the window without tint. This will be covered when the window and door are closed.

7. Employ the bone tool and push the tint below the inner rubber seals of the window.

8. Use the hard card to make certain that the tint goes into all the corners.

9. Take a heat gun or blow dryer in one hand and a squeegee in the other, and heat from the top on one side, working the tint with the squeegee on the other side in a horizontal motion. This should get out any remaining moisture from between the film and glass.

10. Use the same procedure to apply the tint film to the front windshield. Note: In many states it is illegal to tint the front windsheild.

11. Follow steps 3 and 5 in applying the film to the rear window. Don't use the razor blade to prep the rear window because the blade can damage the rear defroster.

12. Count the number of defroster lines on the back window.

13. Cut the rear window film into the required number of panels.

14. Place the first panel on the bottom, the second panel on top of the first, the third panel on top of the second and so on. Identify the defroster line where two panels overlap.

15. Trim the film from over the defroster lines.

[ahoier]

on 11/24/2008 Comment about the pack window/panel. I've read previously (been pondering/researching this tint process for a while now for my new car lol) that the back window should definately be 1 piece.

The presence of "panels" is the work of an amateur ;) From what I've read anyways. Sure, doing it panel by panel is easier, since there's less tint to handle, but it'll be better in the end to have one piece for the back window.


BTW, anyone know the tint laws by state...? Perhaps links could be added pertaining to that. Not that any states actually "enforce" tint that is too dark....but ya never know....lol. It'll just give the officer/inspections another item to "check"...

[brotherdav3]

on 4/13/2007 Just finished rear side windows with axius from wally world for $12.88. Does the rear window HAVE to be done in panels? OR, can it be done in one piece?

[wastedyupi]

on 3/7/2007 You dont need a Pro.. (but yes it is a hard job the cutting is not hard, is getting the bubbles out, just get a squeegee use soap on both sides and star guetting the bubbles out You will need a lot of patience, you will waste like 2 to 3 boxes of tint until yo get it right, at lest there cheap

on 9/16/2006 By far the best application solution is a mixture of 70% rubbing alcohol and distilled water (or tap water if it's clean) with a mix ratio of half and half.

on 8/26/2006 I wasn't convinced that my wife's blow dryer would do the trick, but I was willing to try anything to avoid a repeat of my previous tint removal experience (nightmare, really, involving hours of scraping away with a window scraper and cleaning up the scattered mess of shredded tint).

Not only did the blow dryer do the trick, it worked like a charm. After lifting a corner of the tint up with the window scraper the blow dryer worked its magic, allowing me to slowly but easily peel the tint right off.

After ten minutes of patiently peeling, the tint was gone. No sticky residue left on the windows and almost no mess to clean up. I highly recommend it!