Ok, so, I'm blind as a bat when it comes to things in my rear-view, so I had to remove the tint the previous owner put in the car (I know, I know it looks so much better w/ tint). After calling several tint shops and getting a quote of $140 to get the 5 window (2 doors, 2 rear quarters, and rear window) tint removed I decided there had to be a better way. I did some research online and prepared myself for a messy painful process. Eventually I found Tint Removers (tintremovers.com), and they patiently explained to me part of their specialized process.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a cheap clothes steamer on sale at walgreens for $12.99 to stay stylish, and I figured it just might do the trick on my tint too.

I was surprised at how easy it was, and wanted to share with you the method that I used.

This method is good because it won't ruin your antenna or defrosters, it is clean, cheap, and quick.

Supplies:
* Long extension cord
* Bottle or cup of water
* $20 or a clothing steamer (see step 1)
* Some rags
* Windex
* 6 pack of beer
* A good CD

Steps:
1) Go buy a cheap fabric steamer (hey, it works on your clothes too!)
2) Run a long extension cord out to your car to power the steamer
3) Fill steamer up with water
4) Open windows & moon roof (to let steam out)
5) Open Beer
6) Turn stereo on
7) Steam away!
I started on the small side window. After finding the edge of the tinting by looking closely, start steaming that area. I was in no rush and held the steamer there for probably a minute or so, just on the corner.
8) Carefully pick at the corner with your fingernail until you have enough tint pulled up that you can pull it with your fingers. I was worried that I was going to pull the frit (black boarder around glass) off, but if you look outside the frit continues much farther than you can see inside & it didn't come off at all.
9) Keep steaming. Do not pull hard! If you pull hard right now the whole sheet of tint will come off leaving all of the glue!!!! You don't want this, you want to bring the glue off with the tint, so go slowly.
10) steam back and forth along the edge you're pulling up. Slowly steam and pull (lightly, more steam = easier to pull) as you go along the window.
11) As you get to the end slow down. If you pull to hard you will pull the tint sheet off without bringing the glue with it, then you will have to steam the glue and rub it off with a towel (annoying)
12) After the whole sheet is off steam the whole untinted window to see if there is still any glue on the window (it will look like a thin film) If there is glue, wipe it off (see tips section)
13) Wipe the window and molding dry.
14) Clean the window with Windex (why not, you're already right there).
15) Open next beer & proceed to next window.
16) Rinse and repeat.

Tips:
* DO NOT RUSH - it isn't worth it. If you pull the whole sheet off you will have to steam the glue separately and it makes a mess, is annoying, and makes your breath smell bad.
* Listen to music/talk on the phone/drink beer - why not?
* If you do pull too fast or some glue remains steam the hell out of it (15-45 sec) and rub it with a clean towel. It will ball up into yellow balls that are not very sticky. Wipe them off by pushing on a towel and wiping it hard (otherwise you'll just smear the glue around). It isn't too hard, just use a clean towel & don't rush..... Have I mentioned not rushing yet?
* Wipe off the condensation on the molding around the windows, but don't worry about it. It will be fine.
* DO NOT USE RAZOR BLADES, if you have to use a razor you're not doing it right and are going to make a mess!

My tint steamer (it also removes wrinkles from my clothes so I can impress all the girlies):


Example steamer at walgreens:


Car before:


Car after:

JK, nice car though

natcc99 posted a writeup on how to remove tint using ammonia & a razor blade (viewtopic.php?t=936) I think it is good because it shows you how to remove the front two door pannels to get to the front windows, but the ammonia & razor blades are so much work & can ruin your defroster & antenna

Now I can see behind me and won't get pulled over again for gunning it when a cop is literally right behind me but I can't see him

Peace Hommie,

- novegi

nice write up!

Thanks man, Great looking car, I liked your list of planned mods

i think a heat gun would do the trick, maybe a bit faster.

aha.. you got me with the before and after pics.. i was like wait, thats fiveten's car. till i scrolled down and found the "JK"

very good write up. i will try this on my old car. thanks

good shit. I've been wanting to remove my rear tint and get it darker...

