Window Tint Removal Using Steam

I tinted the car window myself using the very popular Gila product. I did the windows in my home but car windows is a different animal. I did it badly but let it hanged on for a year. Because I thought it's difficult to take it out with glues on. I brought the Gila remover but it sat in the garage.

To save time and to not touching chemicals, I brought it to a tint shop. Because retinting it would take a few minutes for them for cheap. But the problem is, to remove the tint it could take up to 3 hours! It would be the worse case I suppose, with professionally installed tint with super duper glue. Since I didn't have 3 hours, I passed.

Luckily I consulted the internet. Steam is the word. It made a lot of sense. I already have a big steamer with a lot of accessories. I didn't even remember the capacity but I put in 1 L or 1 Q of water, the steam last for hours. Still I waited and waited for a suitable day. If I messed it up again like when I put the tint up, I would leave a lot of strange things on the windows and my kids won't want to ride in it.

But it was so darn easy. I should have watched the million view video. It is easier than that. I would think the DIY tints are easy. But I think his tint were professionally done. So I suppose all the glues are about the same.

My contribution: Open the car door widely and steam from an angle so all the steam goes out of the car. My steamer is professional grade. I use a pointed nozzle so it's all steamy even outdoors.

Open the window slightly and start steaming from the top. First, tape a plastic bag on the bottom of the window so water slides down onto the ground and not the door. Tape on the window so the tapes and the bag will go with the tint when it's removed.

My top edge is already peeling off so that's where I started. You may start from the corner if that comes out first, or like the guy in the video, make a cut in the middle so you have a corner of the tint to start with.

I point the steam from the top, aiming at the meeting point between the tint and the glass, while I pull the tint down. If you don't have a pointed nozzle, you may have to steam around the edge.

If the tint breaks up into two, you can carry on one side at a time. If the tint stays in one piece, you pull and steam at the same time one corner, then the other, then the middle. Pull gently all the time. If the tint is steamed enough, you will feel that it's easy to pull. And when you feel that it's harder and harder, steam more.

Never saw and had any problem with residue or glues.

It also depends on how the tint is installed. The instructions I got was to leave a lot of margins on the sides and the bottom. But that was killing my installation. I just couldn't get those margins into the sides and bottom of the window. And since I have an exact template of the window, I should have left a very thin margin. It's easy to go into the window frame and there will not be visible gaps.

Maybe next time I use static clint films.