How to Tint the Rear Window in a Car

How to Tint the Rear Window in a Car

This article will explain the steps necessary to tint almost any rear window on most vehicles, which are outlined below. 

Prepare exterior of glass

Rub hand soap on glass

Cut film appropriate length

Trim excess

Use the "H" pattern to secure film

Heat mold sections at a time

Final trim

Prep the inside of glass

Reverse roll film

Install on glass

Squeegee

Use heat on exterior to finish

Clean with window cleaner

The outside of the glass must be prepared by simply removing any contaminants. Many different methods can be used for this step such as using window cleaner, a lint-free towel or a damp cloth. Whatever method is used is based on the preference of the individual.

The next step is to rub hand soap on the exterior of the glass. Use your hands or a paper towel to bring the soap to lather and rub or smear it over the entire glass. Allow a few minutes to dry and you are now ready for the next step. The reason for the dried soap on the glass is to keep the film from sticking to the glass during the heat- molding or dry-shrinking step.

In order to determine how much film to cut from the roll, the rear window must be measured from left to right. This step is very important because window film can only be heat- molded in one direction. 

Once the film has been cut from the roll, it can be carefully laid on the exterior of the glass. Some window tinters wet the center of the glass before they lay the tint on the exterior of the glass so that the film will stay in place. The film needs to be positioned so that it covers the entire glass. The next step is to trim the excess tint around the perimeter. It is recommended to leave about a half-inch overlap. Gently lift the film, wet underneath with the "H" pattern, and secure the film with a squeegee.

At this point, a heat gun is used to begin heating the "fingers" in the film until the film lays flat.  This technique might require some practice. Once the film has been heated and flattened to the shape of the glass, the final trim around the perimeter is done. The final trim needs to be about 1/32 of an inch around the glass.

Always remember that the interior surface of a compound curved glass is less on the inside than on the outside. What this means is that you can slightly undercut the window tint around the perimeter and the cut will probably workout perfect on the inside.

Now that the film is ready to install on the inside of the glass, it needs to be removed and placed on a worktable. Re-clean the exterior of the glass (So you can see well) and begin prep on the inside of the glass. Dirt-off should be sprayed on the inside of the glass. Next, a white scouring pad should be used to scrub the inside of the glass.  This process removes any contaminants and grease from the inside surface.  Next, the inside of the glass needs to be dried and re-apply dirt-off. The dirt-off needs to be removed with a squeegee.  Now spray inside of glass with water/soap solution for application.

The release liner is pulled off only half way and the film is wet with the water/soap solution and the release liner is then put back into place. This step is repeated on the other side of the film. Once the film is wet and the release liner in placed back, the film needs to be rolled-up from left to right on the worktable. The film can be transported to the inside of the car and unrolled onto the back glass without getting any contaminates on the film.

Once the film is on the inside of the glass positioned and smoothed- out, it is ready for the squeegee.  The squeegee must glide across the film in a "T" pattern.  The four quadrants must be squeegeed separately so that the film will lie on the glass smoothly.

At this point, the job is almost done. The work area inside the car and outside must be cleaned.  If there are any imperfections in the job, a heat gun can be used to slightly heat the glass from the outside to get any areas to stick if needed.

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