Contamination Control - Keeping Your Car Window Tinting Installs Clean
Keeping the dreaded dust specks out of your tint jobs is something you will learn to fight for quite a while once you start out on your car window tinting journey, and before I get the hot shots shouting up that they never get contamination in their installations I will call BS on that!
Keeping your work ultra clean is not as easy task, and the expectations of your customer will play a big part in how your work is received. Some customers will expect perfection, and may return a car because it has maybe one or two microscopic dust specks in the window, the others will look at the car from 12 feet away and give a smile.."looks awesome man!"
And that's how it goes, I have looked at plenty of people showing off on YouTube, slapping film on really fast, but trust me..their work will never be as clean as the guy who takes the extra time and steps needed to make the job as clean as is physically possible.
Starting with your slip mixture, this is a key factor in delivering top notch results, don't use water straight from the tap, its full of crap that you can't see but will show in your car window tinting work.
This is the starting point in controlling contamination, at the very least, purchase some filtered water as this will also help reduce contaminants.
Next time I will update you on the most effective glass preparation methods prior to window film installation.
In the last post we discussed dot matrix, I mentioned about the thickness of the film and how this can affect the look of the dot matrix after the window has been tinted, and the method used to shrink the film has a big impact again on the finished look.
So in this article now I will talk about a few things that can have a positive effect on how the dot matrix looks, one option after you've tinted the windows is to heat of the dot matrix and try and dry that area of the film out more and then apply some pressure with a hard card wrapped in a cotton cloth or using a piece of blue max squeegee, you can then apply pressure to the heated film.Using this method, you heat the film for about 6-8 seconds over an area around 6 inches constantly moving the heat gun backwards and forwards you will see the matrix area change its state slightly, this is the time when you need to remove the heat and apply pressure with your hard card or piece of blue max squeegee. You need to be very careful doing this, you can burn the rubber trims that are close to the dot matrix, or you can even cause the film to blister as you have used too much heat.
This method really does take some testing to establish how much heat you can give the film before it blisters,one thing you can do once you get the dotmatrix ready to push down into place, is the spray some cold water on the glass, you may see some smoking or steaming at this point is the glass cools, you then push hard with your hard card or piece of Blue Max squeegee push the film down and almost embed into the dot matrix area.The effect here is that you will improve the look of the dot matrix dramatically, by pushing the film into the heated dot matrix area that white silvery look that is common to see on a lot of vehicles which have tinted windows, will almost look like a factory tinted glasses if you get this method correct.
NOTE:- Be careful when heating the matrix and cooling with water, their in an extremely low risk of glass fracture but you have been warned!!
The next time you tint some windows allow the film to dry for a while before you practice this method, it does take some trial and error to establish the timings that work for you and each film responds differently to this method so this is just one of the things you can do to improve the look of the matrix and elevate the quality of finish of your car window tinting
Another area of dot matrix is a big problem but not just car window tinters, but for customers as well, is the big band of dot matrix at the top of some vehicles on the back window.Common vehicle that causes a problem for a lot of window tinters is the BMW 3 series, this vehicle has a deep dot matrix at the top of the back window that is around three or 4 inches deep, I'll discuss now a few ways of dealing with this area of the glass.
One method that is used on these type of windows is the sanding method, I'm not a big fan of this method but have tried it a few times over the years, you need to sand the matrix very carefully using 1000 grade wet and dry paper,be careful when sanding this area as if you stray onto the clear glass you will scratch the glass, it may be advisable to apply some masking tape to the top of the screen just below the dot matrix area.Sand the matrix in even strokes and wipe off any black residue that may come from the matrix, I'm talking here about sanding with a wet sounding method, when the matrix is ready you should find you have no more black residue coming off the dots.Really clean the dots well after you have sanded them using an alcohol solution like IPA or Dirt Off which is a Llumar product.If the dots are not clean then you will spoil the look of the installation as the cleanliness means the film will stick very well to the dotted area.
