Date:         Mon, 28 Jul 2003 21:43:47 -0600
Reply-To:     Stevie Havoc <s.havoc@TELUS.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stevie Havoc <s.havoc@TELUS.NET>
Subject:      Re: cleaning windows with tinted film
Comments: To: "Coyne, Annie" <ACoyne@GLHEC.ORG>
In-Reply-To:  <CB6DA133641E454BA31402EA6DC450EC02EC8E@glsxchma4.glhec.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

My Subaru has tinted windows and I was told to use Armor-All to clean
them,  its worked really well so far, I clean the inside with the
Armor-All and the outside with a good glass cleaner. The reasoning
behind this was that many glass cleaners will dry out the film, whereas
Armor-All or some equivalent will not. I was surprised when it DIDNT
streak like I thought it would.

It works for me.

Steve

On Monday, July 28, 2003, at 09:27 PM, Coyne, Annie wrote:

> The windows of the 88 Westy I inherited from my Arizona-resident
> father have
> deeply tinted windows.  Great for privacy and heat reduction, though
> backing
> up is a real pain.  I recall seeing a recent thread which discussed
> film
> tinting - if memory serves, the author has a son in the business, and
> he
> provided some good pointers.  Try as I might, though, I cannot pull
> the post
> up in the archives.
>
> In any event, the author mentioned something about cleaning film-tinted
> windows - not to use an ammonia-based product, as I recall.  But -
> what to
> use?  My van is in great shape, but the windows are NASTY - it sat
> idle for
> a few years, and they are really grimy.  No matter what I use to try to
> clean them, though, they just get grimier, almost gummy. It seems as
> if I
> might be breaking down a layer of the film itself - I can't believe
> all that
> gunk is just dirt.  I've tried three different commercial glass
> cleaners,
> and even old-fashioned vinegar and newspapers (which worked great on
> the
> plain glass, but was no help on the tinted side).
>
> Anybody have any suggestions? I'm almost ready to pull the tint off
> entirely, reasoning that it's not so sunny here in Wisconsin - but it
> seems
> to be in relatively good shape, except for the gunk.
>
> Thanks in advance - Annie
>