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Tinting Windows

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Dangerstevie

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Accord SE Executive
Hey all, I have recently received my window tinting film off eBay and i can safely say that the cheap films off eBay are *****! they are very difficult ot work with, scratch easily and do not shrink well. I spent 3.5 hours last night on 2 attempts to tint the rear screen and both have ended in failure, i am pretty sure now that i have the measure of this cheap film and as such im going to attempt it again this afternoon and all being well i will have some decent results. I have tinted windows in the past with VERY good results, i wet shrink the film to the rear screen and the only film i have previously used is made by Suntec and is WAAAAY thicker than the cheap ebay ***** but it is 5 times more expensive. Side windows aren't too bad to do with the thin stuff as they are easy enough, but its shrinking this ***** film that is hard. If anyone else has any experience with this ebay / cheap film i would love to hear from you.
Just my .02 worth ;-)
 
don't use the ebay film because as you have found out it is bollox. You already know suntec is the best on the market so buy it directly from them, Its only about £100 a roll which is more than enough to do the whole of your car and some.

Are you using a heat gun.????
 
The proper stuff is made from a type of metal believe it or not. The cheap stuff isn't. Makes the cheap stuff less good for applying and an absolute dog to remove. The expensive stuff should be easier to apply, but for £100 a roll, you might as well get it done professionally. I've had quotes for £150 for my tourer by the guy my local Honda garage use for their window tinting.

Although the Marty Car Mods guys did this a while back.

How to remove the tints you've just done that you're not happy with:
 
And how to apply window tints:

 
The metal stuff is top of the range, Good quality normal branded stuff is more than adequate. Also you cant use the metal lined stuff in any windows that have a built in aerial as it kills the signal.
 
Oooh, nice catch Neil. That's useful advice. I did not know that. The tourers have radio aerials on the rear side windows. Therefore, no expensive metal tints ;) .
 
Unless it's a VERY mild shrink I wouldn't be doing it wet! Would definitely do some research on the soap dry drink method which is what I use day in day out. Usually don't have a problem with cheap films and shrinking, usual concern is it fading and scratching within weeks/months. There are a lot of differences between films not just metalized/non-metalized, off the top of my head main factors are thickness ie single plys/twin plys, then type of colouration ie dyed adhesive/dyed film. If you need some better film PM me, we give out fade free lifetime warranties with all our work/installs as we trust our products.
 
Thanks for the replies, I didn't install the film yet, whilst forming it on the outside of the rear screen it creased whilst trying to shrink it, I have tried a few methods of shrinking, the baby powder method I found to be pretty good but I burned the film (was my 1st attempt with that method) so I tried it wet shrink and had fantastic results on the lower half of the screen and then the film creased whilst I was smoothing out one of the creases on the upper half, and the 3rd attempt the film shrank really unevenly, was strange how it reacted, it wasn't too hot as it hadnt shrivelled or pealed from the liner. I tried a thicker film with the same method that a mate brought round (I think it was a foliatek one) and that was far easier to work and didn't crease but it was only enough to test and not to do the whole window.
One thing I was struggling with was separating the large "fingers" into smaller fingers but I guess that's just technique and practice.
 
Thats exactly why we don't wet shrink large rear screens, it's possible but quicker to dry shrink and can always finish up with wet shrink after for a perfect fit!
 
managed to successfully tint both rear side windows which was an effort I have to say, but with some patience, tools, soapy liquid spray, and an eye for detail, it can be done OK, but the rear back window is where I failed on too, but it certainly gives the car an edge looking from the side especially as the tailgate window already has a nice black curved border around it, so I'll stick with that!:)
 
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