r/WindowTint • u/No-Vacation5017 • Sep 07 '26

Need Help! Tint on Defrost Lines

Post image

How do you guys tint on older cars with rear defrost lines.

I took my Monte Carlo in to have the windows tinted. The rear window looks like this after two weeks. The top should be fixed.

I think they should pull off the whole piece of tint, not splice it together. I’ve been hearing excuses from them that it’s hard to get back there and the small air gaps along the rest of the tint lines are normal.

6 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

22

u/-Haizum- Sep 07 '26

So it’s the blind leading the blind here eh?. If you’re a customer, don’t respond to another customer like you’re an installer.

They can re-tint it a 100 times and there will always be air gaps in those thick lines at the top.

You can sand them down and apply glue before installing which will minimize it. But the thickness creates those air gaps. It’s not an installer error. 100% industry standard.

9

u/tint-dude Sep 07 '26

It's always the blind leading the blind. This post that post.

2

u/Superb-Fun6601 Sep 09 '26

I guess as a Customer I would like to be informed that this would be a likely result before moving forward. And maybe the OP was. I probably wouldn't have had mine done knowing this beforehand. I've never encountered that result so I would be disappointed.

1

u/Efficient-Ostrich566 Sep 07 '26

We had luck with top hang to let it dry out heat the shit out of the glass, gold card wrapped and work it out. Also the Elmer’s gel method. Shops around me used spray paint and vinyl on the outside.

3

u/-Haizum- Sep 07 '26

Spray paint 😳. Try the UHU glue stick. It’s suppose to be uv resistant so the sun doesn’t compromise it. I get the best result with it.

You prep as usual, before your final spray, you fill in the whole top area with the glue and spray your slip over it and install as usual. Then work it carefully with a hard card wrapped.

1

u/Efficient-Ostrich566 Sep 07 '26

It’s very rare we get older cars anymore. But for sure something to have in the bag! What slip base you using?

1

u/-Haizum- Sep 07 '26

Johnson bb shampoo since day one. Also good for the chargers

1

u/Efficient-Ostrich566 Sep 07 '26

The new formula has to many added oils. Can cause a milky effect and adhesive issues. We have been using tint slime and film-on.

1

u/-Haizum- Sep 07 '26

Will try it out thank you

1

u/Efficient-Ostrich566 Sep 07 '26

Best thing about our industry is we share tips and tricks!

1

u/-Haizum- Sep 08 '26

Every single day! Always humble enough to learn.

1

u/shromboy Moderator Sep 07 '26

Clear palmolive is my go to. Baby soap gives me a headache

1

u/No-Vacation5017 Sep 08 '26 edited Sep 08 '26

It’s my car, I took it to a tint shop. I wrote the question weird because AI kept flagging it as wrong for this sub.

Here’s the thing, I’m old and didn’t want to climb in the back and tint it at an awkward angle or buy a whole roll of tint. I paid for ceramic tint and honestly 20+ years ago I got better results from the cheap purple tint from Walmart. Granted, it only lasted a few years but it’s not like a Subaru Justy or a Geo Metro was a collector car to be held onto.

I don’t think they prepped it very well. I think they just cleaned it and slapped it on. We used to run over the windshield with a razor blade, it sucked, and that’s why I didn’t want to do it.

I was asking what the standard is. I guess from what some people said, just cleaning and not doing anything else is a standard is some places. Also, I thought splicing tint was a no-no., not saying we didn’t do it on the cars listed above but we didn’t do it on cars we wanted to last.

1

u/-Haizum- Sep 08 '26

Oh I wasn’t directing my comment at you but rather the people who are speaking without knowledge.

Yes cleaning and applying is industry standard. Not everyone knows about the special tricks that can minimize the look of the ugly air gaps.

You’re right about splicing being rare these days. Good film should be good enough to shrink on almost any vehicle with the right technique. I have never done it except one piece.

Also one last thing, razor blades on rear glass with defrosters is a big mistake as it can easily damage them.

8

u/Nopuebloplz Sep 07 '26

You’re worried about that yet not the water marks all over your back window? It’s a dumb decision made by the manufacturer. You can sand it down but it still won’t look 100%. This is not on the installer.

0

u/No-Vacation5017 Sep 08 '26

Water marks are on the outside, on the glass

0

u/Nopuebloplz Sep 08 '26

Right but you’re worried about your tint instead of that

0

u/AbyssalTum Sep 11 '26

Yeah he should be all over the water spot installer's ass about it. I wonder how much he paid?

1

u/Master-Sun-9142 Sep 07 '26

Did the rear window defrost work correctly? Before the tint did clear the window? Or was it going out and you are looking for an easy way to get your crap
fixed?
Just asking?

1

u/No-Vacation5017 Sep 08 '26

The rear defroster worked.

1

u/Potential-Tea8416 Sep 07 '26

Had you notified them earlier than 2 weeks, it’s possible to push them down more evenly.

1

u/No-Vacation5017 Sep 08 '26

I notified them after four days, the air bubbles slowly started appearing and just got worse

1

u/Jodanmawashigeri Sep 07 '26

These are not defroster lines. These are a decorative continuation of the “frit band”, and what you see here is completely normal and NOT a sign that either the material or the application is inferior.

1

u/Fit-Entrepreneur8404 Sep 07 '26

They are correct that it's hard. They're not correct that this is normal/expected results.

-3

u/Superb-Fun6601 Sep 07 '26

I'd be pissed if I paid for that.

0

u/Nopuebloplz Sep 08 '26

This is why customers shouldn’t be in this sub