Since window tints provide car owners with an extra layer of protection and comfort while driving, it goes with it that cleaning and maintaining it entails more effort and understanding. The main difference of cleaning tinted windows from cleaning non-tinted windows is the things you should use, and the things you should avoid. Knowing what products are bad for your tinting will help prevent you from accidentally doing damage to it or reducing its life. As a general rule, never use window cleaners that contain ammonia, and stay away from wiping the windows with cloth made from rough materials.
Moreover, there will be common problems which car owners with tinted windows face. Here are some of them and how you can easily solve them:
Hard Water Spots
One of the most common problems car owners have—tinted windows or not, are hardened water spots during winter. Hard water spots are caused by minerals like calcium and magnesium content in water. When a surface gets wet—whether it is covered with tint film or not, the water evaporates the moment it was exposed to heat. However, the mineral deposits are left behind. The stuff that’s left behind is super-concentrated, so it’s hard to see through and even harder to remove
Meanwhile, water spots are a mixture of water and soap, acid rain, or some other type of contaminant. When the water dries, all that’s left on your windshield is the chemical.
Sprinklers, car washes, and rain showers, and even snow can all cause hard water spots to form on glass. Chemically speaking, these deposits are alkali, requiring an acid to remove them away. This may sound easy for car owners, especially because of the numerous choices of acid based cleaners there is in the market today. However, cleaning tinted car windows requires a little bit more of research. Tinted windows are more delicate, given that the film installed are thin and can be easily removed if you’re not careful. You’ll need to use gentler cleaning products on your tinting to preserve it, and under no circumstances should you use a cleaner with ammonia in it. Ammonia based products can reduce the darkness of your tint or cause its material to become dry, brittle, or otherwise imperfect.
Bubbles and Air Pockets
It is common for tinted windows to look like there are air bubbles and pockets trapped in between the tint film and glass itself. While in some cases, it means that it needs to be replaced or the tinting company you chose did a bad job, sometimes it takes the most common materials to solve it. More than just being an eyesore, the forming of bubbles will eventually cause more problems in the long run and should be addressed as soon as you can.
You can use a card to smooth an air pocket out. If it’s harder to work on, you can bring it to your tinting company and have them deal with it, or replace the tint if it will not work out.
Hazy or Blurry Windows
One of the most common complaints of tinted window car owners is the somewhat hazy or blurry vision they have while driving their vehicles. It can be manifested by streetlights having what appears to be like halos around them, or vehicle lights being streaky. It’s much more likely that your window tint is causing some blurry vision.
Fingerprints, cigarette ash, and general dust / debris in the air can be fogging up your tint, so if your tint isn’t new you should definitely clean it up. Another possible reason is that your tints have not yet been fully cured on to the glass windows. Before it’s done curing, you may even notice moisture between the glass and film. This is totally normal and will dissipate. Lastly, it maybe caused by the age of your tints, and a sign you need to replace it sooner than you think. Years of sun exposure can also damage your tint. The layers of plastic that compose tint film will start to distort and the adhesive will harden and crystallize over time, either of which could be causing your blurry vision.
Restricted Visibility
Dark tints restrict visibility in poor light conditions, meaning that you might not see other road users as well as you would with a clear window. The risk is greatest when you are driving at night. Imagine driving at night with sunglasses on. Numbers say that tinted cars can greatly contribute to road accidents, especially at night. The darker the tint is, the more it can affect and impair the vision of the driver, by which the probability of accidents may rise. The biggest safety risk with tinted windows comes when driving at night. Tinted windows can be used as evidence towards a charge of careless or dangerous driving, which can further intensify the driver’s penalties or sentences. To address this issue, the UK government enacted a law that would protect both those who is seated behind the wheel and the pedestrians, as well as the property the driver may damage or hurt.
Basically, the tinting law states that front windscreens and front side windows depend on when the vehicle was first used. If the vehicle was first used on April 1, 1985, then the required percentage of the darkness of the tint should be at least 75% of light through and the front side windows must let at least 70% of light through.
But, if the car was first used before April 1, 1985, the front windscreen and front side windows must both let at least 70% of light through.
This law doesn’t apply to rear windows, including the back windscreen. Remember, all of this only applies to front side windows, that is the driver’s door and front passenger door.
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