This is Greg right here in the Chemical Guys Detail Garage,
and today we're gonna talk about window tint.
Whether your car already has window tint,
or you're looking to purchase window tint for your vehicle,
this guide will tell you all about window tint,
how it works,
and exactly how to take care of it.
Window tint is what you see here on this VW Passat.
This VW Passat has window tint all around the vehicle,
and it gives it a unique look, plus it also protects the interior.
There's two different types of window tint you can purchase for your vehicle.
You can buy a car that has tinted glass installed,
and that tint is within the glass.
When the glass is manufactured, it's actual tinted glass.
That glass cannot have the tint removed,
it's permanent for the life of the glass,
and it can come from the factory of any OEM tinted glass on the side or rear window.
This vehicle has the other type of tint, which is called tint film.
Tint film installs on the inside of the window.
On this vehicle, there's no tint on the outside of the glass,
but the tint is installed right on the inside.
There's different types of tint you can purchase for your vehicle:
there's standard tint, there's also upgraded tint which is carbon based,
and a ceramic tint.
Carbon and ceramic tint film are a little more expensive than your standard tint,
and it's designed to block out UV solar rays from the interior.
So it keeps your interior looking a lot better over the years,
prevents fading and discoloration,
plus it keeps the inside of your car cooler during hot summer months,
or if you live somewhere like a desert like Arizona, Nevada, Texas, or California.
The one thing you need to know about tint is there's different darknesses,
and it's measured in the percentage of light that's allowed into the vehicle.
This window tint is really dark, and on the back it's actually called "limo tint"
which only lets in about 5% of light into the vehicle.
You need to take care of window tint in certain ways.
You want to use a premium glass cleaner,
you should invest in a quality ammonia-free glass cleaner.
At Chemical Guys we recommend our Signature Series Glass Cleaner.
Signature Series Glass Cleaner has no ammonia, and it's designed to work on
clear and tinted windows.
The reason you want to use an ammonia-free window tint glass cleaner,
is ammonia can harm window tint when sprayed on the inside of glass.
So it can cause streaking on the film,
it can also cause discoloration and fading over time,
plus it can loosen the glue on the inside of the window.
The way window tint is installed is like a giant sticker,
so the sticker has a peel side that you peel off,
and an installer will install it right on the inside of the glass,
and it sticks using glue.
You don't want to use ammonia because it can compromise
the glue layer between the tint and the glass,
and can cause your tint to bubble.
If you've ever seen tint on the road where the tint has a lot of bubbles inside the glass,
that means the tint has been compromised and a lot of the time,
it's because they didn't use an appropriate window cleaner.
Our Signature Series Glass Cleaner has no ammonia,
which is going to work on the inside of tinted glass as well.
Plus it will work on factory tinted glass, and window tint film.
Another thing you need to know about window tint
is that it can actually scratch, or it can get damaged.
This glass right here has a big scratch on the window.
This scratch is not on the outside, it's actually on the inside of the glass.
You can actually see my finger through the glass right there.
That's actually damaged tint, the tint actually needs to be replaced because of that damage.
One thing you need to know about tint is you need to be very careful
because if you have a bad microfiber towel, or if you're using a terrycloth towel,
you can actually scratch tint on the inside, and you'll have to have the tint replaced.
There's nothing you can do to fix that part of the tint.
Always use premium microfiber towels when you clean glass.
We recommend using short-nap blue Workhorse microfiber towels.
These are available on our website:
ChemicalGuys.com
where you can get a full selection of microfiber towels and microfiber drying towels
to clean any glass surface.
There's one more trick you need to know about window tinted glass.
Over time, tint film, which we talked about in the beginning of the video,
can fade and discolor due to solar rays.
This happens on almost all tint because as the sun is beating on it,
the sun actually pulls out the darkeners inside the tint.
There is a way to prevent the fading and discoloration of tint,
and that's to use a sealant on the outside of the glass.
You can do this using any of our sealants,
I recommend our Chemical Guys JetSeal.
It's an easy-to-use cream sealant, and you can spread it on the outside of the tinted glass.
Since its on the outside of the glass, it will actually block the UV solar rays
from getting on the inside of the glass and fade the tint.
If you want to keep your tint looking black and dark for years to come,
you can easily apply a coat of JetSeal to protect the tint and keep it looking its best.
If you guys want to check out all our cool products, check out our website:
ChemicalGuys.com
for the world's greatest detailing products.
Hopefully you learned all about window tint,
how to take care of it,
how it works,
and how to keep your tint looking its best for years to come.
You can pick up our JetSeal and glass cleaner right on our wesbite:
ChemicalGuys.com
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Always remember:
have fun,
stay clean,
and keep on detailing!