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This is my first time ever attempting to tint anything... ever. I did better than I thought, but as you can see I screwed up on the edges. I'm probably going to redo it (I still have extra tint) after doing the passenger side. I'm going to let a professional do the windshield.. I don't even know how much of a pain in the *** that would be. Are those bubbles (that I could not squeegie out) on the side a result of loss of stickyness? I did my best to keep spraying, but maybe after trying to "reset" on a "kind of dry" area it ruined the glue? Sorry, I'm really new to this. It was fun doing it! I just wish I didn't suck.
My experience with Tint and Vinyl graphics is somewhat limited but bubbles are trapped because you failed to work the material from the center out to the edges and I never reset anything so that could also be the problem.
I rarely have bubbles and if I do they are BB size at most and I can usually work them out to an edge. I also use a drop or two of dawn dish soap in my spray bottle and use a 4" squeegee.
looks pretty good for a first timer, I've done a few tint jobs for friends and they came out about the same lol been wanting to try my hand at doing the hatch on my car (cant do side windows in my state) before bringing it to a professional. worth a try at least
Did you use a heat gun to shrink the tint? with all the curves in our windows (at least in my personal experience) it requires some level of heat shrinking to get it right.
don't worry, my first try was so bad I immediately ripped it off and didn't try my hand at tinting again for like 10-15 years, watch some tinting videos on youtube to get a feel for the techniques used, then get the PROPER TOOLS, don't use those "tinting kits" from walmart. A little practice and things like these doors are fairly easy.
Did you use a heat gun to shrink the tint? with all the curves in our windows (at least in my personal experience) it requires some level of heat shrinking to get it right.
don't worry, my first try was so bad I immediately ripped it off and didn't try my hand at tinting again for like 10-15 years, watch some tinting videos on youtube to get a feel for the techniques used, then get the PROPER TOOLS, don't use those "tinting kits" from walmart. A little practice and things like these doors are fairly easy.
I own a heat gun. When/how should I use it? After it's applied, but still wet?
Don't worry. The tint is a roll straight from a professional shop, not a Walmart kit, haha.
You'd likely got it about perfect with a heat gun. Put the tint on the outside of the glass (with sticky part facing out) and you can trim it accordingly like against the window edge. Semi-squeegee out the air bubbles like you would when putting inside the window. You'll then see the problem areas to use heat on. Just apply a little bit at a time and it'll shrink it enough so that the bubble will go away. You don't have to make it perfect, just get majority of it out. Once you peel the film off and actually put it on the window you should be golden then. If not, add a little heat and you're good.
The windshield would definitely be harder. Partially due to the curvature of it and partially because you don't want to apply too much heat because it WILL crack the windshield. The hatch glass would probably be easier since you can apply more heat, but with how contoured it is, it wouldn't be fun to tint IMO, lol.
With tinting it's all about the tricks, like cutting both windows at same time. Have a good squeegee and good razor blade.
You'd likely got it about perfect with a heat gun. Put the tint on the outside of the glass (with sticky part facing out) and you can trim it accordingly like against the window edge. Semi-squeegee out the air bubbles like you would when putting inside the window. You'll then see the problem areas to use heat on. Just apply a little bit at a time and it'll shrink it enough so that the bubble will go away. You don't have to make it perfect, just get majority of it out. Once you peel the film off and actually put it on the window you should be golden then. If not, add a little heat and you're good.
The windshield would definitely be harder. Partially due to the curvature of it and partially because you don't want to apply too much heat because it WILL crack the windshield. The hatch glass would probably be easier since you can apply more heat, but with how contoured it is, it wouldn't be fun to tint IMO, lol.
With tinting it's all about the tricks, like cutting both windows at same time. Have a good squeegee and good razor blade.
Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to do the door windows (I'm going to redo the driver one also) and let a professional do the other ones. I have rolls and rolls of 15% tint, and I REALLY want to do my windshield in that... but I think I'm going to puss out and get a legal on the front. lol
Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to do the door windows (I'm going to redo the driver one also) and let a professional do the other ones. I have rolls and rolls of 15% tint, and I REALLY want to do my windshield in that... but I think I'm going to puss out and get a legal on the front. lol
For sure, glad to help. You need to tint your windshield. People will say it's a bad idea but in my opinion it's the best tint you can do to your ride. I've done 50 and 35 on my other vehicles and LOVED IT. You get zero glare from oncoming traffic and during the day don't have to wear sunglasses. Only thing that's keeping me from doing mine is when I need to inspect it, it'll be hell getting off. Other vehicles like Raptor and TBSS, it was awesome and easy to remove when I had to.
Grr, still getting bubbles. This is good tint, too... I got it from my buddy's shop that they use for cop cars and limos. Why is this so hard. lol I mean it's so easy but then the bubbles are hard. I did the conform/heatgun and everything.
These windows just have too many edges and curves.
After having to remove the illegal tint on my first T/A, I tried to redo it myself (with cheapo Wally World film). I cut the first piece using the driver window as a template, then realized I was holding it wrong and had cut it for the passenger side. Then I noticed there wasn't enough left to do a second window. A few minutes and a lot of cursing later, all the tint was balled up in the trash.
On my second T/A I did it a little better, but still ended up with a few bubbles and cut one corner on the driver's window too short. It still looked good from a distance and, more importantly, helped tremendously with the Texas sun.
Grr, still getting bubbles. This is good tint, too... I got it from my buddy's shop that they use for cop cars and limos. Why is this so hard. lol I mean it's so easy but then the bubbles are hard. I did the conform/heatgun and everything.
I was told once by a professional tinter that when he did his schooling for it they tell them that there is no 100% perfect tint job. They're goal is to get it 90% perfect, so don't get too discouraged. Just takes practice.
Finally got the passenger side done, after wasting a bunch of perfectly good tint. It turned out a little better, you can see the bottom finger and far right one, other than that it looks great. I'm done, I wasted way too much money trying to get this right. I'm letting the pros do my trunk and windshield, I will never tint again, I promise. LOL
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First attempt ever at tinting 
