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Thanks for your perspective! I ordered some tint slime products yesterday, going to test them out this week. I tried tintslip recently and didn't find it to be very good. Do you use the original tint slime or the ultra? And for your distilled water do you get it in 1 gallon jugs or big water cooler sized jugs?

You are correct in thinking that distilled will be better than DI. Distilled will have less contaminants just because of how it's made. Di water could "possibly" still have some solid contaminates in it. Can't speak 100% on this yet as I use only distilled at the moment. I am considering having a DI system installed soon and will have to see how that goes and if it changes anything. I would love to have a distilling machine but they are sooooo expensive. This is also the other side of the problem with distilled. The machine to do it is rather expensive and also rather difficult to maintain as far as cleaning what it is removing. In most cases we just buy distilled in gallons or like you said, have it delivered in bulk. Owning a distilling machine is not feasible for most small shops. I do believe you will see much better results using distilled water. No baby shampoo. BOO!!!! Using distilled water and baby shampoo will cause the baby shampoo to separate in you bottles or sprayers if it sits on the shelf just a little too long. I would recommend something made for what you are doing. I use TintSlime but that is just my preference. I know a lot people who like Fusion All Type also. But anything from a supplier would be better than baby shampoo or dish soap in my opinion.

I run a one man shop and do both tint and PPF. I have been struggling with inconsistent results with both products and I think I've narrowed it down to the tap water I use. I just ordered a TDS meter to see how bad my water really is, but in the meantime I am going to use distilled water to see if that helps get more consistent results with my installs (I'm sure it will). I am moving into a new shop next month and I have been looking into water filtration systems, Deionized vs distilled, etc. Can anyone here chime in on what they use and which is better? I watched a video where Mike Norg shows his DI system and he says that is all his business uses. When doing some research it looks like distilled might actually have less contaminants in it though? I was thinking of buying a DI filtration system for washing cars and mixing slip solutions but now I'm on the fence and might just use distilled. It looks like distilled water is harder to make myself so I am looking into having one of the local water delivery companies bring in the big jugs every couple weeks but then that presents another problem of how to dispense it quickly, storing the big jugs, etc. I would love to hear what other shops use, and what their set ups look like for max efficiency. Also is everyone still just using J&J? Tint Slime products? Trying to get a recipe for success before moving into the new shop. Thanks!!

Hey man thanks so much for all this information - I’m gathering that Global is a film that I should check out. I’m glad I found this website it’s an amazing community, and I’ll have more questions for you guys down the line for sure. Until then 🫡

3M has come a long way if you haven't used it in years. 3M Obsidian replaced the FX series, which is a higher-quality, color-stable film, whereas FX had some failures. 3M Color Stable (confusing name) is a Carbon film that is amazing but is pricey for a film that does not block much heat. 3M Ceramic IR is my favorite film on the lineup—great color and amazing performance. Everyone at our shop has installed it on their vehicles over the more well-known option, Llumar IRX, which we also carry. 3M Crystalline is the same as before but is being updated very soon. With that being said, I would probably check out Global over 3M. Every 3M film is harder to shrink/install, so it always takes more time. Besides Ceramic IR, it is very pricey when compared to other mannys. Also, if you can't install Crystalline, I'd skip it for sure, as that is the most known 3M film. Color Stable is a general term for films that are not supposed to fade or change color. Take XPEL CS (Color Stable), their entry-level dyed film. 3M named their Carbon line this because, I assume, their entry-level FX series was not color stable. However, it is a full Carbon film that utilizes their patented carbon polyester, unlike films like Suntek Carbon, which has very little in it.

Hey Dano! Is that the difference? “Color stable” for example is what the 3M film I was using named, I guess that’s an actual term across different brands? (If that counted as English^) And those dang installers!! Get some sunlight and deal with those flaws! Lol.

That detack solution was terrible!! To hide dirt, use a carbon/color stable film. Yes the Global products are really good. Also not area restricted like some of the big names names, but definitely on par. The only failures I've had since using it have been "installer error"....ahemm...cough...cough.

Hahaha it’s an honor, I’m sure you’ll lay some more wisdom on me in the future 🫡

OK, now get off my lawn. just kidding

Back in a time I didn’t exist! 😂 Makes sense that they have made improvements since then.