Tint Removal
Bubbling, purpling or badly cut film taken off without wrecking your defroster lines.
The short answer
Old film that has gone purple, hazy or bubbly can come off. The film itself is the easy part — the adhesive is the job, and the rear window's defroster lines are what separate a careful removal from an expensive mistake.
Why old tint fails
Dyed film breaks down under UV. The dye goes first, which is the purple, then the adhesive fails, which is the bubbling. Once bubbling starts it does not stop, and the film is beyond saving.
The rear window problem
This is the part worth being careful about. Your rear defroster is a set of thin conductive lines printed onto the inside surface of the glass — the same surface the film is stuck to.
Scrape aggressively and you lift the lines. Once a line is broken, that section of the defroster stops working, and repair is fiddly at best. A lot of non-working rear defrosters were killed by someone removing tint with a razor blade.
Done properly it is heat, steam, patience and the right solvents, working with the lines rather than across them.
What removal involves
- Heat to soften the adhesive so the film releases rather than tearing
- Peeling in sheets where possible — badly degraded film comes off in flakes and takes much longer
- Adhesive removal, which is most of the work
- Full clean so new film has a proper surface, if you are re-tinting
Doing it yourself
It is doable on side windows with a steamer and patience. On the rear window with defroster lines, the risk is real and the cost of getting it wrong is a dead defroster. That is the one we would pay someone for.
Questions we get
Can you remove tint without damaging the defroster?
That is the careful part of a rear window. Heat, steam and the right solvents, working with the lines rather than across them. Razor blades are how defrosters get destroyed. If a rear window looks like it is going to fight, we would rather say so before starting than halfway through.
How long does removal take?
Longer than fitting, usually. Film that is already flaking comes off in pieces rather than sheets and takes considerably more time.
Can you re-tint the same day?
Usually yes, if the glass cleans up properly. Sometimes the adhesive needs more work than expected and it is better to do it right.
Why did my tint turn purple?
Dyed film. The dye breaks down under UV. Carbon and ceramic films have no dye and do not do it.