Why is My New Tint Blurry?
Learn why this can happen, and why it’s nothing to fear.
After getting their windows tinted, motorists often notice cloudy or hazy windows. This is obviously annoying and can cause many customers to feel unsettled, but it is a very common problem. When an Autobahn trained technician returns your vehicle to you, they are guaranteeing a perfect installation. That’s why when you get your windows tinted with Diversity, we ensure that the installation is both COMPLETE and PERFECT. Read on to learn why you’ll never have to deal with this annoying issue with us.
The Effect of Climate
During the first few days after an installation, you might notice cloudiness and even small water droplets forming between the tint and the glass. When tint is installed, technicians use soapy water to align the tint, and then squeegee it out. Not all technicians remove 100% of the water, so sometimes a little is left behind. This water forms into tiny droplets, and is what creates the haze.
Although smooth to the touch, window tint is a porous material, so the remaining water will typically evaporate out and the film will fully cure to the glass. The length of time it will take for the tint to fully cure depends on a few things: how much water was left behind, the type of film, and the environment surrounding the film. The warmer and sunnier it is, the quicker the water will evaporate. Usually this takes under a week, but poorly installed tint will be hazy for several weeks. This is why many people elect to get their tint done in the spring and summer, rather than when it is cold out.
At Diversity, our technicians us special heat-lamps to get rid of 100% of left-behind water before returning your vehicle to you. We view this as part of a complete installation, and wouldn’t think of handing your vehicle back with any kind of haze or blurriness in the windows.
The 2 Types of Haze
Installation Haze: This is what you just read about above. Tiny amounts of water are trapped between the film and the glass, quickly evaporating and leaving you with a perfect installation. We do NOT recommend trying to speed up the evaporation process with a heat gun or trying to squeegee the water out at home. Just give it a few days and park your vehicle in the sun if you can. Do your best to avoid adding extra stress to the tint during the curing process. This includes rolling the windows up and down. If you can, just leave your windows closed until the tint is fully cured.
Pro tip: To avoid this problem altogether, just bring your vehicle to Diversity. We view installation haze as an incomplete job, and we wouldn’t dream of returning an incomplete job to anyone. Our heat-lamp treatment process only takes an hour or so, so we just think it’s the right way to do it. Do it once, do it right, do it with Diversity.
Low-Angle Haze: This type of haze has to do with the tint itself, rather than something stuck underneath the tint. If you’ve ever looked at tinted windows at a very steep angle (rather than perpendicular to the glass), you may have noticed blurriness. This is common to some varieties of nano-ceramic tints, but not all. The effect happens because of the way light is dispersed by the tiny particles of ceramic.
Pro tip: When deciding to go with nano-ceramic films, make sure you choose a high quality option like Hüper Optik or Autobahn. These films apply one titanium nitride molecule at a time in a process known as “sputter coating” to ensure an organized structure and eliminate low-angle haze.