Just Finished my first tint..... now for the ???

June 21, 2003

ok, ive been reading around here for a bit on the best way to tint rear windows, because I always wanted to try it myself but never really knew how. anyways, I went out and tinted the back window on my 92 civic hatch and now I have some questions about the problems I ran into in the process:

1. After I overlapped two sections of tint and cut them, what is the best way to get the cut pieces off of the window. One side always seemed to stick to the bigger chunk of tint real bad. Not enough soapy water or what?? I dont really know.

2. On a few parts, I screwed up as many new guys do and ended up with a small tear on the seams that I made on the defrost lines. Is there any way to fix these??

Well its late and I know I had more questions so I will ask them later. Ill tell you one thing though, I have a total new respect for those of you that tint windows all the time. I now know for myself that it is a real pain in the a$$ and takes a ton of skill. Thank you in advance for your answers to my questions!!

June 21, 2003

Just remembered: 3. Whats the easiest way to get the liner to peel off??? To get it started at least??....man that was a real pain!!

pierce8468 · June 21, 2003

sorry but im still half drunk. so ill only answer your last? . the easyist way would be to take two pieces of tape. one on each side of the film at the corners. fold the ends of the tape over a little. to give your self a pull tab. and just pull them apart. the film and the liner will seperate

June 21, 2003

JP,

I think you're off to a good start here. You tried it first, then you come to the boards to ask questions because you know what you're asking. I don't tint cars anymore, but I know the other board members will respect your thread more than others who come in here to ask first, then try tinting. But try not to count on too much respect. :lol6 j/k man. Good luck!

TintDude · June 21, 2003

1. try a bit more soap, also dont squeegee the seam very hard until after the pieces are out, also don't wait a long time.

2. always work with sharp blades, and keep the angle low, so that it cuts and doesn't tear the film. Theres really no good way to fix a tear.

3. make sure the film is on a wet surface, liner side up, dont try to hold the film and peel the liner if thats what you were doing. You can do the tape thing, or you can separate the liner using your teeth (nibble the corner right on the edge, and move your teeth foreward and backwards once or twice and the liner will separate, it's tricky at first but once you get the hang of it, you wont leave any marks on the film where you bit it.

pierce8468 · June 21, 2003

ok a little more sober now so ill help you out more. im not realy sure what you mean by the film sticking to each other. my only guess would be that you mean . when you try to take it off the glass. it seeems to be stuck allready. my guess is your taking to long to cut and it is drying on you.but dont worry about that speed will come with practice. as far as ripping the film. the best you can hope for is heating it down. but it will still be visible.your problem is when your cutting .your not cutting all the way through both pieces. more than likley using a dull blade. when it comes to tint the blade should be as sharp as a scalpel. brake your tip off before cutting along the line

June 21, 2003

Yep. :mrgreen: Peeling the liner...I make sure I have a new tip on my knife and hold down the corner I want to peel with my finger. Then flick the corner of the film and slide the blade in between the liner and the film. Gotta be a sharp tip to work. Kinda hard to describe. If that don't get it... I bite it like TD.

And I never cut directly on the vehicle window...well if I do it's real carefully and with a brand new stainless steel blade. The cheap blades will cut the glass... :lol6 and so will a stainless if it's not sharp. I draw it first with a sharpie on the film with a light inside the vehicle so I can see what I'm doing, then take it to the table and cut on my Invisiseam. It's a flat piece of sheet metal and it has a strip magnet you lay on the line you drew and then cut right along the magnet thru both pieces of film. Do they still make those?

Mdog · June 21, 2003

like td said dont squeege over the seam that will make the tint stick to itself, I squeege the film out but not over the overlapped pieces. when I am cutting a seam I start on the left hand side and go across as far as I can, I make one continuious cut all the way to the other side as far as I can, then I come from the right to the left and meet up with the long continuous cut, you dont want to start, then stop start then stop, you will get a jacked up cut like that, so make your cuts as long and continuious as possible.