When old tint should come off

Old film doesn’t get better

Window film has a working life, and dyed film has a short one under strong sun. When film fails, it fails in a few recognizable ways, and none of them can be fixed by cleaning, trimming the edges or adding a layer on top. The fix is stripping the glass and starting over on bare glass.

Signs it’s time

• Purple or brown color. Dyed film loses its dye under UV, and the charcoal turns purple. The color doesn’t come back.
• Bubbles and blisters. Bubbles that show up months or years after the install mean the adhesive is letting go. Once that starts, they usually grow.
• Peeling or lifting edges, most often along the top of a door glass, where the window rolls through the seal every day.
• Haze you can’t clean off. If the inside of the glass is clean and the view is still foggy, the haze is in the film or its adhesive.
• Scratches and scuffs across the film from seatbelt buckles, rings, dogs or cargo. They catch the light at night.
• A front shade that fails Hawaii’s test. The front side windows must read at least 35% through film and glass, with a ±6% tolerance, so a reading of 29% passes. Anything darker fails the annual safety inspection, whatever condition the film is in.
• Film Hawaii doesn’t allow at all. Mirrored or highly reflective film, film that looks red, yellow, amber or blue from outside, and film covering the third brake light on 2013 and newer vehicles all have to come off.

Why new film doesn’t go over old

Laying fresh film over failed film looks like a shortcut. It isn’t one:

• Every bubble, scratch and patch of haze in the old film stays visible through the new one.
• The new film is only as well attached as the film under it, and that film is already coming loose.
• The shades stack. Two films on one window read darker than either one, and on the front doors that can turn a legal shade into a failing reading.
• Ceramic film needs clean, bare glass to bond properly and look clear.

So the old film comes off first.

What removal involves

Removal is two jobs: the film, then the adhesive. The film peels away. The adhesive often stays on the glass and has to be lifted off completely, because anything left behind shows through the new film. Then every window gets an ammonia-free clean before new film goes on.

Side windows are straightforward. The back glass is the slow part. The rear defroster is a grid of thin conductive lines on the inside of the glass, right where the old adhesive sits, and many cars carry the radio antenna in the back glass the same way. Scrape too hard or drag a blade across the grid and a line breaks; that line stops heating, and new film won’t bring it back. Done properly, the adhesive comes off the grid and the lines stay intact.

Removal adds about 30 to 60 minutes to the job, mostly on the back glass. Now and then it shows damage that was already there under the old film, such as a line cut by an earlier scraping.

If you’re tempted to do it yourself, the side windows are forgiving and the back glass isn’t. Leave the back glass to the shop and keep razor blades away from the defroster lines.

Cars shipped from the mainland

Cars shipped to Maui often arrive with front tint that was legal in the state they came from and fails Hawaii’s test. Many mainland states allow darker fronts. The shop meters the front windows, removes front film that reads too dark, installs a ProLayers film in a shade that meters legal on your glass, and gives you the Hawaii certificate, which stays in the car. Rear film in good shape that’s legal for your body style can stay. The Shipped to Maui? page covers the rest of the arrival, and the Hawaii window tint law page has the full rules.

Choosing the replacement

Film that has turned purple was dyed film. Offshore installs ProLayers carbon and ceramic film, which don’t use dye and don’t fade to purple. V10 Ceramic IR is the film recommended for most cars. V6 Comfort is the lower-cost carbon option, and V16 Ceramic IR MAX rejects the most infrared of the three. Ceramic tint explains the difference, and what window tint costs shows how a tint job is priced.

Getting a quote

On the quote form, say there’s old film on the car, which windows have it and what it looks like, so removal is in the number before you arrive. Or call (808) 707-7064. The shop confirms the total and takes the deposit when you book.