Another more popular method of dealing with this dotted area is to use Glue, install the film in the normal manner and squeegee out all the water, then peel back with film from the dot matrix area and apply a thin bead of glue along the bottom row of dots.You need to make sure you use a water-based glue, a popular choice of glue is Elmers Blue school gel. (This is available in America, I have yet to find it in the UK, but their are plenty of water based glues available) . What you need to do after applying the glue, is using a MacTac squeegee or a regular hard card with a piece of tissue wrapped around it, push slowly in upwards direction and push the glue through the dotted area, you may see some glue come out of the top of the film and this is quite normal, if you push too hard you will push all the glue out and defeat the object of the procedure, so push gently as what you are doing here is replacing the air and water that is trapped in the dotmatrix area with the glue, it is a good idea to have somebody stand on the outside of the vehicle watching those you work, they can tell you if you miss any areas and don't leave any patches, this method works great but like everything else with car window tinting it takes practice,.
That's all for now for this part of the dot matrix trilogy, next time I'll talk about dry dropping and using an alcohol mix makes to improve the dot matrix.
Following up on my previous post on the dot matrix , the ceramic dotted area that surrounds the edge of a lot of car windows and the battles you will have with this, I will post here for you now a few of the methods I have tried over the years to improve the appearance and Silvery look of Dot Matrix after window film is applied and and some of the factors that will affect the levels of success you will have in your in efforts to get the dot matrix looking good,and as close to the look of factory tinted glass as is possible.
1. Film Thickness!
This will have a major effect on the look of the dot matrix, if you are using a thin dyed 1 ply film it will lay down far better on the dot matrix than a high performance 2 ply film. Most 1 ply films are 1 micron ( 1mil) thick whereas a 2 ply film with be 1.5 microns, so the extra thickness means the film is not as pliable and won't form to the shape of the dots like a single ply film.
This leaves you in a dilemma, although there are colour stable single ply films they tend to be like tissue paper to work with and don't have the body that a two ply film has and you can easily crease these films just by looking at them... ok not quite that bad but they are much less forgiving especially to a inexperienced installer just finding his feet in the car window tinting business.
So your first thing to decide upon is will you sacrifice film quality for the look of the Dot Matrix??
2. Heat Shrinking Process!
Although you may not realise it but the way you shrink your back windows can have a big affect on the outcome and appearance of the Dot Matrix! If you are a powder shrinker, then you maybe don't realise that you are leaving lots of tiny un-shrunk areas of film, and as you shrink more towards the edge of the glass, into the matrix area, the film will become very distorted in that area and will not lead to the film sitting down nice and tight onto the dot matrix.
I would consider a switch at this point to either the soap shrink or the Ryk Shrink. The Ryk shrink is a little unknown and little used technique in the car window tinting industry and involves using 2 heatguns and shrinking very large area of film at one time, this means you are not focusing on the area of the film over the dot matrix but applying a more general shrink of the window film. The end result is that the film is less distorted and can result in an improved look on the dot matrix area.
Why not try this technique and see how your results can improve.
3. Cleaning Technique!!
People often neglect the dot matrix area in their cleaning preparation and this can have a major effect on the end results. One thing I do that does allow the film to adhere well to the matrix is spend a few extra minutes on the dot matrix, so what do we do to take our installations to the next level?
I use a 000 gauge wire wool to clean the back windows and heater lines and then will spend some time on the dot matrix and give it a a good scrub with wire wool and glass cleaner, I use foaming glass cleaner and spray the dot matrix with the cleaner and let it sit their for a few minutes, then I illuminate the rear window and cut out my film, the foam glass cleaner highlights the edge of the film making pattern cutting easier.
Ok, back to the matrix...after squeegeeing the glass clean in the normal manner, i will use some IPA ( Isopropyl alcohol) and wipe the matrix clean, and i mean "clean" and that means that no black dirt comes of onto your micro-fibre cloth. Then i will use compressed air in a can or my heat gun and dry the dot matrix completely. This super clean and dry matrix will be ready to take your film and stick like crazy! Thats all for now in this first part of the The Ultimate Guide To Dot Matrix - next time i will tell you about sanding matrix, glueing, slip-mix,baking and quenching and a few other advanced techniques that can help you get the best finish ever.
