Window tint is REALLY annoying to remove.  Best bet? Wait for a very hot, sunny day. This heats up the tint, and makes the adhesive softer.

The ease of tint removal really depends on what brand the tint is, and in what condition it is in. I got lucky, and this window tint peeled right off without much difficulty.

I will also detail another method that will work much more effectively on a rear window with delicate defroster lines.

Easy Method

Background: My own car had dark window tint. It was in poor condition, and not installed too well. On top of that, it’s not legal in my state to have tint this dark, so I decided to remove it.

Things you will need:

• at least 10 SHARP new single-edge razor blades
• An adhesive remover such as 3M Adhesive Cleaner 08984
• Glass Cleaner
• A good roll of paper towels, or newspaper

For the most difficult tint removal, you will need:

First step is to get yourself a bit of tint to grab on to see what you are working with. If you don’t see a good edge, cut a notch with your razor blade to get an edge. If you are working with a roll-down window, this is much easier – just roll the window down a little, and you’ll see the edge of the tint.

Start peeling. If you’re luckly, it will just peel off as one sheet. If it did, all you have to do now is remove any left-over adhesive residue. 3M Adhesive Cleaner, which you can get at NAPA works quite well for this. Be careful not to let the adhesive cleaner drip onto the door panels – it will discolor them.

Follow up with a good cleaning with the glass cleaner. Most professionals seem to use newspaper to clean glass – it works quite well, and best of all, it’s cheap! 🙂

Not all tint will come off so easily. Thin, cheap tint seems especially susceptible to turning to ribbons when trying to peel it off. Especially on a window with defroster lines, the following is he recommended method that many professionals use.

The Garbage Bag Method

On the outside of the car, take a black garbage bag, and cut it into the exact shape of the glass.

Cover your seats and door panels with towels or newspaper to protect them from ammonia.

Cover the inside of the window, on the tint with the ammonia.

Quickly put the garbage bag, cut to the shape of the window, on to the inside of the window, on the tint.

Leave the car in the sun for a couple of hours for the ammonia and heat to work. The key here is time soaking.

After the tint has softened up, grab an edge of it. The entire piece of tint will peel right off like magic, leaving no residue behind, even off of defroster lines!

Clean the windows, job done!