Help care for your new Window Tint & Paint Protection Film
Window Film - What to Expect
Drying time:
Keep your windows up for 3-5 days. Your new window film will take a few days to a couple of weeks to fully dry, depending on film brand, type, and weather conditions. Until this time your tinted windows may appear to have water bubbles and may even look hazy. Give it time to dry and film inconsistancies will go away.
Cleaning
Window film may be cleaned with a soft clean cloth and alcohol based cleaner or plain water. Ammonia free products should be used.
Black dotted edges
Most cars have a black ceramic 'frit' edge on the rear window. Sometimes this ceramic edge is straight and flat, sometimes it will have a dotted edge. These black ceramic dots are quite thick on most cars and prevent the window film from sticking to the area between the dots. This results in a whitish looking strip trimming the glass. Typically this isn't very noticeable, however some cars have a wide band of dots trimming the top of the rear window. This area is so wide that the whitish looking area created is more pronounced. Unfortunately, the effect is unavoidable.
Seat Belt Chips
Caution should be used when releasing seat belts. Small chips can be made in the window film due to the seat belt hitting the glass as it is released, THIS IS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY.
Imperfections
Though we strive for perfection in our installations, due to the nature of the product, some degree of dust contamination and or minor imperfections are present in every window film application, also pre-existing flaws or scratches and metal deposits on the glass are often much more noticeable after the windows are tinted.
Small silvery looking spots or 'metal rubs' on some windows are usually found in station wagons or other utility vehicles, and are caused by a metallic object (such as a baby stroller handle) rubbing against the inner surface of the glass during travel. This rubbing deposits metal onto the glass creating a silver or grey stain. Usually these these metal rubs aren't very noticeable and often aren't noticed until the windows become tinted.
Night Time Defogger Distortion
At night you may notice that the light from headlights will reflect off of the defogger lines. This is caused by the film having to bend slightly around the raised defogger line, it varies from car to car, and there is nothing that can be done about it.
Paint Protection Film (PPF)
It will take 24-48 hours for the film to start bonding with the paint. While it may take 24-48 hours for this initial drying time, some PPF films may take a up to two weeks, for the adhesive to fully cure. Water tends to get trapped under the film especially along the edges, this will evaporate. Warmer temperatures with certainly speed up this process.
Avoid washing during this drying period. Rain is generally okay during this process. Once your are able to starting washing your vehicle, avoid pressure washing near the edges of your newly applied material which can cause the material to lift and cause damage.
Mild Soap or a pH neutral car soap is best recommended with a clean soft lint-free cloth. Avoid abrasive cleaners, brushes or paper towels. F
Clean off any bug or bird dropping to minimize any staining of the material. If a stain does appear, isophopyl alcohal can be used on the surphace of the film.
Consider applying a ceramic coating or a PPF UV spray for added protection.
Light scrathes will heal them selves in nice warm weather. In colder conditions you may pour hot water (120°F) over the affected area.
Though we strive for perfection in our installation, PPF installation are rarely flawless due to factors like pre-existing paint flaws, dust, even imperfections in factory paint jobs and the nature of the installation process. It is important to understand that PPF is about protection, not perfect aesthetics, and some minor imperfections are often considered acceptable. Pre-existing flaws in the paint can become more noticable after PPF has been installed.
