What's the most painless way to remove tint from the rear glass?

My car has the quarter windows and rear glass tinted, was like that when I bought it.

Last year, I was cleaning the back glass and wearing my wedding ring...scratched the tint, and now it is bubbled all over. Sigh.

So, I need to remove it...but it's olllld tint (I've had the car almost 6 years myself, no idea how old the tint is). I hate removing old tint and I don't want to screw up the defroster grid.

I've read about using ammonia (but God I hate the smell of ammonia) and a fabric steamer (which I may try). Are there any other relatively easy (and fast) methods out there I could try?

No pain but a fair amount of labor.... lacquer thinner. Peel off all the tint (I find that old tint peels real easy). You will be left with a lot of adhesive residue. A clean rag(s), lacquer thinner and a lot of elbow grease and it will be clean as a whistle.

Or, if you have full glass, whoops! I don't know how that hammer "fell" on my back window. Better call the glass guys. Of course I'm kidding. This is insurance fraud, but I am sure people have done it.

The steamer to heat it up as you peel I think is the key releases a lot of the adhesive so it stays with the tint. Then just clean any leftover residue.

Stoners, (the company that makes "Invisible Glass" - the best glass cleaner IMO) also makes a product called Xenit. Has a nice natural citrus scent. Soaps thru the tint and dissolves the glue stuff. Apply it, then wait while it soaps in, then use a razor blade to get it started. Seriously, the hardest part is waiting .... http://www.autogeek.net/xenit.html

I don't want to use any razor blades because, as I said, I don't want to risk messing up the defroster grid. Any chance the that Xenit stuff will dissolve the adhesive enough you get remove it with something less aggressive than a razor blade?

Also, I think this tint will be a pain to remove without something to aid removal of the adhesive- there was a corner of it that was coming up so I pulled, and it just took off a little jagged strip and broke.

So lacquer thinner will remove the adhesive? Does it work better than ammonia or ammonia glass cleaner?

As far as removing adhesive I always use 3M Adhesive Cleaner

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...=Search_N1833_1442695_2440&pt=N1833&ppt=C0171

Its the best I've found. I've tried most of the others and always come back to this.

A heat gun or hair drier on the outside of the window while you pull the tint may help soften the adhesive from the glass and keep more on the tint.

But overall, there will not be an 'easy' way to do this

ghunt81 said:

So lacquer thinner will remove the adhesive?

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Yes. With a little work it will rub right off. It's cheap and effective. A little hard on the hands though. You can wear gloves or use a thick rag that keeps most of it away from your hand. Which is what I do.

ghunt81 said:

Does it work better than ammonia or ammonia glass cleaner?

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In my experience it barely touches the stuff.

I had a '98 Mustang GT once that had window tint I removed with in days of buying the car. Clearing the back window was a nightmare. Was such an awkward angle and space to work in. But it was crystal clear when I was done and it does not harm the defroster grid. I drove that car for over 100k miles and the defroster was fine every winter.

Racer47 said:

As far as removing adhesive I always use 3M Adhesive Cleaner

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...=Search_N1833_1442695_2440&pt=N1833&ppt=C0171

Its the best I've found. I've tried most of the others and always come back to this.

A heat gun or hair drier on the outside of the window while you pull the tint may help soften the adhesive from the glass and keep more on the tint.

But overall, there will not be an 'easy' way to do this

Click to expand...

+1 on the 3M stuff. I will never use anything else again to remove adhesive.

tjm73 said:

In my experience it barely touches the stuff.

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You referring to the ammonia/window cleaner?

My wife had a tint strip put on the windshield of her explorer, we didn't like it so the guy at the tint shop just pulled it off and left all the adhesive on there (real professional). Anyway, I worked at it with some Windex and it seemed to work pretty good, but then it was mostly fresh adhesive too.

I would find the best, highest rated window tint guy in town and take it to him. Yes, you will pay but it will be less than the cost of trying to do it yourself and fucking up the defrost. If the guy says it can't be done without messing up the defrost then use the hammer method.

Friend of mine removed tint by soaking a plastic bag in some kind of ammonia cleaner and then pressed it against the window. He left it in the sun for a couple of hours. He said the tint pretty much fell off.

I've use goo gone, isopropyl alcohol, the 3m stuff, a heat gun, and a fabric steamer.

The steamer was the best.
Heat gun was a close 2nd but was harder to get the heat even enough to get all the adhesive.
3m stuff was good when I tried just peeling it off and then scrubbed the adhesive.
Isopropyl​ alcohol was okay, not in the same league as the 3 m stuff.
Goo gone was effective at removing the adhesive but the car smelled like that chemically orangish smell for about a month.

ghunt81 said:

You referring to the ammonia/window cleaner?

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Yes. I have only had to deal with old tint and each time my method has worked very well.

hammer, then 1-800-insurance ?

My tint guy used glass cleaner and a brass pot scrubby thing.

Clothing steamer and Xenit. You should only have to use the razor blade to get a piece started every once in a while when it tears. But no matter what the lower corners in a S197 car are stupid hard to get perfectly clean to the edges.

I've never done it, but you might start Googling how to remove the rear widow. It would be the ultimate way to do it right and do it perfectly. Guess it depends on your level of OCD.

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Lacquer thinner will also disolve plastic and take paint off of everything so be very sparing and careful

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As others have said , steamer ... watched the guy re-tint my back glass, the existing came off quite easy with a steamer.. was amazed

I pulled it using a razor blad3 when necessary. Used alcohol and 0000 steel wool pad for the adhesive that remained. Then a good glass cleaner. Took about an hour for all of the windows.

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Seems steel wool would scratch the glass.