How to Clean Tinted Windows
Properly maintaining your tint will unlock ultimate longevity and optimal performance.
Following the theme of last week’s post, we’ve created another instructional guide for how to care for your vehicle at home. In times like these we’ve got to stick together, so this is us helping you beat those long hours of self-isolation!
More than just an aesthetic boost, window tint gives your car many performance benefits. To ensure the maximum performance and lifespan of your tint, it’s best practice to clean them every now and then. No need to adhere to a crazy strict maintenance schedule, it’s as simple as, “clean your windows when they look dirty”.
How to Clean Tinted Windows
There’s no great mystery here. Cleaning your car’s tinted windows should be easy and simple, with just a few bad habits to avoid and a few tricks to make your life easier. Tint is usually applied to the inside of your windows, so cleaning the outside can happen as usual.
Avoid cleaning immediately after application. The adhesive that is used on tint is strong and pliable. Although the adhesive typically cures in a few days, you want to give it an oversized window of time to really get stuck on there. We recommend that you wait at least a week before cleaning, but there’s no harm in waiting for several.
Prep is crucial. As with washing the rest of your car, you don’t want to clean your windows in direct sunlight. In direct sun, the cleaning product you use could dry onto the window before you have a chance to wipe it off.
Avoid harsh products. Window tint is incredibly resilient stuff, but there are certain chemicals to avoid. Never use any cleaning product that contains ammonia (NH3), as it could weaken the tint and make it more susceptible to damage. Lots of common glass cleaners (like that blue stuff in the spray bottle) contain ammonia, but these companies usually offer an ammonia-free version.
Avoid using any cleaning material that is even mildly abrasive, such as paper towels, newspaper, or scouring pads. We always recommend that you use a simple microfibre cloth to clean your tinted windows.
Use the right stuff instead. Any common ammonia-free cleaners will work fine. You can even make your own by mixing a couple of tablespoons of rubbing alcohol, a couple of drops of baby soap, and distilled water in a spray bottle. Use separate microfibre cloths for the insides and outsides of the windows, to avoid cross-contamination.
Wipe clean and buff dry. It’s that simple – apply your cleaner and wipe away all the dust and oil. If your windows are exceptionally dirty, clean your cloth in a bucket of clean water between windows. After a window has been cleaned, use a separate microfibre to wipe and buff it dry – you don’t want water spots!
All tint is not created equal. At Diversity, we’re only interested in carrying products that meet the highest standards – that’s why we’ve been the #1 tint shop in Victoria for over 2 decades. Check out our offerings from Autobahn right here. As always, if you have any questions about what’s laid out in this article, or anything else related to automotive films, never hesitate to reach out.