A few weeks ago, there was a discussion on window tints and the topic of shrinking them came up. I have some spare tint and applied heat to it with a heat gun, with the backing foil on and also tried with the foil off. The tint film did not shrink, it just crinkled up a bit. What gives?.
Shrinking Window Tint.
- Thread starter George7941
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There's a process to it. Spray the glass down that you want the tint to conform to, lay the tint on it, tint side down (liner side up), then heat with your heat gun and smooth it out with a teflon squeegee.
Its something that takes practice and isn't particularly easy to get good results. Also, different tints will shrink differently.
Source - I worked at a tint shop that's been in business over 30 years although I didn't tint I watched the same guy do it thousands of times.
Its something that takes practice and isn't particularly easy to get good results. Also, different tints will shrink differently.
Source - I worked at a tint shop that's been in business over 30 years although I didn't tint I watched the same guy do it thousands of times.
Doing it that way would mean that you lay the tint on the "wrong" side of the glass to get the right curvature. You would then transfer the tint over to the correct side of the glass and apply it after wetting. Do I have that right?
Originally Posted by George7941
Doing it that way would mean that you lay the tint on the "wrong" side of the glass to get the right curvature. You would then transfer the tint over to the correct side of the glass and apply it after wetting. Do I have that right?
Correct, this is mostly done on rear windows. Heat form and final trim on the outside and then transfer to the inside for the install.
There are a few side windows that even have enough curve to them to make the installer want to heat form, new Beetle is the one that comes to mind, although there are probably more now. I haven't worked for him in forever, but I keep in touch and hang out at the shop from time to time, so I hear all the new car complaints.
Doing it that way would mean that you lay the tint on the "wrong" side of the glass to get the right curvature. You would then transfer the tint over to the correct side of the glass and apply it after wetting. Do I have that right?
Correct, this is mostly done on rear windows. Heat form and final trim on the outside and then transfer to the inside for the install.
There are a few side windows that even have enough curve to them to make the installer want to heat form, new Beetle is the one that comes to mind, although there are probably more now. I haven't worked for him in forever, but I keep in touch and hang out at the shop from time to time, so I hear all the new car complaints.
look up videos on youtube. there wet shrinking and dry shrinking techniques. many films are precut on a machine in the shop then shrunk so there's less time trimming. it's definitely an acquired skill and necessary for sharp curves like rears. then reverse roll and remove the liner while applying
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