3 ways to remove old tinted glass

Many car enthusiasts tint their car windows. This gives a number of advantages: improves the appearance, protects the interior from prying eyes and sun rays on a hot day. But at least for various reasons, drivers need to remove the tint. The coating must be removed without consequences and traces on the glass. You can do this yourself with the help of available tools.

The main reasons for withdrawal

There can be many reasons, consider the most basic:

1. Wear of tinting. Depending on the quality, the glued film lasts for a certain time. The edges may come off and bend or break. Poorly glued tinting can bubble. This becomes the first reason for removal.
2. Inconsistency with GOST. The rear hemisphere can be tinted completely. It is not prohibited. But the requirements for transparency are imposed on the windshield and front side windows (at least 70 and 75% for the windshield). If they are not met, the traffic police inspector has the right to demand that such coverage be removed.
3. Technical necessity. If chips appear on the glass, then it needs to be repaired or replaced. The tint has to be removed.
4. At your own request. The driver may simply not like the tinting. I would like to replace it with a better quality film or change the level of darkness. Also, after buying a car in the secondary market, you may not like the tinting made by the previous owner.

How not to do

Before talking about the methods of withdrawal, it is worth saying how not to do this. It seems that it is not difficult to remove the cover. In many ways, this is the case, but it is better to follow a few rules:

1. Do not use heavy sharp objects such as a knife or scissors. They can scratch the glass and tear off the film with shreds.
2. Do not use strong chemicals. Acetone or another strong substance dissolves the coating, rather than cleaning it, that is, it leaves it firmly on the glass. They can also easily damage the body paint or rubber seals.

Ways to remove tint

Tint film removal methods may vary depending on the finish and type of finish. Let's consider several options.

By heating

An effective and popular method for removing film. It is known that in a heated state, the glue becomes more viscous, which means that it changes its properties and the coating is removed.

To heat up, you need to arm yourself with a hairdryer. An industrial hair dryer is ideal, but a regular household one will do. In addition to the hair dryer, you can use any other tool that will heat the glass surface.

It is worth mentioning the precautions right away. An industrial hair dryer can heat the film so much that it melts. This cannot be allowed. Sticky tape is much more difficult to remove. You also need to first remove rubber seals and other decorative elements.

Next, we will consider the process of removing the film using heating in stages:

1. Prepare glass. Remove sealing gum, other elements, if any. Lower the glass slightly to fold back the edge of the film.
2. Then heat the glass surface evenly with a hairdryer. High temperature is not required. The glue begins to melt already at 40 ° C. Then you can pry off the edges of the film with the blade.
3. After heating, gently pry off the edge of the film with a sharp object (blade or utility knife) and slowly begin to remove the coating. It is important to maintain constant uniform heating. Better to do this with an assistant. In the process of work, traces of glue may remain on the glass. Then it can be washed with detergent or gently scraped off.

This method is quite effective. Many people use heating, but there are some disadvantages. If the surface is overheated, the film will easily melt. It will be more difficult to remove it later. Also, the glass itself can crack from overheating if there is a sharp temperature drop. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out work in a warm room.

Without heating

If for some reason a hair dryer was not at hand, you can try to remove the tint without heating. To do this, use an ordinary dish detergent, which is found in every home, or a soap solution.

Before work, you should arm yourself with a rag, blade or small scraper, take old newspapers, prepare a solution.

Let's consider the whole process in stages:

1. Prepare a soapy solution. Pure detergent will not work. It is necessary to make a solution with the calculation of 30-40 ml of the product per 1 liter of water. Pour the resulting liquid into a sprinkler (conventional spray). Then you need to apply the solution to the edges of the film and begin to slowly pull it together. The agent is applied not to the outer, but to the inner surface of the film. Therefore, it is worth prying the edges with a blade or scraper.
2. Simultaneously with the application of the solution, it is necessary to pry off the film with a knife blade and pull it off. This must be done carefully so as not to tear the coating, otherwise everything will have to start over. If necessary, you can spray with the solution and leave for a few minutes to allow the liquid to corrode the adhesive.
3. After removing the film, moisten the old newspaper with the solution and apply it to the glass for a few minutes. Then remove the newspaper and remove the remaining glue with a detergent.
4. Good glue may not give in, and you won't be able to remove it with a knife without scratching. How best to remove glue residues is described in the article below.
5. After finishing work, wipe the glass dry. Make sure there is no glue residue left.

By chemical means

Some chemicals do a great job of removing tint. For example, ammonia or ammonia.

Ammonia is guaranteed to remove both old and new coatings from glass. Even the toughest glue won't resist. This method is often used in the United States. The algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. Moisten the glass surface with soapy water and then apply ammonia. Work should be carried out in protective gloves and a mask. It must be remembered that this substance belongs to potent poisons and is the strongest solvent.
2. After applying ammonia to the glass, you need to attach a plastic bag on top, also on the other side of the glass. This is done so that the ammonia vapors do not evaporate quickly, but do their job.
3. Then leave the glass in the sun for a while to warm it up. Under the influence of heat and ammonia, the film will begin to detach on its own.
4. It remains to remove the film.

Traces of glue may remain on the glass, it can be easily removed with a solution of detergent. Pure ammonia is not used. Ammonia is its solution, which is used to remove toning.

Removing the tinting from the rear window

It is necessary to say separately about the removal of the coating from the rear window, since there are heating threads on it. You can also use an aqueous detergent solution or heating to clean the rear window. The main thing is not to scrape the glass surface or damage the threads. Liquid ammonia is also good for this.

What is the best way to remove glue residues?

Various substances are suitable for high-quality glue removal:

• gasoline (first you need to dilute a little with water and make sure that there are no streaks);
• alcohol (cleans up glue remnants well);
• Ammonia or ammonia (a powerful solvent that will keep the glass clean)
• soapy water or detergent (removes simple glue, but may not cope with expensive ones);
• various solvents (they clean well, but at the same time they can spoil the glass surface, for example, acetone).

Removing the tint from the glass will not be difficult if you apply the right tools. The most difficult thing is to remove the cover on the road after being stopped by the traffic police. They can demand this right on the spot. The rest is within the power of everyone. You can also contact the professionals at any service center.