As you probably noticed in this day and age it's almost de facto that you add window tint to your car.
You almost never see a car without it these days.
And that means you wanna get it done right because when it's wrong it looks like hell.
Let's find out what makes a great window tint, how to shop for one, and get it done right.
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3M's a big tech company of course and a major player in the window tint business.
So I went to their HQ outside Minneapolis to learn more.
And the first thing I learned, it starts with clean.
First thing we do every morning is we squeegee the floors.
Squizzy the floors.
FIrst and last thing we do everyday is squizzy that floor down.
I don't ever do that at home.
And I live there.
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If the shop looks sloppy, move on.
And a mobile outdoor installer?
I'd think twice about that.
So it sounds like if I'm looking for a tin shop wherever I live, I wanna walk into a place and I wanna see it super clean.
Absolutely.
And bright as daylight.
When you look at glass you look through glass.
Yeah.
My job's to look at glass.
If a shop doesn't allow you to see where the work's being done don't use them.
Cutting the tint is done on the outside of your window with the film inside out and the peel off backing facing you.
Okay so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna peeling it off.
Coming underneath and then-
And putting it in this way, this has been the work surface, the tape doesn't go on the outside.
To be honest, the whole process is kind of a wet mess, but that allows the film to be repositioned easily as it's cut and shaped.
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What's in this bottle?
A soap solution and a water solution.
Okay.
So this has what's called film in it
Okay, it's glorified baby shampoo.
Okay, [LAUGH] it's basically baby shampoo in a lot of water.
Some shops will cut the tint on a plotter.
If you've got a modern car that is in their database.
But for what it's worth, our installer, Scott Peterson, he prefers to hand the cut the stuff because he's found variations even in the size and shape of factory glass.
A sharp knife is your friend, right?
Absolutely.
And since car windows aren't flat, heat shaping follows the cutting to take out the places where the film puckers over the curvature.
Those puckers are called fingers.
So do see I have a finger up [CROSSTALK]
Fingers are these puckers?
Yep, exactly.
So as I heat it, they cut a little odd shape.
You can see it move even as you do it.
Notice the aim of the heat gun away from delicate rubber and paint.
Okay so you've molded this thing to the glass now.
Yeah.
And you've cut it to size and shape.
So the hard work is done outside the car isn't it?
Yes.
At this point, application should be a breeze, if a wet one.
You don't need to be super paranoid about all the water that's put in there.
No, it's not that much.
Certain cars, you know,
There's some drainage issues with some Audis.
We take precautions though, like we put towels over amplifiers, that kind of thing.
It's just something that we do at our shop.
And we're not quite there yet.
The tint film has to cure.
There is a drying process, yeah.
In northern climates like we have here in Minnesota, it can take as long as a month, absolutely.
Interesting.
Down south
Ten minutes it will be it.
You're on a hot dry day.>> On a hot dry day yeah it will dry out.
So there is a curing process of sorts.
and once the curing is done down the road don't use an ammonia based window cleaner.
Use something without ammonia so it won't break down the scratch resistant coating on your tint.
