so i want to rip off my tints since they are old and faded but i am wondering if any of you guys know of an effective way/procedure to take them off rather than just using soapy water solution and a bunch of box cutter blades?

 

any kind of steam machine...never used one personally but I need to remove the rear windshield tint on mine because its clear and the glue affects vision badly...im sure you can get one somewhere for $20-30, should allow you to pull all of the tint off cleanly if you go slow enough..

 

i see and do you think this is what tint shops use to remove old tints on their customer vehicles?

 

Yes tint shops use steam to take off the old tint.

Although, they'll even admit that the rear window can be tedious. Most tint shops won't guarantee you that they won't damage your defroster lines (as alot of times even with steam they end up having to use razor blades on the rear window too). So they'll basically tell you up front that they might end up ruining your rear defroster

Honestly though you don't even need steam to do the side windows. You can just have right at it with a razor blade. It's what I've done in the past

 

I cut black plastic bags to the shape of the windows then put soapy water on them and stuck the plastic to the windows. Let it sit in the sun for a bit and peeled it off pretty easily. This was in the summer months though.

 

James, my rear glass defroster hasnt worked for a few years cuz my 3rd gen has been through like 5 sets of tints so this will be the 6th time it'll get tints.

Gunther, ive heard of this method from a buddy of mine but didnt believe him. Im gonna have to try both methods and see which is better.

 

I'm sure a steam gun would be a bit easier just because cutting the bags out and spraying the soapy water on is a bit messy. It really worked great though and was essentially free, I don't think I even used a razor blade at all.

 

I also used the black trash bag method. worked pretty well to get that first layer off. followed that with goo-gone, and the window was nice and tint free.

also did it in the summer, though, and on a front window.

 

there is a video on youtube where this guys used a trash bag like ben said up above me and sunlight/heat to make it peel off but it requires turning the cars heat all the way up also... ill post a link if i find it again

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmNVRFY67o0 if u start at 1:33 thats what we are talking about... hope it works...

 

Might have to try that bag trick. I got two doors for my truck that have old tint on them.

I can't help but wonder why someone would need their hinting redone so many times.

 

Thanks guys. All this info provided is going to be very helpful tomorrow when i take my old tints off.

 

I did this as well but used windex (any non tint friendly window cleaner is good) And then used a razor blade with window cleaner for the subborn stuff.