Need help with tinting process

[blacklabel]

Now before many of you say I should just quit and take it in to get it done professionally, I want to say that I have some time after work each day to work on it and as of now I don't have much better to do. I thought I would give this a try. I started out doing the rear quarter windows. It seems that around the edges on the window, the area with all of the little dots, it doesn't want to stick to great. Any advice to get it to stick better. A hair dryer perhaps? Besides that, I have started trying to do tint on the other windows. Currently I'm trying to do the drivers door window. I traced out a template and I cut it out. I cut the tint a little bigger then the templete, so I would have some to work with. Basically my main problem is how should I edge off just enough so it fits? Is there a better tool for taking some off then a razor blade/box cutter? Scissors work but I kind of want to lay the tint against the window and take off the excess. When I used the box cutter to cut the tint from the roll it seemed like it would kind of mess up the edges. Another question is how are you suppose to get the tint at the bottem of the window to go below the line when the window is up all the way.

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[rpmshotimeeh]

spray soapy water on window, put on piece and squegee, cut to fit window and leave 1/4" at bottom to tuck into below rubber strip, clean inside of window, spray both window and piece with soapy luquid, possition in the right spot, squegee out from center out until it lays flat and ia all squegeed out...DONE!!! sorry im tired so i tried to keep this short n straight to the point...good luck and take your time also use a snap of blade utility knife

 

[blacklabel]

Thats pretty much what I'm doing. I'll trim the bottem of it to 1/4" past the rubber strips. The big problem I'm having is trying to trim the other sides of the window without messing it up. I want to set the tint against the window and trim it down with a razor blade, but I think it will fray the edges like it did when I cut the piece out from the roll.

Thanks

 

[T.O_SHO]

I dont think there is anything you can do about the dots... When I got the car home from the tint shop I noticed that it didnt catch too well down in the dotted area, I called the shop up and he said that there isnt enough surface contact from the glue to the glass to fully adhere the tint to the glass. I used my thumb and went around the entire edge of the window, this helped, but they arent gone completely.

 

[ohfosho]

there is a film on one side of the tint to pull off

and use a very sharp razor blade

 

[etc1006]

You won't get ragged edges if youuse a fresh blade. Hence the snap blade knife suggestion. I remember a friend who did all kinds of glass and tint was a service he offered said scrape the dots with a straight blade and it'll remove some of the thickness of them, thus promoting the adhesion of the tint. A hair dryer helps too. My Mustang had no problems with the dots.

 

[blacklabel]

Thanks for the replies. If I decide to redo the quarter windows, I'll go over the dots with a straight knife. I guess I'll be heading to the hardware store to get a new razor blade thing and hopefully that will work.

 

[JoesSHO]

The scraping of the dots does work- but also frequent "post-installation finger pushing" around there will help them stick as much as they can. It'llnever get totally blacked out all the way to the edge of the dots, but once the film starts to dry, it'll stick better as you push it back on... Let at least 3-5 days elapse before you give up- let the moisture out and it'll stick better.

 

[SlowHeavyObject]

the best thing to do for the dots is take some sandpaper to them. cutting them down just make them thinner. sanding makes their surface pitted so the adhesive can sink in. just be careful not to scratch up the glass. use a wet sand if you have to. also another tip for getting the tint down all the way into the bottom is to take off the door panels. the weatherstrip is stapled to the door panel. way easier than bending it back and tucking the film in. the easiest way to trim your film for the edges of the window is to get a cutting tool that kinda looks like a pizza cutter that's specifically made for cutting tint. can't remember the technical name of it but you can find it in home depot where glass and tile cutters are.