Hate it or HATE IT!!!!! Dot Matrix is here to stay... if you are not sure what it is, go and take a look at your car windows, on a lot of cars nowadays you will see that where the clear glass meets the black part of the glass, you will see a dotted edge at the point these two areas meet - This is called Dot Matrix.
This dot matrix area is something that window tinters the world over hate..in fact, I dont know of anybody who is in the window tinting game who has a good word to say for it!
So why the big downer on Dot Matrix...firstly, it is one obvious sign to the customer who has had their windows tinted that the windows may not look like factory tinted glass, they can see the silvery appearance that ocours on this part of the glass, and no matter how clean you have carried out the installation, they will look at this and think.."They have not done a proper job!"
Listen...dot matrix is something you can deal with as part of the installation, but at a cost to the customer!
I always show them a car with normal matrix and say that you may have a silver appearance on this area of the glass, let them get any objections out of the way early, before you have done the work, if they sound like they are not impressed with the look of the dot matrix, then offer them a solution, tell them that you can do the extra work involved in making the dot matrix look better, but at a price. It may take an hour extra to go around all the dots and heat them down into position, this is a pain in the aas job!...i know some installers who do this off the bat, but if they are not charging for their time taken to do this - it's their loss.
One option is to tell the customer to push down the matrix in a week, some tint shops tell the customer to bring the car back in a week and they can take a look, I thinks its better to show them how, when you push the wet dot matrix down with your thumb, it looks better, if you invite every customer to come back after a week i think you will regret it! You will have them visiting you on a regular basis then, thinking they are not doing it right...dont go down that road unless you really want to!
I wil be posting some tips in the next article on how to improve the look of your dot matrix, you need a few different approaches depending on the type of windows you are tinting.
Why not check out our new webinar, if you are interested in the car window tinting business and want a few pointers before you go and sink any real money into tools , this 15 minute webinar will run through some of the tools you need to buy to get started. Sign up below for access.
Quick and Dirty Tips For Dealing With Curved Windows
Curvature is one of the things you will learn to deal with early on in your car window tinting career, if you have undergone any sort of formal training, you will no doubt have spent the first few days of your training heat shrinking rear windows. I remember back to my first training session, the instructor grabed a window from a Renault clio, which at the time was one of the most difficult rear windows to shrink, he was just showing off basically that he could shrink the film in a few minutes, I was pretty blown away when i saw that to be honest.
I spent a good 2 days powder shrinking windows with talc, that was the technique we used and i continued powder shrinking for at least another 5 years, now I use a different method using Soap, but if I had to go back to using that damn powder shrink method I would not be a happy bunny. You can see my previous post on soap shrinking here. Although I found that I could shrink curved windows OK with powder but once I migrated to soap shrinking, the time taken when it came to heat shrinking pretty much halved overnight.
So what are the differences between the 2 methods?
When powder shinking, you use the powder to stop the film from sticking to the glass, the powder sort of allows the film to float on the layer of powder and when you shrink the film with the heatgun, it doesnt stick to the glass.
The technique for powder shrinking is completely different to soap shrinking, when you powder shrunk, you still anchor the film in the 'H' pattern but then use a small circular motion with the heatgun as you flow left and right and dont focus so much on the fingers in the film like you would when wet shinking., it takes time to shrink a complete window, I would say around 20 minutes when you are a beginner, and thats for a fairly standard window, then you must perform a wet check, here you flush the powder out from under the film and smooth the film out with your hands, be careful as if you have'nt shrunk the film well, you may get a crease at this point.
