yes i did a search . could not find a good answer . my latest project is an 88 s/c with defrost on rear hatch . someone installed window tint on the rear hatch a long time ago . it's now peeling and cloudy , looks like crap . is there anyway to remove the tint and not destroy the defrost grid ??? i will soon remove hatch to treat some rusty bolts and other rust . anyone know of/or used any stuff to remove tint and retain defrost grid ? i do have a heat gun and most any other tools . cheers !!!

 

There is a stuff on the market called TintOff or something like that. I personally just fill an empty spray bottle with dish soap and water... the solution softens the adhesive.

 

use a razor blade to hook an edge and start peelin

 

once i got the tint off i used a shop rag and paint thinner to get the adhesive off. it was on the back window so a lot of area, i used 3 rags, the get rather sticky and gunky and eventually jus smear it around so keep a clean part of the rag on the window. seemed to work well

 

yea, laquer thinner does the trick quite well

 

The easiest way to remove tint is get some window cleaner with ammonia and soak the tint side of the window. Cut a black garbage bag to make one big sheet and trim it to the size of the window(doesnt need to be exact). With the window soaked with window cleaner on the tint side, apply the garbage bag to the tint side and hand swipe the bag to get the big air bubbles out. Shut the door or hatch and let it sit in the sun for about 30 to 45 minutes or so. Needs to be fairly hot out to do this. After it sits, open the door or hatch and dont remove the bag, peel the bag back a little so you can start to peel the tint off, remove the bag and tint at the same time. The tint will practically fall off and leave very litte residue. I use to tint windows and thats how we did it. Tint is pourous and the ammonia in the cleaner with breakdown the glue with heat.

 

sweet tip

 

since i will be removing hatch your method sounds best . thanks i will use it .

 

I had the tint redone on my civic this past summer as the tint had been on there since new (1993)

The back window had started to bubble up and all the windows turned purple.

We started by using a Carpet Steamer. One of those portable ones with a hose with a nozzel. Supprisingly it would pretty much blow the tint off. This worked rather well until I got to my back window. I guess because it sits in more direct sun then the sides it made the tint more brittle. If I pulled at all on the tint it would just tear into tiny strips. All worked well until I broke the steamer and still had half the window to do. I started using a hair dryer and that got most of it off. There were tiny specks though. I used brake clean and it took almost everything else off plus the glue residue that was still on the back window. The sides didn't leave any glue behind.

There were itty bitty specs of tint that I missed still stuck to the window. They didn't show up until The window was re-tinted. They were so mi-nute I didn't worry about them. If your not going to put tint back on then I wouldn't worry about it. The brake clean will take the most of it off. Then just clean it down real good with glass cleaner.

I wouldnt use a rasor. if you scratch though the defroster lines it will kill the line. Sometimes I've heard if you scratch any of the metal away it will cause the line to burn out. I don't know if thats true or not.

My camaro has some tint up where the lines get really close together. I'm going to try brakeclean on this when ever I get around to it.

Good luck.

 

I'm glad that you are willing to try my way of removing the tint. I think you will be suprised how well it works if its done correctly. Just make sure that the window doesnt start to cool down. Do everything in my post while the car or window is still sitting in the sun and the window is hot. Dont pull the car in the garage or bring the window inside as it will cool off quick. Remember, the window has to stay hot the whole time for this to work. If you are going to remove the hatch, soak the window with the cleaner, apply the garbage bag and flip the hatch over so the glass is in contact with the sun. Let me know how it works out for you.

 

ive done it this way before it works great. got the tip from a local tint guy. i was gonna type up the same thing glad to see someone else knew about it too...

 

I have not tired jerdms way so i don't know how well it works.
I followed these directions for mine and had no trouble (first time ever messing with tint too!) I do mess up the defroster grid a little bit but thats cuz i got careless with the razor..... on a side note i saw grid repair at a local pepboys and was wondering if it would work or not?

 

The best thing about removing the tint this way is that it doesnt damage defrost lines. Glad to here someone else knows about this also.

 

This idea sounds like a good idea.. OR lacquer thinner might also work good.