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how to easily remove window tint adhesive, even off rear defrost w/pics

53K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Zack 
#1 ·
With funds being too low to work on any mechanical upgrades, I decided to start on some cosmetics.

I had some horrible purple tint on my cab that was way too dark, scratched and bubbling, so I decided to remove it. I searched all the threads and it seemed to be a huge PITA, especially the rear window with defrost. I decided to just tear into it and figure it out as I go along.

I pulled the tint off one of the cab's side window pretty easily, but it left 100% of the adhesive behind. I started the $hitty task of removing the glue with a razor by hand. It was really tough going, after an hour and a half, and only getting about 1/3 of the window scraped, I decided to call it a night, it was late, cold, and my fingers were killing me.

When I got up I searched my cupboards for something caustic to help remove the adhesive because I really didn't want to spend all day finishing this. I found some Easy-Off fume free, the newer stuff without lye, I remembered someone mentioning to use it in one of the many threads I read, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I sprayed a small test spot and around a minute later I scraped, it lifted off the adhesive like butter, I was stoked! On the plus side it cleaned the black rubber window seals like new, and also cleaned the plastic trim around the windows with no ill effects.

the rear window was a little tougher to do due to the defroster. I opened the tailgate, and opened the rear window. you WILL need to support the rear window, it is super floppy when extended and feels like it will easily break. I supported mine with 2 chairs and an old cat bed I had laying around. The tint came off mostly in one piece, and if you use a a razor to start an edge to peel, you have to be extrememly careful so you don't nick any of the defrost lines. I sprayed half the window and instead of using a razor, I scraped it with a credit card, it doesn't work quite as well as a razor, but you won't have to worry about damaging any of the defrost lines. I ended up having to do it twice to remove most of the adhesive, then rubbing off the remaining glue with a rag and then cleaning with window cleaner, it worked beautifully. On the plus side, the defrost lines were black, and now they are a nice copper color again, I checked how it worked this morning and I swear it defrosts quicker than it used to

All in all, not too bad a job, just a little messy, and now my rubber window seals are clean like new, plastic trim is under window is cleaned, my defrost seems to works faster, and I can see way better at night, which is good for me since I have a long narrow driveway I have to back out of with inches to spare on each side.

here is what I used



side cab window




adhesive slid off like butter



adhesive



rear glass supported



removing adhesive half at a time



finished





now I can see out my back window



before



after





it was frosty this morning so I checked the defrost operation, worked great



 
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#3 ·
windex will take off the adhesive just fine too. and a heat gun is the BEST for getting the tint off.
 
#4 ·
Ok this may sound wierd but believe me it works AWESOME. What we did at the shop I worked at is... Sprayed soapy water on the outside of the window then you cover that with plastic wrap. Then you take a heat gun, heat it up until the tint starts to bubble and it will just peal right off with very little clean up after...Some time you may have very little glue left to deal with. Like I said it works geat!!
 
#5 ·
That adhesive was so hard to get off I didn't think windex would have any effect on it, I had some too, guess I shouldve tried it. I don't have a heat gun, thought about using the wifes hairdryer but the oven cleaner worked so well I didn't bother
 
#6 ·
Initially I tried some Goo-Be-Gone for mine, but found it was removing the defroster! So I called the shop where I had just had the daily driver tinted, and asked how to easily remove the cheap tint on the truck. I received the below instructions that worked like a charm. I'm pretty sure I spent more time figuring out how to get the window up with the tailgate down than I did with the actual cleaning.

Pure ammonia, latex gloves (because it gets a little messy), and very fine steel wool (like 000 or 0000), all of which is available at your local walmart. Remove what you can of the bad tint with pulling on it, don't worry if you miss small spots, but make sure to get the corners. Then pour some ammonia on the window, give it a sec, and start gently scrubbing. It works better with a slow back and forth, or swirling motion than applying pressure. You don't have to scrape anything with a razor blade, and regardless of what you might think it doesn't scratch the glass, or remove the defroster. Because it's ammonia you will have the cleanest rear window you've ever seen (Windex uses ammonia in a lower concentration). My only advice is to be careful around the seal at the top of the tailgate. If you spill ammonia on the seal wipe it off right away, don't let it dry on your own or you can dry out the seal.
 
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