Thats awesome....I have a bubbled back window that I cant get scraped for less than $100,time to go to wallmart and hook up a steamer!Not to mention the whole reason it would cost 280$ to retint is because they have to scrape the back,so no matter what its gonna save me 100$ if it works,the only problem is I will have to do alot of scrubbing of glue,because its already bubbled to shit!

Cool to see the write up will be used, and just think, we'll all have wrinkle free clothes now. The girls will love us


If you want to send some of that $100 my way, just PM me and I'll give you my paypal account address.

Once you've steamed enough the glue is really easy to wipe off. It isn't even scrubbing, more like hard wiping.

Good luck!

- novegi

Yeah about the glue, WD-40 the crap out of it, or GOO-gone. Let it sit, wipes right off. And to get the oily substance off, just windex it a few times. Nice write up.

W/ steam the glue comes off so easily! Just wipe with some pressure and it turns to little balls of glue that fall right off. I never use WD-40 on interior parts because it has a corrosive in it.

I'm meeting up with Mace to work on our cars sometime. If anyone wants to use the steamer let me know.

- Dan

lol nice write up. how dark were your tints anyway? i was planning on gettin 15% tint on the front windows and maybe 25%-35% on the rear and back windshield (defroster). how dark are those?

glass doesnt corrode, thats acting children. But your right, rather goo-gone lol, i geusse wd-40 is primitive, sorry. HAHA, but if that steamer works, then that sounds awsome

I have no idea how dark they were. I couldn't see well because of the tint & there are a ton of hard water spots on the windows too. It is probably more the hard water spots than the tint, but I didn't realize that until it was too late. Either way, I really like to be able to see who is behind me.

Happy New Year!

- Novegi

GIDDYUP YAAA YAA


will it cost a lot to have your windows retinted? I already have tint on but dont want to remove it myself.

You cant really see with tint on? thats very strange. i hated my 4th gen w/o tint and got that taken care of right away. I know @ the last meet it was dark but if u saw what my actual car looked like u can see that my tint in the back isn't limo. It's light and very easy to see through while still keeping " ultra harmfull" rays out. lol.. anyways, might want to consider just getting them lighter.

LOL good point man.

Maybe it is all the hard water spots on my windows that make it so I can't see $hit, or maybe I'm just blind.

yeah it's gonna cost you about $100 - 150 to remove tint. then another $150 - 200 to retint them.

all i can say... tint is fo' suckazzzz!!!



MR. T PITIES THE FOO' WHO USES TINT



And yeah, tint can can be hard to see out of. IMO, it just obstructs what I can/can't see, especially night driving. And it's not worth spending a couple hundred dollars on it, when it can later result in getting tickets by a dck cop, and having to remove it, and then retinting it later.

i'd rather have clear asss windows and see where i'm looking. esp helps when you can see a cop from a mile away cause you have perfect vision of whats behind you.

also, there are those of us who have to wear corrective lenses, or just have bad night vision due to not eating enough carots.

^^damn i didnt know carrots help ur vision. damn. i should have eaten them

But ur right tint is just a waste of dough. And ive had enough cops pooping on my parade. Im staying clean.

novegi2 - great write up man. I worked on my sisters protege a few days ago and it worked like a charm. I also use a heat gun which is also very helpful. There was some glue left on the rear window but oh well. Its not that noticeable. And my sister had no clue. People will use this write up for years to come.

Sweet avatar!

Thanks for the compliments.

Steam or goo gone will remove the remaining glue, if it is on a defroster / antenna line, use steam.

- novegi

You can also do it like me I was trying to remove a piece of tape off my rear window and as I pulled hard the whole rear tint came off nice and even......no mess.........no glue stick stuff................

It was awesome, shocking but awesome none the less

Aircraft remover FTW!!!! I tried the steaming and it didnt work for me,but the remover just bubbled ut right off.