With the soap shrink method, you tend to shrink a larger area of film at one time, not the small circles like when powder shrinking, and there is no need for a wet check either, as when you use a hard card with a felt edge, you can pin the film to the glass and make the film like a tight skin, you will get far fewer fingers popping up on the inside when you install the film. I just wish i discovered soap shrinking earlier in my carerre, the guys that are coming into the game now have it easy if they get a good trainer, one who taches tinting with door panels in place and soap shrinking. You can find out more on soap shrinking here.
When dealing with extreme curvature on back windows you may need to learn another technique as powder shrinking has it's limts and although I find you can do some pretty urved windows in soap, you will need to learn the Lift & Pull technique. this is a mix of wet shrinking and pulling, you need to leave the film longer than normal as you will need to pull the film by hand, i will try and find a video of the lift and pull method as a video can explain it better than I can.
Forgot to mention - to the guy who is using my articles and passing them off as his own, I am onto you! I dont write articles for you to rank your own site with!
In this blog I will give you some tips and tricks for keeping it safe when tinting High End motor vehicles and please do watch the included video for the best ways to protect the vehicle from damage.
Water damage is something that can prove to be very expensive and if you don't take precautions before you carry out your installations you are heading for big trouble!
The main causes of water damage are two fold, its a bit of a catch 22 situation for the serious car window tinting installer. As a professional they will know that you can get very clean results by flushing down the window with either clean water or even their slippy window film mounting solution. Take this to the limit though and you can end up damaging electric window switches , airbag connectors and even ultra expensive amplifiers that are mounted in the trunk area.
Just the other day i tinted a brand new 2012 Mercedes Benz E Class, a nice car for sure and the customer was a picky type of person, I could tell that before I started the job so i knew I had to be on my best game and make sure he had no reason at all to complain, some of these customers can be really picky but if you meet their levels of expectation and become very picky about the finished product you deliver back to them, they will be happy customers for life and will tell every man and his dog what a good job you did.
So, what do you need to consider before you start tinting windows on some high end vehicles, well I will say limit your water usage for sure, mix up a slippier mounting solution than normal and install the windows on the dry side, I like to buff mine with a micro fibre cloth and then blow them dry with my heat gun, then just flush down the edges slightly and maybe a quick mist in the main area of the window, then soak your film, I even install film with the windows completely dry sometimes ( with the film soaked only), you will be amazed how clean you can get your installations using this method. This method works well for quarter windows and drop glasses but what is the best way to tackle a back window in a sedan/saloon vehicle.
Look in the trunk area and on lots of cars they have side pockets, if you open these you may see a fusebox, or amplifier or sat nave unit or something else electronic. Take a towel or sham-wow cloth and cover all the electronics. I know on some of the Audi models the amplifier has an air intake, this faces upwards and and water just drips right into it, i have heard of quite a few tinters who have damaged these and must pay to replace them, at a cost of well over $1000.
Be careful - thats the first thing, don't go ploughing in soaking everything, tape off the C Pillar trims with masking tape as these can get wet and may get stained depending on what slip solution you are using. Only mist the back glass, don't flush it down, and when squegeeing out to the sides, be careful you push slowly, if you just flush lots of water into the 'C' panel area, on the BMW's they have the aerial/antenna amplifier in that area and they can get wet and that again can cost you money to put right. If in doubt and you can pull the trim away from the vehicle, try and have a quick look to see if their are any electonic components in the area in quetsion, and do what is needed to keep them dry. Cars are becoming more and more loaded with lecetrocnics and you need to be smart and get the knowledge as to what cars can cause a headache!
When I was doing a Mercedes Benz this week I decided to share with you what I do, I used my iphone and I made a quick video showing you how I avoid water damage when window tinting, all it takes is a towel, a few rags or I like to use a ShamWow cloth which is very absorbant and you are playing it safe and keeping out of trouble.
Watch this video for more information
So the bottom line is pay attention and do some research on the vehicle in question before commencing the installation, this information is not meant to scare you but give you an idea of what to look out for when you are working with high end vehicles and the pitfalls you may come across on your journey as a professional window tinter.
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